Canon i850--Suspect Head Failure

[me]

I'm using a 4 yr. old i850, and suddenly began getting "Printer does not
respond..." messages. I uninstalled the old version 7.40 (Windows 98)
drivers, and installed the newer 7.41 drivers. Same message. Exchanged
cable, still no joy. Cleaned the head contacts, no joy. (BTW, I use
ONLY genuine Canon ink carts--at the low volume of printing I do, the
cost is not a consideration!)

Moved to my XP system, and though I got the same error message, it would
still print the test page. I installed the newest version 190 drivers
on XP system. Got same result--"Printer does not respond..", but after
30 seconds or so, out came the test page. Go figure.

I have no problems with other printers on either OS.

So, I'm beginning to suspect the print head. After all, the printer is
4 years old!

What do you guys think? I appreciate your responses (even
measerkite's--sometimes they're good for a laugh!)

BTW, I would prefer hanging on to the old i850, even though I know I can
get an IP3000 for about the same cost as a print head and set of carts.
The i850 has both parallel and USB connectors, and I use the parallel.

TIA

 

[Taliesyn]

I'm using a 4 yr. old i850, and suddenly began getting "Printer does not
respond..." messages. I uninstalled the old version 7.40 (Windows 98)
drivers, and installed the newer 7.41 drivers. Same message. Exchanged
cable, still no joy. Cleaned the head contacts, no joy. (BTW, I use
ONLY genuine Canon ink carts--at the low volume of printing I do, the
cost is not a consideration!)

Moved to my XP system, and though I got the same error message, it would
still print the test page. I installed the newest version 190 drivers
on XP system. Got same result--"Printer does not respond..", but after
30 seconds or so, out came the test page. Go figure.

I have no problems with other printers on either OS.

So, I'm beginning to suspect the print head. After all, the printer is
4 years old!

What do you guys think? I appreciate your responses (even
measerkite's--sometimes they're good for a laugh!)

BTW, I would prefer hanging on to the old i850, even though I know I can
get an IP3000 for about the same cost as a print head and set of carts.
The i850 has both parallel and USB connectors, and I use the parallel.

TIA

I don't know why you're getting the message "Printer does not respond".
When a printhead is failing there is usually no message, just streaks
and failing nozzle checks. If your nozzle checks and printouts come out
okay, there isn't anything wrong with your printhead.

My sister had a problem with her secondary printer, an older i850. She
had streaky text and nozzle checks failed for black ink. Cleanings
wouldn't help. We ordered a new printhead but couldn't get the black ink
flowing in the new printhead, color ink was fine. Many cleanings didn't
help. We then began suspecting something else was wrong with the
printer. But what? Fortunately I had kept my old i850 (still working)
after I retired it, in case hers ever died. Well, I pulled it of the
basement where I had stored it and it worked beautifully right away with
just one priming of ink. So we knew it wasn't a fault of the new
printhead. We still don't know what was the matter with her old printer,
but we now suspect that the old printhead wasn't at fault either. We
can't try the old printhead in this printer right now because we already
committed the new printhead to ink. No use dirtying two printheads as we
can't be 100% certain that we can clean either of them of all the ink
within. But if ever this new printhead begins to complain we will then
try the older head.

So what I'm basically trying to say is that your troubles are not
necessarily with the printhead. Further than that I can't narrow it down.

However, if you ever do confirm it is your printhead failing, and you
insist on keeping the printer, you can get a new printhead for it for
about $55 on eBay (shipping is usually free). This is the route we took.

-Taliesyn

 

[measekite]

I don't know why you're getting the message "Printer does not respond".
When a printhead is failing there is usually no message, just streaks
and failing nozzle checks. If your nozzle checks and printouts come out
okay, there isn't anything wrong with your printhead.

My sister

IS SHE CUTE

had a problem with her secondary printer, an older i850. She
had streaky text and nozzle checks failed for black ink. Cleanings
wouldn't help. We ordered a new printhead but couldn't get the black ink

UNDISCLOSED AFTERMARKET INK

flowing in the new printhead, color ink was fine. Many cleanings didn't
help. We then began suspecting something else was wrong with the
printer. But what?

