Pro-100. - Still Having Problems With Displayed Ink Levels

[The Hat]

The way I see it is that Roy’s seven cartridges ran out of ink and he had to disable his ink monitoring
on each of them when his cartridge chip eventually showed up with the red X.

He has said he had no problems resetting these chips to show full again and that the ink monitoring
still functions as before but not as accurately as he would like it too.

Where as if a chip is reset that has only showed the yellow triangle, the question is
does it then work and function accurately and correctly as the new chip does ?

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Hi Roy,

So far because of the sheer number of printers, I have not had a chance to run the volume of prints through the PRO-100 needed to empty any of them yet.

I have topped off and reset the three blacks.

The Black and the Gray were reset and topped off, they are now show about 1/8 down from max. The light gray is still showing as full. So it appears I am getting a more gradual display of estimated ink levels on the visual ink indicators than on your printer. This week I will make sure to run a lot of prints through it as I am spending the weekend in beautiful Pennsylvania shooting and doing Civil War stuff in Gettysburg. So I should be able to record whether the ink monitor behaves normally or not.

Joe

Thanks Joe,

Really appreciate the comments, not to mention all the research and results you publish here and in other forums for our benefit.

If your printer duplicates my printer, after the first slight decrease in ink levels, there will not be a further decrease until the sudden appearance of the <!> warning. You quoted 1/8 and I said 1/4. I was not being precise and it could have been an eighth on my printer.

One additional factor to take into account. Did you disable the ink display to refill the cartridges as I did. My current theory this may have something to do with the problem.

Have fun in PA. Several of my friends are into re-enactments. Usually in the summer around upper NY and Ontario. Sure hope it is warmer than Ottawa in PA. Currently -25C outside. I know stratment will tell me how much in F, and get me all confused again.

Roy

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Disabled initially all colors for several months and then reset and functioning normally. Of the multitude of purchases of the resetter, none have reported any issues either. So there is the possibility of an errant chip itself on your yellow.

Except I may not have been completely clear. The yellow cart is the ONLY ONE displaying correct ink levels. That cart has never had ink display disabled, OR RESET, or refilled, at this stage.

The remaining seven cartridges all had the ink monitoring disabled and were refilled several times, because at that time no REdSETTER was available.

I have just visually checked all seven cartridges and the visual level for all is well below half, yet the monitor display shows them all as full. Not even 1/8 DECREASE below full.

The reason I can be so sure of this is because I have just gone through a period if intensive printing. It has now decreased to a trickle, before I can get a definitive handle on the problem.

The hope is others can continue to report their experiences to add to our knowledge.

RS

 

[stratman]

Where as if a chip is reset that has only showed the yellow triangle, the question is does it then work and function accurately and correctly as the new chip does ?

Then this would be the first chip to do this since Canon started using chips.

We should get a better idea as the Pro-100 is being used by more people since the great sale began a few weeks back.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

The way I see it is that Roy’s seven cartridges ran out of ink and he had to disable his ink monitoring
on each of them when his cartridge chip eventually showed up with the red X.

He has said he had no problems resetting these chips to show full again and that the ink monitoring
still functions as before but not as accurately as he would like it too.

Where as if a chip is reset that has only showed the yellow triangle, the question is
does it then work and function accurately and correctly as the new chip does ?

Close but not an exact summary.
No problem resetting the chips - correct.
Monitoring still functioning, but not as accurately - only partly correct. The monitoring is only displaying FULL or the <!> what I call the empty warning.

No monitoring displayed of in usage between full and empty. This result consistent through several refills and resets.

Currently have an OEM VIRGIN YELLOW (Used those terms for Stratman's enjoyment) in the printer which is giving incremental displays of ink usage, and appears to be functioning normally.

The acid test will be when this cartridge is reset and refilled. Given my current print load this will not be until after Christmas.

Time will tell!

RS

 

[stratman]

Roy -- it makes little sense for Canon to make a chip more complicated than need be. Why would Cannon make a chip that will reset but not be accurate in displaying general fill levels until the cartridge is marked empty all the while still protecting you from running out of ink? Cannon would more easily make the chip non-resettable after it is marked as empty, low, or one time use only -- whichever they would like to manufacture. This would also frustrate refillers more by having to source aftermarket chips. But Canon does not do that. And Canon has never done this before that I know of.

