New to this great forum! Need help with ip4300

[Wildting]

First off, I want to say "hi" and thank all the members that contribute to this fantastic resource! It's great to see folks helping each other out.

Due to all the great advice, I ended up getting an ip4300 about 6 months ago and since then have also purchased an MP830. My dad has gotten a pro9000 due to all the favorable Canon comments and because of the flexibility in refilling ink thanks to you guys!

I'm working on my ip4300 currently and thought I would just hit up the forum one more time to see if any of you have experience in this matter.

After 6 months, and about 25k pages, my ip4300 refuses to power up.

Prior to this, my nozzle check reflected a missing light cyan band, which made me suspect a clog in the light cyan jet.

Prior to taking it home I ran a deep cleaning cycle to try to clear the problem, and afterwards encounted an error code, B200.

I took it home, plugged it in and now it doesn't even power on.

Worse yet, the print head is stuck in the right hand corner and I'm trying to figure out how to recover the head and cart.

I guess under the worse case scenario, I could just trash the case to get it open and extract my print head and carts, but before embarking on demolition, was wondering if any of you gurus had any ideas?

Thanks again!

Eric

 

[websnail]

I found that bizarrely you can get the power to reset if you pull the power block out the printer, remove the wire that runs to the printer from the block and then reconnect it all, plug in the power cable again and try the power button.

For some reason this seems to reset some power surge protection or other and has worked in an MP500 and iP4200 of mine as well.

You'll need to source the service manual for your printer to be able to figure out how to do it but there's bound to be someone on here that has a copy they can send you.

 

[Wildting]

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately, such a simple solution didn't work for me. I've popped out the power box and disconnected the wires at the box, plugged them back in and the machine is still unresponsive. I can't see where the wires lead on the other end unless I can get the case off.

If my MP830 has the same box, I could swap the 2 temporarily and try that, but I'm afraid I might blow the fuse in my MP830 box and now I have 2 dead machines!

Anybody else have suggestions?

 

[Manuchau]

Two things...have you really printed 25000 pages???

Secondly, you still have 6 months on your warranty, so if it is an electrical problem (or any other problem), Canon will replace any defective part, or even replace your entire printer.

If I were you, I'd phone them right away. It's a free call, and well worth it. Good Luck!

 

[Wildting]

Hey Manuchau,

Yes, by my estimation 25k pages! 1000 newsletters a month, duplexed 4 pages total.

I have no reference, but I believe I probably got my money's worth out of the printer? Too bad it's down because it looks brand new.

As for the warranty, I've blown past that long ago, not in terms of the year, but in voiding it by refilling with non-oem ink.

I've e-mailed Canon tech support already and it appears they have a great warranty plan with free replacement, but that's if I'm under warranty - which I doubt I am.

Thanks for getting back to me!

 

[Manuchau]

They don't have to know that you use refill inks. Just let them know that your machine does not power up. I'm sure one of their technicians would test this with you over the phone. If it turns out to be your power cord, they will replace it. If you know someone with a similar printer, you could test
their power cord on your machine. At least you would know if that is the problem.

Yes, 25000 pages is a lot for this printer (or most printers) over a 6-month period. I guess the worst that could happen is that you purchase another...your costs for producing that newsletter is still very reasonable since you refill.
keep posting your progress, and good luck!!

 

[Wildting]

Ok, it's working, but not really...

After 2 weeks, I plugged the printer back in and it miraculously powered up!

The problem now is I just get alternating blinking, the same B200 error message and nothing else.

After opening the cover to the cartridges and printhead, nothing happens. The whole unit just stays parked over to the right.

At this point, I would settle on just retrieving my printhead and carts.

Anyone know how to reset this thing so that the printhead would come back to the middle?

-Eric

 

[websnail]

That sounds a lot like a printer that's reached the service required point although the refusal to power up was a bit odd to start with.

My recommendation is that you try getting a refurb'd iP4300 off ebay or similar... If you're in the UK there's a seller on Ebay that flogs off a lot of iP4300's that have been refurbished and I've had more than a few cheap iP4200's 4300's and MP500's from them with no problems at all.

 

[Trigger 37]

Wildting,... When the printhead refuses to move to the center when you open the top cover, this is a sign that the printhead is damaged. Given the symptoms you have had, I suspect that you have burn out a couple of nozzles, and this caused an over current error which is detected in the power supply and this shuts down the power supply.

Websnail is correct, you can sometimes reset the power error condition by unplugging the power. Now that the power is back, I bet the printer powers on, the green light flashes for a few seconds and the purge unit cycles but when you open the cover it won't move to the center. It also won't print anything because it probably had a "Head Temperature Error" recorded in the EEprom. Here is a simple test. If you open the cover and the printhead moves only 1/2" away from the park position, you can pull the power cord out of the back of the printer. Once you've done that you can move the printhead to the center and pull out the ink carts and the printhead. Clean the printhead and examine the bottom very carefully. If you have a 5X or larger magnifying glass, check out the nozzles and see if you see any thing that looks like a burn.

With the printhead removed, but with the carriage lock down, close the cover and plug the power in and turn the power on. If you logic card is not damaged the printer should go through all diagnostic cycles and end up with the green light on solid. Now you know you probably have a pad printhead. If your printer is still connected to your PC, you should get a different error code.

 

[Wildting]

Trigger,

I think you're dead on with your diagnosis. Prior to all the issues, I had a missing lite-cyan band when I did the nozzle check, which indicated a complete clog in that bank of jets? Then when I continued to "test print" I probably burned that head which caused the B200 error and caused the power to shut down.

I can't confirm that because I can't get my printhead out to look. When I power on, I just get the blinking lights and head refuses to move even a little. It's locked down in that corner. I guess my only choice is to get that case opened and fish out the head and carts that way...