DA INK

Fortunately I had kept my old i850 (still working)
after I retired it, in case hers ever died. Well, I pulled it of the
basement where I had stored it and it worked beautifully right away with
just one priming of ink. So we knew it wasn't a fault of the new
printhead. We still don't know what was the matter with her old printer,

DA INK STUPID

but we now suspect that the old printhead wasn't at fault either. We
can't try the old printhead in this printer right now because we already
committed

YOU SHOULD BE COMMITTED

the new printhead to ink. No use dirtying two printheads

WITH THE AFTERMARKET CLOGGING STUFF

as we
can't be 100% certain that we can clean either of them of all the ink
within. But if ever this new printhead begins to complain we will then
try the older head.

So what I'm basically trying to say is that your troubles are not
necessarily with the printhead. Further than that I can't narrow it down.

IT IS DA GENERIC AFTERMARKET INK

 

[measekite]

I'm using a 4 yr. old i850, and suddenly began getting "Printer does
not respond..." messages. I uninstalled the old version 7.40 (Windows
98) drivers, and installed the newer 7.41 drivers. Same message.
Exchanged cable, still no joy. Cleaned the head contacts, no joy.
(BTW, I use ONLY genuine Canon ink carts--at the low volume of
printing I do, the cost is not a consideration!)

Moved to my XP system, and though I got the same error message, it
would still print the test page. I installed the newest version 190
drivers on XP system. Got same result--"Printer does not respond..",
but after 30 seconds or so, out came the test page. Go figure.

I have no problems with other printers on either OS.

So, I'm beginning to suspect the print head. After all, the printer
is 4 years old!

What do you guys think?

HA HA HA

YOU ARE ASKING A BUNCH OF CHURCHIES WHAT THEY THINK?

WHAT A JOKE

I appreciate your responses (even measerkite's--sometimes they're good
for a laugh!)

BTW, I would prefer hanging

THATS OK HA HA HA

JUST LIKE FRANKIE CRANKIE DA LOW LIFE COCKROACH AND DA BEEFER

 

[zakezuke]

I'm using a 4 yr. old i850, and suddenly began getting "Printer does not

respond..." messages.

BTW, I would prefer hanging on to the old i850, even though I know I can
get an IP3000 for about the same cost as a print head and set of carts.
The i850 has both parallel and USB connectors, and I use the parallel.

The ip3000 will include ink, and the exact same printhead as the i850.
QY6-0042-000. It's price is a tad high on e-bay and the ip4000 does
offer a parallel port IIRC, but the printhead won't drop into the i850.

-------------

This being said to test your printer, disconnect it from the PC, power
down your printer, make sure paper is loaded in the rear tray.

1. Hold down RESUME and then hold down POWER - wait a moment
2. release RESUME
3. press RESUME twice, then release POWER
4. Watch the blinking light
5. Press RESUME then POWER
6. Look at the sheet that is printed. There should be a bunch of
cryptic data as well as a grid dignostic print.
7. Press POWER (IIRC) to resume to normal operation.

If this procedure does not work at all... you might have to try a
couple of times to get it right, you've isolated the problem to the
printer and not the PC. Could be something as simple as the waste ink
counter is full in which case you should replace the diaper and seek
the code to reset the waste ink counter.... this is a step for another
day.

If this procedure does work, than you've isolated the problem to the
PC. Could be any number of things which can be addressed at a later
time.

*note* I don't know the i850 that well. My info is based on experence
with it's older brother the ip3000 and postings of the service mode
instructions in this newsgroup and Druckerchannel.
http://www.druckerchannel.de/

 

[Burt]

I'm using a 4 yr. old i850, and suddenly began getting "Printer does not
respond..." messages. I uninstalled the old version 7.40 (Windows 98)
drivers, and installed the newer 7.41 drivers. Same message. Exchanged
cable, still no joy. Cleaned the head contacts, no joy. (BTW, I use ONLY
genuine Canon ink carts--at the low volume of printing I do, the cost is
not a consideration!)

Moved to my XP system, and though I got the same error message, it would
still print the test page. I installed the newest version 190 drivers on
XP system. Got same result--"Printer does not respond..", but after 30
seconds or so, out came the test page. Go figure.

I have no problems with other printers on either OS.

So, I'm beginning to suspect the print head. After all, the printer is 4
years old!

What do you guys think? I appreciate your responses (even
measerkite's--sometimes they're good for a laugh!)

BTW, I would prefer hanging on to the old i850, even though I know I can
get an IP3000 for about the same cost as a print head and set of carts.
The i850 has both parallel and USB connectors, and I use the parallel.

