Canon MP-730 all-in-one says :Wrong Cartridge"

[micky]

Canon MP-730 all-in-one says :Wrong Cartridge" that is, bad printhead.

Should I keep cleaing the electrical contacts? Is an old printer
better than a new printer and I should spend 80 dollars for a new
printhead?


Hi, again. I've given up on the Canon MP-F50, and a friend of mine
has given me a Canon MP-730 that she got from Freecycle about a year
ago, but hasn't used. (and gave strange reasons why not. Women!)

It has every feature I want except wireless, but including drivers
that are on the Canon webpage, and seems to be in beautiful condition,
but it won't do anything, even clean itself or do a re-alignment,
because it has the omnipresent message, "Wrong cartridge".

Now the user guide and a lot of webpages say this message is really
about the printhead, and I've cleaned the metal contacts on the
printhead, and tried once to clean the metal pins that spring up
against it. I've wiggled it several times. Should I clean some
more? One webpage says that it is an electrical problem in the
printhead., If so, doesn't that mean I can't fix it?


They sell new, in the sealed foil bag, Canon printheads on Ebay
starting at about 80 dolllars which seems like a ridiculously
impractical price when I can buy a new all-in-one printer with
wireless for 100 dollars.

But one ad says "These printers still use the older less expensive
inks, keep this great printer working with this part! " Does he have
a good point? Is this or other reasons good reasons to keep an old
printer?

 

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

Canon MP-730 all-in-one says :Wrong Cartridge" that is, bad printhead.

Should I keep cleaing the electrical contacts? Is an old printer
better than a new printer and I should spend 80 dollars for a new
printhead?

I would not spend 80 dollars on a printhead unless I was perfectly
sure that it is the printhead and not (also) something else that is
broken/shorted out. If the logic board is damaged, you will simply end
up destroying the new printhead as well. The safest thing to do, is to
send the printer to Canon's fixed price server, which is available in
some regions of the globe. Here in Japan it costs 10500 JPY to fix a
printer, regardless of the problem. I sent an MP800 in which I knew
had a damaged logicboard and a broken printhead. So that was a great
deal for me: new logic board, new printhead, new waste ink pad, and
thorough cleaning and checking.

Hi, again. I've given up on the Canon MP-F50, and a friend of mine
has given me a Canon MP-730 that she got from Freecycle about a year
ago, but hasn't used. (and gave strange reasons why not. Women!)

I had a MP710 for years, and then one day after power-on, the same message.
I sold it for 100 JPY on auction the same week.

The same happened just 2 months ago with my MP610 which had been
working beautifully for a few years. Power on and printhead
error. Sold for 500 JPY on auctiopn the same week.

Now I am back to using my trusty MP450 which has been going for
donkey's years after I bought it second hand, and is amazingly
versatile to boot: it will happily print even when I forget to open
the paper tray exit on the front. The paper just gets neatly rolled up
inside the printer LOL.

I still have MP800 and MP810 spare (both refurbished as explained
above) which I use for limited photo prints and sometimes negative or
photo scans, but I consider Canon all-in-ones too fragile for heavy
use. I have a iP4500 and a Canoscan 8800F that are my workhorses for
business or decorative printing, and top-notch (consumer-grade) scans.

It has every feature I want except wireless, but including drivers
that are on the Canon webpage, and seems to be in beautiful condition,
but it won't do anything, even clean itself or do a re-alignment,
because it has the omnipresent message, "Wrong cartridge".

Now the user guide and a lot of webpages say this message is really
about the printhead, and I've cleaned the metal contacts on the
printhead, and tried once to clean the metal pins that spring up
against it. I've wiggled it several times. Should I clean some
more? One webpage says that it is an electrical problem in the
printhead., If so, doesn't that mean I can't fix it?

If you don't have that kind of expertise and experience to guide you,
the answer is most likely no. I don't unfortunately have any advice to
offer you either.

/../

But one ad says "These printers still use the older less expensive
inks, keep this great printer working with this part! " Does he have
a good point? Is this or other reasons good reasons to keep an old
printer?

Yes, the MP700/730 and MP710/740 use the non-chipped cartridges (you
can of course put in the chipped cartridges, since the unchipped ones
are not sold anymore, obviously the chip is ignored) which is much
more user-friendly if you like to handle your own ink refills and
maintenance.

Canon printers unfortunately have a habit of stopping dead at some
point, and unless you correctly diagnose the problem (printhead/logic
board) you can break whatever replacement part you decide to put
in. So I would be careful.

