ipf 8300 main board problems

[Media59]

Just had the main computer board replaced in my 8300 along with two suction fans. After 1 month I'm getting the Harware Error 03130031-2618 which is related to 24v voltage somewhere. I just recently put the printer on a APC battery backup and was wondering if that's a problem since I believe backups are like generators, they use a modified sine wave versus a true sine wave like the power from an outlet. This can wreak havoc with electronics and it's recommended that you not use them with laptops. I'm wondering if this might be a problem for the printer. Anyone with any experience with this type of thing.

thanks.

[howardm]

have you tried removing the APC and plugging the 8300 back into the wall?  Have you contacted Canon?

APC makes hundreds of different units, some of which do regenerate a pure sine but if you bought some cheap big-box-store
model, it may not I suppose.  What *exact* model did you get?

[Media59]

The backup is an APC 1300 XS.  The error message goes away if I shut down the machine and reboot. It will print for a while then at some point give me the message and I have to reboot. This last time I fully unplugged the printer to clear any problems. It printed so I'll see how it goes. If I still get the message I'll try removing the APC as you suggested. Not crazy about having it unprotected though. I have a line conditioner by tripp lite that I could try.  It takes care of spikes and dirty power, maybe that might help.

We've had pretty good luck with Canon printers, but when they go down it's almost not worth fixing them with all the discounts and rebates that they offer.
We still have a 9100, and a new 8400 online so at least we're not hard down if it dies.

I am curious about the power issue though since I have them all on similar type backups.

[Some Guy]

I know Paul C. Buff who makes studio flash units does not recommend square wave inverters for their lights (i.e. battery to inverter to flash.).  His own inverter is a sine wave.  Don't know what components a square wave damages.

SG

[howardm]

well, that UPS is not going to win any awards.......

Waveform Type    Stepped approximation to a sinewave

I suppose its possible that the power supply eventually overheats or doesn't like the stepped approx.

Personally, when my 14yo APC 'smartups' finally died, I replaced it w/ a cyberpower and have had no issues.
http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups-systems/pfc-sinewave-series.html

[crwoo]

I had problems with my 8400 and I told the canon service guy that i feel bad about the printer not being plugged into any UPS and he said it's really not recomended. he told me to get a surge protector...which i didnt.

[Clearair]

I have been using UPS on my iPF6100 for 6 years now. If he techy says just use a surge protector he she is missing the point.
Canon says these printers can be damaged when there is a power out while working.
Where I used to live that was everyday and here it's once a week but several times a year for minutes or hours.
There are no PURE sine wave desktops, but they come close. The cheaper stepped UPS must not be used with a motorised device.
You can hear a buzz from the power stage of PC or printers with these.
I have been so impressed with mine that I bought one for my wife's iMac and desktop printer.
They are available cheap if you look for an end of range model and be prepared for fitting new batteries.
My UPS if busy right now keeping the BR writer going and letting me know about the naughty Apple OS not shutting down even when using the energy saver.
They are for saving the day not to actually run a PC or printer longer than is necessary.
Hope this helps.

[deanwork]

I had an issue this last week where I was missing one half of the nozzle check of only the light gray pattern. It was giving me grainy very light values, everything else was great. I didn't even notice it with color work.

Canon made me replace the right print head which was like a month out of warranty, meaning one year old. That's $450.00.

That didn't do anything so they sent out the tech guy, who by the way is good and I like a lot. He put in a new main board and that fixed it. But they would't refund my $450.00 head, which I thought sucked. So I spent the $1,500.00 general service call put the cost of the head. Now it works like new.

I'm a little concerned about this main board having to be replaced because I always unplug the printer during lightening storms. There was one time when my power went out during a printing session where they were doing construction in the area. But I don't know why it would take 3 months from that to start seeing problems with the printer. I had been doing normal bw during that time after the surge. I keep mine plugged into an aps surge protector as well. Maybe there was a power outage sometime when I was asleep. I have always kept this  plugged in all the time when not printing so it can monitor the nozzles like my HP always does, but now I'm wondering it I should keep it unplugged when not in use like I do my Epson.

John

[Media59]

I'm seeing a lot of main board problems online. I think they need to either lower the price significantly on the main boards or find out what's causing them to fail. Mine happened after one of the suction fans started to go bad, probably putting an extra load for power. I have had 5 printers in the past 7 years and the only one that lasted was the first two, the 9000 and the 8000s. I printed with them for over 5 years without any problems except heads, which is normal.
My 9100 was bad from the get go, luckily under warranty, and they replaced several parts to get it going the first time out of the box. My 8300 lost the main board after 2 years. I just got an error code on the 9100 that I'm keeping an eye on. Luckily I bought the extended warranty on that one.
the 8400 is flawless so far. (It's only been online for two weeks)

The local contracted repair guys are pretty much just part changers. They are constantly on the phone talking to the experts to find out what the next step is, unless it's something obvious, and they charge $180/hour which adds up fast. The cost to fix my 8300 was just a tad over $2000.  If I had know that going in I would have just bought a new printer.

I may start looking at the Epson's from here on out.

[deanwork]

I had a paper jam when the roll of Platine curled and I was getting the head over heated error message. The nozzle when out right after that so I guess they are very sensitive.

My service cost for Canon out of warranty is $1,500.00. The online guy told me that would cover anything from a tiny inexpensive fix to whatever it takes. However, he also told me that if they determined the printer was not worth fixing ( whatever that means ) they would refund that cost and walk away.

To be honest I've had service from all these companies and I didn't like Decision One one bit. The only tech who really knew his stuff was the HP guy who could take that machine totally apart and fix anything within 2 hours max.

john

[JimGoshorn]

I know that Decision One handles Epson repairs. Do they also do repairs for Canon and HP?

Jim

[deanwork]

No Decision One is only used by Epson. Hp uses their own repair techs, and the guy I had out here a couple of times in the beginning when I replaced a belt and the free star wheel assembly they offered me was great, really knowledgeable about the printer inside and out. He took it apart in no time and made sure he inspected everything inside and replaced the waste tank without me asking. He didn't have to get on the phone to anyone to do his work. They work on similar HP printers for Fed-Ex Kinkos here in Atlanta.

With  Canon they use Pitney Bowles. This guy was nice and put in the main board with no problems but he was on the phone constantly with Canon online tech support, step by step and it was a pretty simple procedure. I could have probably done the same thing if I had the parts and I don't know anything. With Epson and Decision One, that guy came out to fix a guide part on my Epson 10K and he had never even worked on an Epson printer before, much less at 10K. It took him all day to do a simple thing and he did that wrong. He was on the phone the entire time and seemed way over his head. I know there must be some good guys at Decision One but my guy simply wasn't even trained on Epson machines. Course this was some time ago. Hopefully they have better people around here by now.

john