Questions regarding Canon ipf6400 and Epson 7890

[raminolta]

I have been having a Canon ipf6400 for the past 4 years which has served me very well even though there were numerous periods of time when I didn't use it for a couple of weeks. It was always fixing its printhead cloggings after one or two printhead cleaning. Recently two cartridges were about to be depleted. I was ill for a while and ignored the warning messages and turned off the printer instead. After turning it on, the printer apparently tried to pull ink from the empty printheads resulting in a printhead error. The printer now asks to replace one of the printheads. I don't know if it might be possible to fix the error message by trying to clean the printhead myself. Well I can give it a try but I need to buy new inks first. I estimate bringing back the printer to life might cost me near to $1000 (inks plus a new printhead). Or if I am lucky, maybe less. I think this is still a more economic option compared to buying a new one such as the Canon Pro 2100 which costs about CAD$3900 after the taxes. However with the new printer, there comes new upgrades and improvements. For example the ability to use 700ml cartridges which are more economic. I am also worried if I try to fix my old printer, another problem may arise along the way requiring spending even more.

I can also get an Epson 7890 printer for very little (almost free). However, there is no ink in it and it hasn't been used for about six months. meaning the printhead most likely need to be replaced too as I have read Epson printers are super sensitive and need to be used regularly. Is the printhead in the Epson printer user replaceable like Canon? I am wondering if there is any advantage to get the Epson and try to make it work instead of my Canon one?

Any suggestion is welcome. Thanks.

[mearussi]

I have been having a Canon ipf6400 for the past 4 years which has served me very well even though there were numerous periods of time when I didn't use it for a couple of weeks. It was always fixing its printhead cloggings after one or two printhead cleaning. Recently two cartridges were about to be depleted. I was ill for a while and ignored the warning messages and turned off the printer instead. After turning it on, the printer apparently tried to pull ink from the empty printheads resulting in a printhead error. The printer now asks to replace one of the printheads. I don't know if it might be possible to fix the error message by trying to clean the printhead myself. Well I can give it a try but I need to buy new inks first. I estimate bringing back the printer to life might cost me near to $1000 (inks plus a new printhead). Or if I am lucky, maybe less. I think this is still a more economic option compared to buying a new one such as the Canon Pro 2100 which costs about CAD$3900 after the taxes. However with the new printer, there comes new upgrades and improvements. For example the ability to use 700ml cartridges which are more economic. I am also worried if I try to fix my old printer, another problem may arise along the way requiring spending even more.

I can also get an Epson 7890 printer for very little (almost free). However, there is no ink in it and it hasn't been used for about six months. meaning the printhead most likely need to be replaced too as I have read Epson printers are super sensitive if they aren't used for a while. Is the printhead in the Epson printer user replaceable like Canon? I am wondering if there is any advantage to get the Epson and try to make it work instead of my Canon one?

Any suggestion is welcome. Thanks.

The 7890 is dead. Those heads plug very fast and cost around $3,000 to replace. The ipf6400 inks can be bought outdated on eBay for 1/2 to 1/3 the price of new and work fine (that's all I use in my ipf6400) with the 130ml usually being the cheapest/ml. A new head for the Canon costs around $300 on Amazon.

[Pete Berry]

The Canon iPF series are fantastic, very low maintenance, and when one head is shot there's a good likelihood the other is going to fail soon. So just go ahead and order two if you're going to keep the printer - and likely print for another several years. Changing/refilling does consume about 20% of the 130ml carts.

About the Epson - many past nightmare threads about recurrent clogging that the Canons don't have. Their electro-thermal bubble jet ejection makes them pretty immune to simple clogging. They will burn out eventually, but the heads have a huge nozzle redundancy that will auto-remap as nozzles fail - unlike Epson with its fixed number that all have to function.

[raminolta]

Thank you for the feedback and advice.