IMO, the behavior of your chips is either due to a funky run of chips, your resetting technique, or the resetter itself.

As I said before, we will know more soon enough as a growing pool of Pro-100 users is out there. Also, your new, never reset OEM Yellow can act as a control of sorts. When it gets to LOW but not empty, reset the chip, checking the instructions on how to reset again for completeness, and then refill and begin using the Yellow to see what happens.

BTW, gave you a "Like" for pandering to my heretofore OEM unknown virgin Yellow preference.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Roy -- it makes little sense for Canon to make a chip more complicated than need be. Why would Cannon make a chip that will reset but not be accurate in displaying general fill levels until the cartridge is marked empty all the while still protecting you from running out of ink? Cannon would more easily make the chip non-resettable after it is marked as empty, low, or one time use only -- whichever they would like to manufacture. This would also frustrate refillers more by having to source aftermarket chips. But Canon does not do that. And Canon has never done this before that I know of.

IMO, the behavior of your chips is either due to a funky run of chips, your resetting technique, or the resetter itself.

As I said before, we will know more soon enough as a growing pool of Pro-100 users is out there. Also, your new, never reset OEM Yellow can act as a control of sorts. When it gets to LOW but not empty, reset the chip, checking the instructions on how to reset again for completeness, and then refill and begin using the Yellow to see what happens.

BTW, gave you a "Like" for pandering to my heretofore OEM virgin Yellow preference.

Agree 100% - The reason I have the yellow cart in is because I had problems with the original yellow after several refills - Ink starvation. Another story for another thread.

That yellow should answer a lot of questions when it comes time to refill and reset. Unfortunately in this case yellow always seems to last a long time. I will be extra careful to give a long reset connection as suggested by the Hat.

The errant cartridges were all the ones that came with the printer. Although has you say they should be standard production versions.

As an additional piece of information I upgraded the firmware from 1.02 to 1.1, just in case it had any bearing on the problem. No change perceived.

Roy

 

[stratman]

As an additional piece of information I upgraded the firmware from 1.02 to 1.1, just in case it had any bearing on the problem. No change perceived.

I think you've figured out your problem!

From Canon at https://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer?pageKeyCode=prdAdvDetail&docId=0901e02480714798

Affected Products
PIXMA PRO-10/PRO-100 printers
DetailsPrinter Firmware Updater incorporates the following:

1. Fixes a phenomenon in which the ink level in the ink cartridges for the printer is not properly indicated in some instances.

Printer Firmware Updater for PRO-10 printers contains the Firmware file Version 1.030. If the printer’s firmware is already Version 1.030, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

Printer Firmware Updater for PRO-100 printers contains the Firmware file Version 1.020. If the printer’s firmware is already Version 1.020, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

Print the nozzle check pattern to determine if firmware update is needed.

If the issue appeared after flashing the firmware to v1.1 then look for a newer firmware update -- v1.2 is available for Windows 7 and 8 -- or reflash with the latest firmware.

 

[The Hat]

Take it from me; upgrading the firmware on Canons advice is not such a good idea at all.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Take it from me; upgrading the firmware on Canons advice is not such a good idea at all.

Understand and agree with your point, but was figuring if it solved my problem would be the lesser of several evils.

It did not make any visible change, but for the record on my next print job comprising 10 prints, it stopped after 7 prints and went into an extended cleaning cycle. I had not documented previous cycles before the change, but after your comments, I was more aware of the cleaning cycles.

Of course with my current ink monitoring dilemma, removing carts for constant visual checking also results in additional cleaning cycles. As we all know it is not the cost of the ink, but the filling of the waste ink tank that is the problem. If only somebody could figure a solution to the full waste tank on Canon Pixma printers. Anybody working on that one?

Happy printing, or in the words of She who must be obeyed - "Make sure you scrub all that ink stuff off your fingers, we are going out to supper tonight".

RS