Canon PRO-4100 reset maintenance tank

[purtypitcher]

Hi, I'm looking for info on how to 1) enter service mode on a Canon PRO-4100 printer and, 2) how to navigate through Service Mode to reset the maintenance tank counter to zero. This is something I was able to do repeatedly on my previous 44" printer, the Canon ipf 8300. The idea of throwing away the whole cartridge makes bad environmental and financial sense, when one can simply replace the absorbent material inside. Thanks for any pointers.

Don

[dpirazzi]

With the printer turned off -

1. Press and hold the Power button
2. When the Canon logo is displayed on the operation panel, while still holding the power button, press Area4 (lower left), Area2 (lower right,) Area3 (upper left,) and Area1 (upper right) and finally release the Power button within two seconds.

When it finishes initializing, there will be an extra menu item, "SERVICE" at the bottom.

I have been looking for the menu item to reset maintenance cart but have not found it yet, if you find it please post back. You can buy chips for the maint cart and just replace the chip when you empty the cart, saves some money.

[John Hollenberg]

I don't know if there have been changes to the newer models and maintenance tanks, but this is from the old Wiki back in the days of the iPF6100.  Information provided as is, whatever you decide to do is at your own risk:

After digitally flipping though the iPF5000 service manual, I deduced how to reset the maintenance cartridge (called "W-INK" in the manual) usage count for my 6100. For those who wonder, the 6100 will no longer operate once the maintenance cartridge hits 10%. I verified this by reading the W-INK usage counter after the printer insisted on a new maintenance cartridge.

1. Start the printer in service mode

2. Press "Menu". There will be a new entry called "SERVICE MODE" with a different menu structure and navigation system.

3. Familiarize yourself with the following facts while in this menu:
Left and right change the categories.
Down and up go into, and out of (respectively) submenus.
From what I've read, the service mode is very powerful - lots of opportunities to really mess things up. Be careful.

4. Select "Service Mode" as you normally would, i.e. scroll down, then press OK.

5. Press the right arrow until you see "Initialize".

6. Press the down arrow.

7. Press the right arrow until "W-INK" is displayed. (Note: be sure you select "W-INK" from the "Initialize" choices instead of "W-INK - CHG CNT" which sounds like just the thing, but doesn't work.)

8. Press OK.

9. The display should show "=W-INK" for about half a second, then plain "W-INK".

10. Press up until you get back to the main menu. Press information until the maintenance cartridge capacity is displayed.

11. The maintenance cartridge capacity is now 100% (aka empty).

12. Press and hold Power to turn off your printer.

13. Turn it back on normally.

14. Maintenance cartridge capacity (not usage!) should still be at 100%.

[purtypitcher]

Thanks dpirazzi, I'll poke around in the Service menus and see if I can find anything.

Thanks, John Hollenberg, that is the same info I used to reset my ipf8300. Perhaps a W-INK menu option will show up in Service mode on the PRO-4100. I'll poke around and hopefully find something relevant.

Don

[purtypitcher]

Here's what I found in Service Mode. Typing here in all caps to show exactly what the menus had:

SERVICE MODE / PRINTER STATUS / OTHER CONSUMABLES USAGE LOG / MAINTENANCE CARTRIDGE USAGE /

USAGE  20
THE NO. OF REPLACEMENT  0
THE NO. OF RESET  1

And then there is a button labelled RESET

Could it be that easy? This is a brand new printer, so I am guessing "THE NO. OF RESET  1" would be from when the printer first initialized. Since my maintenance cartridge is only 20% used at this point, I'm a little leery to hit the RESET button just to experiment. I do know that on my ipf8300, you had to do the reset procedure before the maintenance cartridge was completely used up. I wonder if Canon phone support would confirm this info....

Who wants to try pressing RESET??

Don

[dpirazzi]

Guessing that will reset the maintenance log, not the cart chip?

[purtypitcher]

OK, as posted previously, I stopped when presented with RESET. Today, I pushed RESET, and it gave me "Execute Yes/No". I pushed Yes, and it came back with "THE NO. OF RESET 2", and now shows the maintenance cartridge at 0 usage! Of course, the tank does have some waste ink in it, so I will keep an eye on it as the tank approaches full. I don't know if the counter moves in 20% increments or not, because the first count I saw was 20% usage after first installing the printer. But I for sure won't let it get to 100% and maybe not even 80% before doing the RESET and swapping out the absorbing material.

Don

[dpirazzi]

Thanks for taking that leap, and sharing the results! I'll give it a try next time I fire up the 4100.

[James Clark]

Thanks for taking that leap, and sharing the results! I'll give it a try next time I fire up the 4100.

For anyone finding this in a search, the instructions regarding RESET/EXECUTE successfully reset my 4100 maintenance cartridge to zero (printer has latest firmware as of March 9, 2023).

Cheers!

[picman]

I seem to remember, and could be wrong, that the reset has to be done before the cartridges shows 100% used.

[Lessbones]

I've reported using this method a number of times in these forums-- generally you can reset it 3 or 4 times before you actually will overflow anything.  Also , the first time you dump it out, just get rid of those absorbent pads, they're not good for anything, and not any better than just an open container if you're careful enough not to spill it everywhere.

[purtypitcher]

Good to see this is working for others. Yes, on my ipf8300 it was important to reset the counter before the printer thought it was full. I would guess that these newer printers are the same. So, reset your maintenance tank before it registers as full.

[sunnyherman]

FWIW, I have an iPF 6300 and had to replace the maintenance cart. I put the old cart in a the box the new one came in and put it in a cabinet. After some time I got the replace maintenance cart message again. I remembered the old cart and pulled it out of the cabinet. It seemed a lot lighter so just for kicks I inserted it back into the 6300 and voila, it was recognized and I was able to continue printing.

My thinking is the ink had mostly if not completely evaporated out of the original maintenance cart over time. I have never purchased another maintenance cart as I just keep recycling the two I have.