Canon i850 printing problems

[Al Henderson]

Morning All,

I have had a Canon i850 for a couple of years now and have been pretty
happy with it. However, recently a couple of things have been
happening which are really frustrating me.

Every time I print something (doesn't seem to matter where from), the
printer spends what seems like an age (probably upwards of 30secs to a
minute) with the print head moving from side to side and the rollers
churning away before it decides to suck in the paper and actually start
printing.

And then, when it does take the paper in, it goes in squint. The right
hand roller seems to work better then the left hand one, so I can't
print pages straight. I have tried to look and see if there is
anything obviously wrong with the rollers, but there's not much access
to that area of the printer.

Does anyone have any suggestions that might help out with either of
these problems?

Thanks for any help,

Al.

 

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Every time I print something (doesn't seem to matter where from), the
printer spends what seems like an age (probably upwards of 30secs to a
minute) with the print head moving from side to side and the rollers
churning away before it decides to suck in the paper and actually start
printing.

And then, when it does take the paper in, it goes in squint. The right
hand roller seems to work better then the left hand one, so I can't
print pages straight. I have tried to look and see if there is
anything obviously wrong with the rollers, but there's not much access
to that area of the printer.

Does anyone have any suggestions that might help out with either of
these problems?

I've had similar problems with other printers. Over time, the rollers get
glazed and don't pick up the paper well. Use a T shirt or Q-tip and clean
them with alcohol. You may have to run it a cycle or two to reach the
entire circumference of the roller.

 

[Al Henderson]

Thanks Edwin,

Not sure I can get to the rollers very well - the innards aren't very
accessible on the i850, but I'll give it a go..

Al.

 

[Taliesyn]

Thanks Edwin,

Not sure I can get to the rollers very well - the innards aren't very
accessible on the i850, but I'll give it a go..

Al.

I don't know if it would help any (if there's a more serious problem)
but there's usually a roller cleaning utility you activate by holding
down one of the buttons after a certain amount of flashes. Maybe someone
here knows the correct procedure. But I believe you can find it at the
Canon website in the troubleshooting section about paper feed problems.
I had accessed it once when the paper feed on my i860 suddenly freaked
out: began making very "un-normal" clunking sounds when paper feeding
and feeding pages crookedly. The printer was replaced, the replacement
is fine.

-Taliesyn

 

[Al Henderson]

Taliesyn,

Thanks for your tip. I found how to do it in the Canon docs (after
going to their website and emailing their support people - oops!).
Hold down the 'Resume/Cancel' button until the power light flashes 3
times (with no paper installed) then let go. It will whir for a bit.
Repeat the above 3 times, then repeat another three times with paper
loaded. Seems to have improved my paper feed problem!

Excellent, one out of tow - can't be bad

Al.

 

[Al Henderson]

Just one thing to add here. The reply I got from Canon service people
was that I should pack my printer up and send it back to them.
Absolutely no attempt made to troubleshoot the problem, and no mention
of the roller cleaning function.

Don't suppose I should be surprised, I had a right time with them when
my digital camera had to go back for some warranty work..

Al.

 

[zakezuke]

Just one thing to add here. The reply I got from Canon service people

was that I should pack my printer up and send it back to them.
Absolutely no attempt made to troubleshoot the problem, and no mention
of the roller cleaning function.


Don't suppose I should be surprised, I had a right time with them when
my digital camera had to go back for some warranty work..

I'm surprised... their solution to me was to wait for a referbished
replacement sent 2day air. But in all fairness, you have to admit
replacing the printer would resolve the issue, and that is exactly what
support is there to do, solve the problem in a way that requires the
least amount of phone time. This sounds like e-mail support... phone
support I believe have the authority to issue either a referb in cases
where you pull your head, or a new unit in cases where you can't pull
your head. There is a rule of thumb regarding the number of button
presses you tell the end user to do before you make it your problem,
this could be 5 or 10 depending on the company.

My experence with them so far has been excelent. Two problems with
replacement issues via advance shipped in under a week.

Oh, this is the i850. That's out of warrant unless you bought this
last year. You don't get free support on that anymore. No wonder they
told you to ship the printer to them. You have to pay for support, and
might as well pay for a human to look at it rather than some phone
monkey.

 

[Al Henderson]

I realise its out of warranty, but it only takes two minutes to answer
an email with a couple of simple things in it to check - that's what I
would call support - not just blindly telling me to send it back and
shirking the problem onto someonel else.

I realise I'm not going to win this debate, but sometimes I just think
it would be nice if someone took responsibility for something and made
a couple of helpful suggestions rather than shooting out the standard
company reply and being no help whatsoever.

Anyway, just my tuppence.

Al.