I have a Canon BJC-5000. A very fine printer, but after I came back
from a 1-month vacation, both black tanks have clogged nozzles and do
bad test prints. I believe the nozzles are at the bottom of the
cartridges, but nothing I did, including soaking the foot of the tank
for 2 days in isoppropyl alcohol, made the slightest difference. Does
anyone have a good suggestion?

Replace the print head.

BC-21e printheads I've come across have lasted as long as 18 months or as
short as 6 months. If this the your original one, you've done VERY well.

Cari
www.coribright.com

"Bodo Diehn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Canon BJC-5000. A very fine printer, but after I came back
> from a 1-month vacation, both black tanks have clogged nozzles and do
> bad test prints. I believe the nozzles are at the bottom of the
> cartridges, but nothing I did, including soaking the foot of the tank
> for 2 days in isoppropyl alcohol, made the slightest difference. Does
> anyone have a good suggestion?

Thanks! Where do I get a print head, and how does one replace it?
These are big and expensive tanks, and must have a lot of ink still in
them.

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 17:17:24 -0800, "Cari"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Replace the print head.
>
>BC-21e printheads I've come across have lasted as long as 18 months or as
>short as 6 months. If this the your original one, you've done VERY well.
>
>Cari
>www.coribright.com
>
>"Bodo Diehn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have a Canon BJC-5000. A very fine printer, but after I came back
>> from a 1-month vacation, both black tanks have clogged nozzles and do
>> bad test prints. I believe the nozzles are at the bottom of the
>> cartridges, but nothing I did, including soaking the foot of the tank
>> for 2 days in isoppropyl alcohol, made the slightest difference. Does
>> anyone have a good suggestion?
>
>

If you're talking about the standalone black ink cartridge, it IS the
printhead in itself. If this is the one that's not printing, it's probable
that the ink has dried up within the cartridge itself. If it's the unit
with the two separate cartridges, the small black and the small tri-color,
they fit into a unit called the BC-21e..... The BC-21e can be found almost
anywhere.... OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Staples etc. It comes with the two
tanks included... but you can just not install them and use the ones you are
currently using, putting them into the new unit.

It could also be that the ink in the tanks you have has dried up after
non-use... but purchasing the two tanks separately is almost as much as the
new BC-21e which has two new ones anyway.

Amazon.com have them at quite a good price...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846

I know you love the printer, but it is an obsolete model now... and won't
run (at least not easily) in WindowsXP.

You might want to think about asking Santa for something a little newer and
faster for Christmas. Most newer Canon printers have separate tanks for
cyan, magenta and yellow and therefore are far more economical if you print
a fair amount of color. Instead of replacing one tri-color tank, you replace
each color separately... so if you know you print more (eg) magenta than any
other (for some reason it's usually the most often used color), you just buy
one magenta tank... if you have tri-color tanks you have to replace the
whole unit when you may still have plenty of yellow and cyan.

Just a thought there. If you're happy with the BJC-5000, by all means
replace the print head.

Cari

"Bodo Diehn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks! Where do I get a print head, and how does one replace it?
> These are big and expensive tanks, and must have a lot of ink still in
> them.
>
> On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 17:17:24 -0800, "Cari"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Replace the print head.
>>
>>BC-21e printheads I've come across have lasted as long as 18 months or as
>>short as 6 months. If this the your original one, you've done VERY well.
>>
>>Cari
>>www.coribright.com
>>
>>"Bodo Diehn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>I have a Canon BJC-5000. A very fine printer, but after I came back
>>> from a 1-month vacation, both black tanks have clogged nozzles and do
>>> bad test prints. I believe the nozzles are at the bottom of the
>>> cartridges, but nothing I did, including soaking the foot of the tank
>>> for 2 days in isoppropyl alcohol, made the slightest difference. Does
>>> anyone have a good suggestion?
>>
>>
>

"Cari" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bs0lni$84nqu$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Amazon.com have them at quite a good price...

Yikes! When I got rid of my BJC-5000 a few years back (best thing I ever
did) the BC-21e was $55 or so. I hardly consider having to plunk down $50
every 8 months (that's how long my print head lasted - I'd say I printed
around 1,000 pages) as affordable. Ink wasn't that cheap either and they're
small (9ml and 15ml). Instead I went with HP and have been happy ever
since. I bought a Canon i320 for the second computer and more recently the
Canon i560. While they're definitley better than the BJC-5000 POS, I still
wouldn't trust Canon as my only printer. I will *always* keep my HP's handy
and hooked up.

"xNokia3390x" <ofc2-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:HwSEb.3307$(E-Mail Removed)...

> Yikes! When I got rid of my BJC-5000 a few years back (best thing I ever
> did) the BC-21e was $55 or so. I hardly consider having to plunk down $50
> every 8 months (that's how long my print head lasted - I'd say I printed
> around 1,000 pages) as affordable. Ink wasn't that cheap either and
> they're
> small (9ml and 15ml). Instead I went with HP and have been happy ever
> since. I bought a Canon i320 for the second computer and more recently
> the
> Canon i560. While they're definitley better than the BJC-5000 POS, I
> still
> wouldn't trust Canon as my only printer. I will *always* keep my HP's
> handy
> and hooked up.
>
I 'retired' my last BC-21e printer about 2 years ago.... BJC-4400. Now run
a S800, S600 and i950. All nice separate ink tanks. Never had any problems
with any of them. Have a retired BJC-8200 (as of July this year) as well.
IMHO ink should be about $10 -$11 per tank... and that's what I pay for them
at Amazon. Perfect!

