Canon iPF8300 - unused for 3 years. Worth resurrecting?

[Waker]

I have a 44" Canon ipf8300 that was a backup printer and got pushed to one side, and has been dormant for about 3 years now.
Thought i'd put it on Craigslist or eBay, so decided to fire it up and have a nozzle check, but it seems the inks have all dried out in their carts, (the carts feel empty-light)  Can't do a nozzle check without ink, so no idea state of heads, either.

is it worth resurrecting??  - it would need 12 ink carts, ($700 + for 'compatibles') and maybe head/s ($450 each)
seems not worth it, though it pains me to trash it, as it's really mint. I used it maybe 10 times.

Or simply put it on eBay/ CL for an 'as is' sale?

Lovely printer, did many things my Epson's couldn't, like print really well onto Harman Gloss Baryta without marking.

[mearussi]

I'd say RIP. The ink has also probably dried in the ink tubing making it impossible to resurrect without a major investment.

[deanwork]

I thought my hpz3100 which was dormant for a year with a broken belt would have dried ink in the lines until my tech told me know, the head to ink cart lines were totally sealed. We totally restored it easily and now it is functionally a new printer.  The ink can not dry in the lines. I don’t believe that is the case with Epsons. Canons I would think they are sealed but don’t know for sure. Definitely I would look into it. I still use my 8300 all the time and it is the most durable and reliable I’ve ever owned. It was made much better than the 8400s and more permanent inks than the new ones.

Where you totally screwed up though was not leaving it plugged in. What a waste.  It requires that. Was designed to be a self monitoring system, checking itself  a few times a day to keep nozzles clean. Now you are going to have to replace both heads I’m almost positive, plus the inks.

I'd say RIP. The ink has also probably dried in the ink tubing making it impossible to resurrect without a major investment.

[mearussi]

I thought my hpz3100 which was dormant for a year with a broken belt would have dried ink in the lines until my tech told me know, the head to ink cart lines were totally sealed. We totally restored it easily and now it is functionally a new printer.  The ink can not dry in the lines. I don’t believe that is the case with Epsons. Canons I would think they are sealed but don’t know for sure. Definitely I would look into it. I still use my 8300 all the time and it is the most durable and reliable I’ve ever owned. It was made much better than the 8400s and more permanent inks than the new ones.

Where you totally screwed up though was not leaving it plugged in. What a waste.  It requires that. Was designed to be a self monitoring system, checking itself  a few times a day to keep nozzles clean. Now you are going to have to replace both heads I’m almost positive, plus the inks.

I was thinking about buying a 8400 as I have the 6400 and love it. But you're saying the 8300 is better built? In what way?

[Waker]

Where you totally screwed up though was not leaving it plugged in. What a waste.  It requires that. Was designed to be a self monitoring system, checking itself  a few times a day to keep nozzles clean. Now you are going to have to replace both heads I’m almost positive, plus the inks.

Good to have that info.

There's people on eBay who guarantee to unclog Canon heads for $90 each. (Or you can buy new ones from Japan on eBay for ~$325)

Yes the 8300 is a great machine. well built, and I believe (?) the gamut/permanence is rated better on the old inkset, than the new. Newer is not always better!  It's just the cost of 12inks thats making me balk at restarting this. Compatibles are still $700ish.

[mearussi]

Good to have that info.

There's people on eBay who guarantee to unclog Canon heads for $90 each. (Or you can buy new ones from Japan on eBay for ~$325)

Yes the 8300 is a great machine. well built, and I believe (?) the gamut/permanence is rated better on the old inkset, than the new. Newer is not always better!  It's just the cost of 12inks thats making me balk at restarting this. Compatibles are still $700ish.

You can buy outdated for much less than new and from my experience they still work fine. And the 8400 cartridges are backwards comparable with 8300.

[deanwork]

Right there should be a lot of 8400 used inks out there.

After the giant earthquake and tsunami in Japan nearly a decade ago, the Canon factory making the big pro graph printers like my 8300  was destroyed and the factory quickly moved to China. There were a lot more problems with electronics and such reported though I never had one. Now the new ones are made somewhere else in Asia, like Vietnam in a new Canon factory.

You can buy outdated for much less than new and from my experience they still work fine. And the 8400 cartridges are backwards comparable with 8300.

[mearussi]

Right there should be a lot of 8400 used inks out there.

After the giant earthquake and tsunami in Japan nearly a decade ago, the Canon factory making the big pro graph printers like my 8300  was destroyed and the factory quickly moved to China. There were a lot more problems with electronics and such reported though I never had one. Now the new ones are made somewhere else in Asia, like Vietnam in a new Canon factory.

Interesting, so you're saying this is the reason the 8300 is built better than the 8400?

[deanwork]

Absolutely the printers made in Japan were better. There were far less complaints about components failing. Of course it probably wasn’t at all easy moving the whole operation, while keeping production. I believe it effected Camera production as well. 

