Life of Canon IPF Heads

[BillK]

Here is a link to a short video showing how to enter service mode and print a nozzle check like Geraldo mentions.
Also shows how to reset the chip on the maintenance cartridge.

http://www.inkjetcarts.us/support/article/canon-ipf8300-service-menu-enter-97.html

[Robcat]

I'd be interested to know if any iPF users have successfully cleared nozzle problems/head failure messages with cleaning cycles.

Pete

My ipf 8300 kept chugging along until I let it sit with little or no printing for a period of time and shortly after starting to print again got the head failure message. It did not clear with cleaning (nor did the 2nd head failure not long thereafter). I've not heard of anyone else doing anything other than replacing the head once you get a failure. Keep the thing printing!
On the good side, it's really easy to replace the heads 

[Geraldo Garcia]

Geraldo,

Thanks in advance for your response to the following question. How do you access the service mode on the Canon 8400 to perform the nozzle check that you describe, that better shows how many nozzles are left on the printhead?

And a question for everyone. When you lose a printhead, is it your experience that you lose both heads simultaneously, or just one at a time? 

Given the inconvenience of losing a printhead at a time when you need to do some printing, do all of you keep one or two spare printheads on the assumption that in any one to five-year period of time, you'll have to do a replacement?  If so, referring to my first question, do you keep one or two spare printheads on hand? 

You are welcome! The video Bill posted is exactly where I learned it. Actually my mind refuses to memorize this kind of thing, so every time I want to print a service mode nozzle check I replay the video.
About the printheads, usually one goes first so you may keep only one spare. Sure it is possible to have both heads failing at the same time, specially when something happens to both heads (like a brutal headstrike or long term storage), but not due to the end of the heads life cycle. From hat I heard the right head usually goes first.

A Canon technician told me to don't even bother with "head cleaning B", if one or two "head cleaning A" does not solve it, replace the head.

[alan a]

Many thanks to Geraldo and BillK for all the help, both here and in my other thread on buying the 8400.  Now, if you have any insights on Canon media types, and can help on that, see the new question I posted for all you experts!