canon ipf8400 maintenance cartridge question

[gchappel]

I have had an ipf8400 printer for almost 4 years.
I print intermittently- in batches, which I know is not the way these printers like to be treated.
She sometimes sits for a couple of weeks before starting up another project.
I just got notice that the maintenance cartridge is nearly full. 
This will be the second cartridge I have replaced- so I have wasted 2 full maintenance cartridges full of ink in almost 4years.
Does anyone know about how much ink a maintenance cartridge holds when the printer reports it as full?
I should weigh the new and old cartridges, but I do not have an accurate scale- I am hoping someone has done this already.
Is 2 cartridges in 4 years roughly average?
Thanks
Gary

[stockjock]

I have an iPF8400 that is also about 4 years old.  I also print in batches intermittently but when I'm not using the printer I do set it up to automatically run a test print every 2-3 days.  I replaced one maintenance cartridge and reset the second one when it was showing 70% full.  There used to be a wiki that had that procedure but it appears to have shut down but you might find the process if you poke around on the web.  My recollection is the cartridge had to be less than 80% full to be reset.  In both cases neither maintenance cartridge looked or felt even remotely full.  My guess is Canon is just excessively conservative about how full the cartridge can get.  But you can buy a new one on eBay for about $70 so it isn't a major expense if you have to replace it every couple of years. 

[Malcolm Payne]

The following is for my iPF8300, but I imagine the iPF8400 would be similar:

I find a maintenance cartridge usually lasts around 2 years before it gets down to 20% remaining, the minimum capacity after which it can no longer be reset. I don't know if there is a maximum remaining capacity above which it also can't be reset, but there seems little point in doing so for a nearly empty cartridge. I do try to print at least a nozzle check every few days to minimise cleaning cycles.

I normally run mine down to 20% (unless it's already low and I need to do a head change), reset, and then let it run down to 20% again before swapping out the cartridge. Even then there is still some spare capacity in the absorbent pads, but they get rather wet where the waste ink enters and I don't care to risk it beyond that point. It's simple to remove the pads, rinse thoroughly, dry and replace for a new lease of life.

The empty weight is 490gm and the weight after two 'fills' to 20% is ca. 1200 - 1300gm, so that's approx. 800 grams of waste ink. As there will probably have been a fair degree of evaporation over that period, that's quite a substantial amount of waste.

The maintenance cart reset procedure for the IPF8300 is:

RESET MAINTENANCE CARTRIDGE

Enter Service Mode:
Turn off printer
Turn on while holding Navigate and Load
(1) ‘S’ displayed middle right-hand side
(2) Message light flashes while in Service Mode

Press Menu button
Select ‘Service Mode’
Right arrow key -> ‘Initialise’
Down arrow
Right arrow -> W-INK
OK
Displays '=W-INK' then 'W-INK'
Up arrow to Main Menu
Press ‘Info’ button until maintenance cartridge capacity displayed
Maintenance Cart Capacity = 100% (empty)
Hold Power Off to turn off
Turn on normally
Maintenance capacity should read 100%

Hope that helps.

Malcolm

[I.T. Supplies]

You can reset a maintenance cartridge, but it's highly not recommended.  If you pass the capacity of the sponge, you're looking at the ink overfilling into the printer itself which can be a larger expensive rather than spending $80ish on a new one.

The manufacturer's set the printer to state a replacement is needed at a certain capacity so the overfill part doesn't happen and possibly damage the printer.  But, it's your call.

[gchappel]

I ordered a new cartridge- I play it safe with big printers.
I may try resetting it- and see if I can clean and reuse it next time.
Thanks for outlining the procedure- I will give it a try. 
Probably this weekend, I will let you know if it works on the 8400
Gary

[Malcolm Payne]

You're welcome.

If you want to play safe but still reset the maintenance cartridge, simply swap it out immediately after the first reset at 20% and clean the pads before reusing it again when the replacement cartridge is full.

I've never had any of mine look remotely like overflowing even after the second charge on a reset cartridge - it's only reached 160% of nominal capacity at that point - but obviously it's wise to check visually from time to time and not to do head changes or power cleanings etc or to transport the printer on one that is running low on capacity. If you're printing a lot so that the ink doesn't have time to soak further into the pads, this may not apply.

I've no reason to believe the reset procedure won't work on an iPF8400, but use at your own risk - if any of the printer responses don't match the procedure, it's safer to give up at that point and simply exit and restart. I probably wouldn't bother if Canon charged a sensible price for the cartridge, but it's expensive for a plastic moulding, a few absorbent pads and a chip that probably costs pennies.

By way of a horror anecdote: A local high street printer here, not the brightest of sparks, thought he would expand into the large format market and agreed to pay someone he knew £100 a month to borrow his unused 44" iPF8300. He couldn't get it through the door of his shop horizontally so tipped it up on end … It never quite worked properly after that. Clearly neither of them had bothered to check the moving procedure nor knew about the internal ink reservoirs.

Malcolm

[gchappel]

Dang, the maintenance cartridge is too full, it will not let me reset it.
I will remember this thread for the next time.
Thanks
Gary