Two things to know about this printer. - keep it plugged in at all times to measure nozzle performance and two , the exception to that rule is unplug during thunder storms, regardless of your surge protector. These main boards blowing due to power surges are the most common thing bringing them down after the heads reaching their limit, and then to replace a major circuit board about $1,500.00. I always unplug when out of town. I rarely hear of any other problems with them. Built like a tank.

Interesting, so you're saying this is the reason the 8300 is built better than the 8400?

[mearussi]

Absolutely the printers made in Japan were better. There were far less complaints about components failing. Of course it probably wasn’t at all easy moving the whole operation, while keeping production. I believe it effected Camera production as well. 

Two things to know about this printer. - keep it plugged in at all times to measure nozzle performance and two , the exception to that rule is unplug during thunder storms, regardless of your surge protector. These main boards blowing due to power surges are the most common thing bringing them down after the heads reaching their limit, and then to replace a major circuit board about $1,500.00. I always unplug when out of town. I rarely hear of any other problems with them. Built like a tank.

Good point, I've learned that lesson as well when a recent power surge (even though I had it plugged in to a surge protector) blew the circuitry on a nozzle perfect head. Thankfully that seemed the only damage done as the printer (ipf6400) works fine now with that one head replaced. I now have the surge protector replaced with a UPS, but you're right, it still wouldn't hurt to turn off the printer anyway during storms.

[deanwork]

Those units can protect against surges when the power comes back on, usually, but can not protect against lightening strikes. All the electricians have told me that. Lightening is the killer, I unplug everything here during storms.

That was an expensive lesson I learned. In the 6 years since that happened my 8300 has had zero problems, never a clogged nozzle or software glitch of any kind. It’s always ready to go. The new ones seem solid from what I’ve heard but I just wish they had left the inkset alone. Their gloss enhancer is not as good as the hp one and they lost gamut in the green and took a big hit in longevity. That might push me back into the Epson camp like with the 10k .

Good point, I've learned that lesson as well when a recent power surge (even though I had it plugged in to a surge protector) blew the circuitry on a nozzle perfect head. Thankfully that seemed the only damage done as the printer (ipf6400) works fine now with that one head replaced. I now have the surge protector replaced with a UPS, but you're right, it still wouldn't hurt to turn off the printer anyway during storms.

[mearussi]

Those units can protect against surges when the power comes back on, usually, but can not protect against lightening strikes. All the electricians have told me that. Lightening is the killer, I unplug everything here during storms.

That was an expensive lesson I learned. In the 6 years since that happened my 8300 has had zero problems, never a clogged nozzle or software glitch of any kind. It’s always ready to go. The new ones seem solid from what I’ve heard but I just wish they had left the inkset alone. Their gloss enhancer is not as good as the hp one and they lost gamut in the green and took a big hit in longevity. That might push me back into the Epson camp like with the 10k .

Unless you're needing the extra speed I wouldn't touch the 10K or 20K as the extra speed puts increased strain on the head and other parts causing them to fail more often (this info comes from a local printer repair tech in my area). Also they lack the extra two colors of the 9000.

[deanwork]

Thanks for that. I’d probably go for the 8k 44 inch. My 9890 lasted a lot longer than all my friends 9900s that were dreadful with head problems, and I believe the fewer inks helped with the pressurized carts. I’ve heard others have the same results with their 9890s. The main reason I liked the 10-20ks was the extra gray that I could linearize with studio print and cheaper inks, but not at the risk of head issues. I was afraid of that. I think they also need to be run a lot every day. I’ve heard very few reports good or bad about them.

Unless you're needing the extra speed I wouldn't touch the 10K or 20K as the extra speed puts increased strain on the head and other parts causing them to fail more often (this info comes from a local printer repair tech in my area). Also they lack the extra two colors of the 9000.

[Terry_Kennedy]

Unless you're needing the extra speed I wouldn't touch the 10K or 20K as the extra speed puts increased strain on the head and other parts causing them to fail more often (this info comes from a local printer repair tech in my area). Also they lack the extra two colors of the 9000.

I'm not sure where that is coming from, as I have a P10K here with 28,000 pages still on its original head which saw heavy use in a large commercial shop before I got it. Aside from some initial teething problems (it is an early unit with a serial number in the 50's) which were mostly firmware, it has been solid. It needed a pump cap station after being stored improperly for many months, but that is about it.

[mearussi]

I'm not sure where that is coming from, as I have a P10K here with 28,000 pages still on its original head which saw heavy use in a large commercial shop before I got it. Aside from some initial teething problems (it is an early unit with a serial number in the 50's) which were mostly firmware, it has been solid. It needed a pump cap station after being stored improperly for many months, but that is about it.

Good to know. Like I said the only info I had was from the local repair tech.

[deanwork]

You are probably both right.

When these first came out I remember Epson reps saying these two machines were designed for constant mass production and recommended one of the others if you weren’t doing continuous production work. So probably the more square footage going through them the better.

Good to know. Like I said the only info I had was from the local repair tech.