MP780 wasting colored ink......

[doctodd]

Hi all, new poster for this problem. I bought a Canon Pixma MP780 and love it's features. However it seems to be going through ink too quickly. At first i thought it was me having it on the most detailed settings, but after replacing all the ink cartridges due to them running out, and changing the settings, it is still happening. The problem is that all the color artridges are running out, EVEN THOUGH IM ONLY PRINTING IN GRAYSCALE. Im not printing anything in color. As of today the yellow has run out first, but all the others are low also.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

T

 

[tyamada]

If you use any other setting other than plain paper you will be using the color inks, they are used to make grey scale prints. The plain paper setting is for text printing and uses the BCI-3ebk (pigmented) ink. Even at the plain paper settings a little colored ink is used, I think it is to keep the jets clear.

 

[doctodd]

I have used plain paper since it is the default setting. I have also used the "draft" setting to try to conserve all the ink, but it has still run out of the colors in about a week.

Thanks for the info though.

T

 

[hpnetserver]

Is your printer running a lot of cleaning cycles? I don't know how that is possible but if it somehow does a lot of cleaning cycles for whatever reason it will drain all your ink fast.

 

[fotofreek]

Doctodd - The easiest answer to this problem is either refill or use aftermarket carts. You aren't printing color, so you are not concerned about accurate color,and for the most part, black is black! Read other posts that include info about the carts from Alotofthings to see which ones have Formulabs inks as this ink has proven to be of good quality and safe for your printer. If ink costs you 10 to 15 percent of OEM Canon ink you won't feel so badly about the cleaning cycles using so much ink! If you are going to refill, use the Hobbicolor kits that are very inexpensive and include a set of extra empty carts.

 

[doctodd]

Im not sure if it is doing alot of cleaning cycles. How would i know? I would think not since i usually turn it off instead of having it go to power saver mode.

As for aftermarket inks, i bought some aftermarket inks and then went back to Canon inks to compare. Now that i opened it up, it seems as if the aftermarket yellow has run out, but the cyan and magenta from Canon are still good. What is odd is that the aftermarket large black is still full, but the aftermarket small black is out. I replaced all of them at the same time about 2 weeks ago and have not made any color prints. I guess ill try some different aftermarket inks or stick with Canon inks. Thanks for the replies.

T

 

[d86cfv]

I've got the 760 (basically the photo edition of yours) what your experiencing does not seem to be normal! Have you considered that there may actually be a fault with the machine? Leaving it turned off is not a good plan, periodically it will do a very small head clean, usually every couple of hours if the printer is in regular use.
If you leave it on and don't use it, it will go into "sleep mode" which means when you ask it to print again it will only do a small clean.
However, if you turn it off and then on again, all the noises it makes is it doing a proper head clean, I'm not sure if this is a deep clean or just a standard one. I tend to leave mine on all the time unless I'm going away.

With regards to your machine using the small ink - this is interesting as the 6bk is only supposed to be used when on photo setting (please correct me guys if I am wrong) it might be worth checking you colour management settings are on auto.

One more thing, on the main settings page, use the "print advisor" to select fast black only and see if that makes any difference.

If all else fails and you are sure that its not the machine at fault, how about printing the document and then copying it? I would have thought pressing B&W copy would override any software settings/issues and just use pure black.

Do let us know how you get on!



Dan

 

[doctodd]

I will leave it on and let it go into sleep mode then. Since the fax is connected, everytime the phone rings i think it goes on. No biggie i guess.

As for the 6bk black cartridge, as i posted, i think it is just some cheap aftermarket ink i got on ebay. Since i mixed up the cartridges to compare OEM vs ebay, i think it supports that the aftermarket inks are the only ones running out (except the large black which is also aftermarket as of right now). So I ordered from Bulkinkjetcarts.com as was recommended by someone here.

So to summarize, i think i just got some cheap aftermarket inks from ebay that leak even though the seller had good reviews, which after reading alot on this board yesterday, seems to be pretty common. Im happy after reading so much yesterday on this very informative board that i have quite a machine.

Thx...will keep everyone posted.

T

edit: I use B+W copy, but the paper settings are always set to plain and the image quality is always set to normal by default. I have been using draft to save ink since most of the stuff i copy is not anything that needs to be high image quality.

 

[Osage]

Hold on here,

This turn on turn off thing may be the problem. When a Canon printer is turned on with its power switch, then powered off by simply cutting power off to the printer,
the heads don't park correctly. Exposing the ink outlet to air and drying everything up. When the printer is next powered up it runs a cleaning cycle made more complex due to the improperly parked heads.

I leave my Canon printer off at its on off switch until I need to print, turn it on at the printer on off switch, print what I need to, then turn the printer off using the printer on off switch---which parks the heads correctly so the cartridge outlet hole is not exposed to air any longer than needed.

Or so went the advice I read somewhere--wish I could remember where--when I was researching printer choices.--and that was listed as a caution with Canon printers.

 

[d86cfv]

Osage,

What you describe is common with the majority of printers (if not all) when the printer has been off it will run a print head clean cycle, regardless of whether the head is parked or not. Its also very bad news to turn the printer off (or any electrical equipment) without letting it fully shut down first. When the head is parked it sits on a little rubber pad which seals the head and keeps it fresh.
Turning your printer off and on more than once a day is a false economy, the printer probably uses less power from hours of sleep mode than it does as it goes through the powering up process.

Doctodd,

It could be that your compat' carts are short filled, if the sponge hasn't taken the correct amount of ink then you will only be using the ink in the chamber, about 6-8 ml I think, so only about half the cart.


Like I said, keep us informed.

Regs,

Dan