Cari
www.coribright.com

"Cari" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bs0sl1$88r3h$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I 'retired' my last BC-21e printer about 2 years ago.... BJC-4400. Now
run
> a S800, S600 and i950. All nice separate ink tanks. Never had any
problems
> with any of them. Have a retired BJC-8200 (as of July this year) as well.
> IMHO ink should be about $10 -$11 per tank... and that's what I pay for
them
> at Amazon. Perfect!

The only problem I have with my Canon i560 (with the BCI-3e black ink) is
that it seems to smudge more than my HP's. It's humid here so I'm sure
that's a contributing factor. If you want the ink even cheaper, I just went
to Costco and saw that all three colors (Y, M, C) are $27 - so $9 each. Two
BCI-3e black inks are $21 - so $10.50 each. Pretty good prices. I can't
believe Canon put out such garbage...the BC-21e system is the worse thing
ever in the printer world. Canon is lucky their cheap i320 redeemed their
company enough for me to buy the i560. I typically buy a printer every
other year and after the BJC-5000 fiasco I swore never to buy another Canon.
Well...I'm cheap and the i320 was on sale. So I bought it :0P. $35!

Would you happen to know what the difference is between the BCI-3e and
BCI-6e inks? I noticed the previous generation (i550/i850) used the former
and the latest generation (i560/i860) use the latter - and the higher up
photo printers use the 6e inks as well.

I had nothing I had to print in color for awhile, thinking I was saving
money that way, so I let my BJC-5000 sit on the desk for a few months while
using an Epson LQ570+ for my printer needs. Now when I HAD to use a color
printer the flipping thing won't come on. I get a flashing green light the
book says is a communication error. I'm using the same parallel cable as
the Epson. Can dried up print tanks cause this kind of error? Nothing
else has changed. Cleaned the print tank contacts with a soft eraser, then
alcohol and q-tip. Anything else I can do before I have to buy new tanks to
try. It was a very good printer when it was working. Hate to loose it.
"xNokia3390x" <ofc2-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:IUSEb.9572$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Cari" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:bs0sl1$88r3h$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > I 'retired' my last BC-21e printer about 2 years ago.... BJC-4400. Now
> run
> > a S800, S600 and i950. All nice separate ink tanks. Never had any
> problems
> > with any of them. Have a retired BJC-8200 (as of July this year) as
well.
> > IMHO ink should be about $10 -$11 per tank... and that's what I pay for
> them
> > at Amazon. Perfect!
>
> The only problem I have with my Canon i560 (with the BCI-3e black ink) is
> that it seems to smudge more than my HP's. It's humid here so I'm sure
> that's a contributing factor. If you want the ink even cheaper, I just
went
> to Costco and saw that all three colors (Y, M, C) are $27 - so $9 each.
Two
> BCI-3e black inks are $21 - so $10.50 each. Pretty good prices. I can't
> believe Canon put out such garbage...the BC-21e system is the worse thing
> ever in the printer world. Canon is lucky their cheap i320 redeemed their
> company enough for me to buy the i560. I typically buy a printer every
> other year and after the BJC-5000 fiasco I swore never to buy another
Canon.
> Well...I'm cheap and the i320 was on sale. So I bought it :0P. $35!
>
> Would you happen to know what the difference is between the BCI-3e and
> BCI-6e inks? I noticed the previous generation (i550/i850) used the
former
> and the latest generation (i560/i860) use the latter - and the higher up
> photo printers use the 6e inks as well.
>
>

How compares i950(D?) to BJC-8200 Photo ?

Philippe

PS Here a new head for the latter costs a third of the price of the
former...


"Cari" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bs0sl1$88r3h$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "xNokia3390x" <ofc2-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:HwSEb.3307$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> > Yikes! When I got rid of my BJC-5000 a few years back (best thing I
ever
> > did) the BC-21e was $55 or so. I hardly consider having to plunk down
$50
> > every 8 months (that's how long my print head lasted - I'd say I printed
> > around 1,000 pages) as affordable. Ink wasn't that cheap either and
> > they're
> > small (9ml and 15ml). Instead I went with HP and have been happy ever
> > since. I bought a Canon i320 for the second computer and more recently
> > the
> > Canon i560. While they're definitley better than the BJC-5000 POS, I
> > still
> > wouldn't trust Canon as my only printer. I will *always* keep my HP's
> > handy
> > and hooked up.
> >
> I 'retired' my last BC-21e printer about 2 years ago.... BJC-4400. Now
run
> a S800, S600 and i950. All nice separate ink tanks. Never had any
problems
> with any of them. Have a retired BJC-8200 (as of July this year) as well.
> IMHO ink should be about $10 -$11 per tank... and that's what I pay for
them
> at Amazon. Perfect!
>
> Cari
> www.coribright.com
>
>

Someone said they have smudging. That's usually a result of using
incompatible paper.
Joe