Cheers,

 

[AnthonyL]

I still have MP800 and MP810 spare (both refurbished as explained
above) which I use for limited photo prints and sometimes negative or
photo scans, but I consider Canon all-in-ones too fragile for heavy
use.

Perhaps better: " but I consider Canon all-in-ones too fragile for
use."

I purchased the Canon Pixma MP600R Multifunction Printer a few years
ago and it just gets used occasionally, maybe a handful of prints or a
few scans every week or so. Firstly the wireless stopped working and
now I get the U150 error on the middle cartridge. Swapping the
cartridge for one of the others leaves the same error. Then of course
because there is an error I can't do anything - not even scan.

A wireless all-in-one with scanning over wireless as well would be
very handy. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[David H. Lipman]

Perhaps better: " but I consider Canon all-in-ones too fragile for
use."

I purchased the Canon Pixma MP600R Multifunction Printer a few years
ago and it just gets used occasionally, maybe a handful of prints or a
few scans every week or so. Firstly the wireless stopped working and
now I get the U150 error on the middle cartridge. Swapping the
cartridge for one of the others leaves the same error. Then of course
because there is an error I can't do anything - not even scan.

A wireless all-in-one with scanning over wireless as well would be
very handy. Do you have any suggestions?

Epson Artisan 835/837.

 

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

Epson Artisan 835/837.

I'm also leaning heavily towards non-Canon these days (my first love
had been HP when I was still living in South Africa). But since I can
buy Canon printers cheaply second-hand, and refill inks, it is not
such a pain to change printers. There's also the attribute that they
are the only maker in Japan at least that has off-the-shelf products
with double-sided printing capablility. No need to buy extra add-ons.
I guess like Toshiba with their damned breakable laptops, the specs
are high, but so is vulnerability. Sometimes because they push the
technology, sometimes because the design is just crappy.

Then there is the fact that I am developing drivers for these Canons
thingies, to use on linux and MacOSX. So I have to admit it is only
because I see them as a hobby, that I continue to buy them.

Still, every company can change, and most printer and scanner
manufacturers have been both good and bad as far as consumer service
and satisfaction goes, over the course of the last 10-15 years.

 

[micky]

I would not spend 80 dollars on a printhead unless I was perfectly
sure that it is the printhead and not (also) something else that is
broken/shorted out. If the logic board is damaged, you will simply end
up destroying the new printhead as well. The safest thing to do, is to
send the printer to Canon's fixed price server, which is available in
some regions of the globe. Here in Japan it costs 10500 JPY to fix a
printer, regardless of the problem. I sent an MP800 in which I knew
had a damaged logicboard and a broken printhead. So that was a great
deal for me: new logic board, new printhead, new waste ink pad, and
thorough cleaning and checking.


I had a MP710 for years, and then one day after power-on, the same message.
I sold it for 100 JPY on auction the same week.

The same happened just 2 months ago with my MP610 which had been
working beautifully for a few years. Power on and printhead
error. Sold for 500 JPY on auctiopn the same week.

Now I am back to using my trusty MP450 which has been going for
donkey's years after I bought it second hand, and is amazingly
versatile to boot: it will happily print even when I forget to open
the paper tray exit on the front. The paper just gets neatly rolled up
inside the printer LOL.

I still have MP800 and MP810 spare (both refurbished as explained
above) which I use for limited photo prints and sometimes negative or
photo scans, but I consider Canon all-in-ones too fragile for heavy
use. I have a iP4500 and a Canoscan 8800F that are my workhorses for
business or decorative printing, and top-notch (consumer-grade) scans.


If you don't have that kind of expertise and experience to guide you,
the answer is most likely no. I don't unfortunately have any advice to
offer you either.

/../


Yes, the MP700/730 and MP710/740 use the non-chipped cartridges (you
can of course put in the chipped cartridges, since the unchipped ones
are not sold anymore, obviously the chip is ignored) which is much
more user-friendly if you like to handle your own ink refills and
maintenance.

Canon printers unfortunately have a habit of stopping dead at some
point, and unless you correctly diagnose the problem (printhead/logic
board) you can break whatever replacement part you decide to put
in. So I would be careful.

Cheers,

Okay,

Thanks. You've convinced me that buying a new printhead is risky.
Well, maybe I sort of knew it but you pushed me over the summit to No.

 

[AnthonyL]

Epson Artisan 835/837.

Seems ideal but doesn't seem to have made the UK market