Canon Pro-1 wasting ink when not being used.

[crwoo]

Hi, I have a pro-1 that i feel like its draining its ink doing maintenance when being unused for a week or so.
I use it only about every other week for a few pics and then it's unused for a while before i use again.
after printing about 20 4x6 one if the inks is empty and some others are blinking. what is your experience? I talked to canon and they said i should power it of if i dont use it for a week or so. what else can i do so it doesnt waste my ink away?

[Scott Martin]

Avoid cleaning cycles by printing at least one 8 x 10 every week. Under usage is the number one reason for head clogging and failure. Your printer is just trying to prevent head failure, which is more costly than the ink. Printing one 8x10 per week will waste much less ink than the cleaning cycles.

[crwoo]

ok that makes sense. i print mostly 4x6. would a 4x6 per week prevent the head cleanings?

[Scott Martin]

ok that makes sense. i print mostly 4x6. would a 4x6 per week prevent the head cleanings?

2 4x6s a week would probably be smart. These pritners like to be used and bad things happen when they sit. Cheers.

[crwoo]

OK thanks, i know that pigment printers want to be used. i want the printer because of its quality, but it don't want it to waste all my ink.

[Scott Martin]

i want the printer because of its quality, but it don't want it to waste all my ink.

Right! Use it regularly and it will sip ink. Let it sit unused and it will dump a bunch of ink cleaning itself.

[crwoo]

some weeks i dont have a picture that I want printed, would a single nozzle check do the trick? that way i simply load copy paper and hold the cancel button. Do you think it would prevent the printer from wasting a lot of ink cleaning?

[Scott Martin]

Unfortunately, a nozzle check isn't enough. Gotta let the ink flow more than that. Make a few prints. Every week.