Canon ipf 6400-cleaning message and ink usuage stats

[dgillilan]

Hello,
 I have a Canon ipf 6400 that I am enjoying;
 1st question:
 I wonder if anyone else has noticed on a Canon ipf 6400 the message "Cleaning" on the printer control panel? It did not indicate printhead or nozzle, just the word "Cleaning" which lasted about a minute with nothing printed and nothing was spit out. I do nozzle checks regularly and a piece of paper is spit out with the little squares, just like on my Epson nozzle checks.
 I cannot find just the word "Cleaning" in the large user manual or the smaller manual that is furnished hard copy with this printer.
 2nd question:
 Is the only way to determine the ink usuage at a given point in time, for each cart, to download your job usuage in a comma separated file, from the Canon Status monitor software for job info, and take it into excel and do a summation using spreadsheet to sum up all the print jobs' ink usuage by cart, at that point? That is all I know to do to see how much ink has been used up to date. I just want to keep an eye on it so I can order carts before it actually says a cart is almost out.
 Thanks,
 Debra

[enduser]

If you let the Canon iPFs go in to "Power Saving Mode" (Recommended), they will awake periodically and do one of the following:

Cleaning
Agitating
Checking Temperature and Humidity
Nozzle Check

This all part of the Canon self maintenance routine that is built in.  If you turn the machine "Off" it does no self-maintenance.
These routines use very small amounts of ink, or as the accountants say, "The amount is not material".

[Bullfrog]

I have the 6100 but expect in this area - its not different.
You can view your ink levels on the printer itself at the menu (LCD screen).  My 6100 will also show the ink levels on the printer dialog box when I print - its the same information.

When I'm getting low on a cartridge, the system warns me - I've been running several small (8x10) proofing prints for the last couple of days even though it tells me I am low on one cartridge colour.

I buy cartridges when the ink levels get around 1/4 full - and will keep them handy .

As another mentioned, cleaning is done to prevent clogs and my printer is left on 24/7.  The amount of actual ink used in cleaning routines is negligible in my experience and necessary but to my knowledge there is no way of aggregating ink usage statistically.

Truthfully I have seen the text file in the media configuration tool but (and maybe this is me) I just don't care.  When I first got the printer, I would check ink usage in the menu options (scroll through and it actually tells you the amount of ink used on the last print job) - and I did this for a while to get a feel for the amount of ink used in a print and the cost.

[Pete Berry]

Unlike Epson heads, Canon thermal heads have a huge nozzle redundancy and re-map any nozzles which fail (generally by thermo-electrical burnout rather than ink clogging) with fresh nozzles. Eventually the heads will fail with re-mapping exhausted, and replacement needed - preceded by printhead error messages, at which time nozzle checks will generally be abnormal for one or more colors.

But until then, they are just a waste of time and a bit of ink I've found over 7 years iPF series usage. Freedom from this and forced cleanings is a huge plus with the iPF's. Some advise printing at least weekly, but I've not found this necessary so far, and have gone as long as six weeks numerous times, leaving the printer on to do its self-maintenance thing - "cleaning" and internal nozzle checks.

PB

[dgillilan]

Thank you Enduser, Bullfrog and Pete for your replies.  I need to find a way to leave the printer on and Not let it turn itself off after an amount of time. I have tried leaving it on and after about two hours, it  turns itself off in power saving mode. I think I need to research how to turn that off so that the printer will self-agitate and clean itself.
Thank you, Debra

[ftbt]

... I need to find a way to leave the printer on and Not let it turn itself off after an amount of time. I have tried leaving it on and after about two hours, it  turns itself off in power saving mode. I think I need to research how to turn that off so that the printer will self-agitate and clean itself.

You can drill on down in the firmware menu and set the "Power Saving" mode not to turn the machine off. In order be "Energy Star" compliant Canon had to have a default power saving mode that would actually shut the machine off. The original firmware in my 8400 didn't have it, and it would remain on. When I updated the firmware, they snuck in the auto shut-down routine.

[dgillilan]

Dear ftbt,
I think I found it ! I had looked before in the menu, for some sort of command to prevent the printer from shutting itself off. I looked under the Setting and Adjustment Menu, then System Setup, and found "Shutdown Timer" and checked "OFF". (I had thought that "sleep timer" was the controlling item and it has no off choice for it, but then I saw the "Shutdown timer"). I hope this does it so that my printer will do nozzle checks and agitate on its own, that would be nice. I would like for it to do that in lieu of me forgetting to do it manually and having a clog result, which I think this method of auto checking will help solve.
Thank you,
Debra

[Pete Berry]

If it doesn't shut down entirely (no panel lights at all), it should periodically wake up for its self-maintenance every several days - at least my 5000 and 5100 will, with green online button always lit, but no LCD display while sleeping.

Pete

[dgillilan]

Thanks Pete, I think it is doing what you describe - the green "Power" light is still lit(after two hours now), but the printer control panel is dim with nothing, so I think it is asleep(previously before I found the "shutdown timer" menu, it would cut off completely, no power). I will leave it as it is, I think I have it set now for auto nozzle and agitation.
Thanks again, Debra