PRO-100 Bottom Plate Cleaning required repeatedly

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At wits' end here!

After couple years of medium use, my PRO-100 is leaving ink on prints.  For a while, it would be upper left and lower right of print (13x19) - black. Replaced nearly depleted black, cleaned, and that problem seems to be gone for now.

But, there is also light ink tracks near bottom of print - NOT black, from what I can tell. Some cyan, maybe gray - hard to tell. Went thru 6 sheets doing bottom plate cleaning. It gets finer marks, but still a faint amount. Center of sheet and a bit left of center.

I shut it off, came back in half hour and did another bottom plate clean - streaking is more pronounced! Also, the printer seems to be spending more time doing whatever it does before doing something useful. It farts around for almost the same time it takes to print a 13x19 before actually printing. That can't be good.

Bad ink (Canon)? Same paper for a year. No user serviceable parts inside!

I am paranoid now of wasting anymore Canson paper.

I'd like to get one of the new 17" printers but after this Canon episode and the war stories of Epson, I am at a lost. This PRO-100 isn't worth servicing - so cheap retail.

Any words of wisdom?

rick

[dgberg]

Not sure if that model has an auto clean. If it does turn it off.
Your maintenance tank/pads may be saturated? Especially if that thing is cleaning unchecked?
 Have you looked at the docking station to see if you have any ink puddling there?
If so it could be being picked up by the head as it (passes or is parked) and deposited anywhere and everywhere?

[Mark Lindquist]

At wits' end here!

I'd like to get one of the new 17" printers but after this Canon episode and the war stories of Epson, I am at a lost. This PRO-100 isn't worth servicing - so cheap retail.

Any words of wisdom?

rick

I have a Canon Pro 100 and in anticipation of what you're descrbing, I also have another one brand new, sitting in a box for when I need to replace it.  These things have been bundled with cameras, papers, etc, and folks have bought them and taken the carton proof of purchase stickers off and then they sell them cheap, after taking the inks and printheads out.  I'll bet you that you can type in Canon Pro 100 in Craigslist in your area and at least one will come up and for cheap and I do mean cheap.  I got a brand new one for $35.00.  Pull your printheads and carts and fire up the replacement and throw the old one away and don't look back.

That's my advice.

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Thanks for the replies...

Dan: no pooling that I can see (with a swab).  Besides, why couldn't we as users/customers remove, clean, replace, whatever, those sponges? Rhetorical question.

Mark: I'm with you, there. Maybe I'll poke around and see what's around here. I'm 68. I know - big deal!   I'm still not used to throw-away design mentality.

Oh well, just a personal problem...

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Pull your printheads and carts and fire up the replacement and throw the old one away and don't look back.

That's my advice.

I can understand the ink, just put the ones with decent quantity into the new printer, right? Hold off on the cartridges shipped with printer.

But why take the print head? Wouldn't that risk transferring some (possible) problem to the new printer?

rick

[Mark Lindquist]

I can understand the ink, just put the ones with decent quantity into the new printer, right? Hold off on the cartridges shipped with printer.

But why take the print head? Wouldn't that risk transferring some (possible) problem to the new printer?

rick

Rick, 
The printhead is no big deal.  Each printhead is manufactured with quality control that should enable any printhead to fit into any other machine.
It essentially is a "cartridge that slides into the printhead carriage"

This is the printhead carriage


In every case, you would be aligning the new printhead, so no big deal.

Ideally, if you find a new printer cheaply on Craig's list, only the inks will be gone, and it would be best to just replace the ink set with a new one.  Pull the inks out of the printer you'd be replacing and save those to use when you go through the new ones in the "new" (Craigslist) printer.  Here's an example of what I mean about finding one on Craigslist:

Here's one brand new WITH inks
(Seattle):  Pro 100 new

Another WITH inks:  Pro 100 New

One with no inks and no printhead - New $10.00:  $10-no inks or printhead

If the printhead is gone, and they will say so, Canon Pro 100 Printheads new are about $75- $100 and no big deal to replace - just Google.

I'm just advocating that you can get a NEW printer really cheaply because of their funky rebate system where people take the proof of purchase sticker off the box then resell the printer, sometimes untouched, sometimes with inks removed, etc.

I understand your reluctance to dump the old printer, but these printers are really "lost-lead" throw away printers IMO.  You can spend time screwing with your old printer or just dump it and get a brand new one for very little.  Up to you of course!

-Mark