TIA

I used an Epson Stylus 900 on a parallel cable for about three years and
suddenly had the same problem you did. I switched printers to see if lpt1
or lpt2 were both OK and switched parallel cables to see if they were OK.
The printer's own test page printed just fine but it wouldn't receive data
from the computer. I then removed the parallel cable and connected if via
USB. It worked fine with the USB connection. Turns out that the problem
was the parallel connection in the printer itself. If your computer bios
supports USB and you have a USB port give it a try. If not, check the
printer on someone elses computer with the USB connection. USB cards are
cheap and easy to install if your Bios supports it.

 

[me]

The ip3000 will include ink, and the exact same printhead as the i850.
QY6-0042-000. It's price is a tad high on e-bay and the ip4000 does
offer a parallel port IIRC, but the printhead won't drop into the i850.

-------------

This being said to test your printer, disconnect it from the PC, power
down your printer, make sure paper is loaded in the rear tray.

1. Hold down RESUME and then hold down POWER - wait a moment
2. release RESUME
3. press RESUME twice, then release POWER
4. Watch the blinking light
5. Press RESUME then POWER
6. Look at the sheet that is printed. There should be a bunch of
cryptic data as well as a grid dignostic print.
7. Press POWER (IIRC) to resume to normal operation.

If this procedure does not work at all... you might have to try a
couple of times to get it right, you've isolated the problem to the
printer and not the PC. Could be something as simple as the waste ink
counter is full in which case you should replace the diaper and seek
the code to reset the waste ink counter.... this is a step for another
day.

If this procedure does work, than you've isolated the problem to the
PC. Could be any number of things which can be addressed at a later
time.

*note* I don't know the i850 that well. My info is based on experence
with it's older brother the ip3000 and postings of the service mode
instructions in this newsgroup and Druckerchannel.
http://www.druckerchannel.de/

The procedure worked! So, the problem is not with the printer. Rather
than say the same stuff twice, please see my reply to Burt.

Thanks for the info, BTW. I had copied the Overflow Pad Reset steps
from another forum, and they didn't help.

All the best,

Lakeside

 

[me]

Burt wrote:

I used an Epson Stylus 900 on a parallel cable for about three years and
suddenly had the same problem you did. I switched printers to see if lpt1
or lpt2 were both OK and switched parallel cables to see if they were OK.
The printer's own test page printed just fine but it wouldn't receive data
from the computer. I then removed the parallel cable and connected if via
USB. It worked fine with the USB connection. Turns out that the problem
was the parallel connection in the printer itself. If your computer bios
supports USB and you have a USB port give it a try. If not, check the
printer on someone elses computer with the USB connection. USB cards are
cheap and easy to install if your Bios supports it.

Burt,

You hit the nail on the head! I did the printer test suggested by
"zakezuke" and it worked, so I knew the printer was OK. Hooked it up to
the USB port, and VIOLA!!! (as Joe Bob would say)--it worked like a
champ. (I had already ruled out a cable problem.)

What really threw me for a loop was that the parallel port worked fine
with two other printers--oldies but goodies--an HP Laserjet IIP Plus,
and a Panasonic KXP2123. And, it kinda worked on the same machine in
XP. Guess there must be something about the i850 that requires the
parallel to be just so.

Then, I tried another tack: hooked the Canon up to the parallel port on
another machine running Windows 98, and did the install. THAT ONE
worked! So, it couldn't be the Centronics connector on the printer; it
had to be my primary machine's parallel port.

Got one more idea. Drawing on my experience with stereo and video
stuff, and knowing about dirty connections, I sprayed some contact
cleaner on each end of my parallel printer cable and worked it into the
connectors on the printer and the first machine. Didn't help. So, I
guess my 7 year old Celeron is about to bite the dust. It does have 2
USB ports on the back, but I don't think I'll spend any money to buy a
USB 2 card, or a multi-port hub. I think it's time for a new machine,
anyway!

Thanks again for your help.

All the best,

Lakeside

 

[me]

Taliesyn wrote:

I don't know why you're getting the message "Printer does not respond".
When a printhead is failing there is usually no message, just streaks
and failing nozzle checks. If your nozzle checks and printouts come out
okay, there isn't anything wrong with your printhead.

What made me think print head was in the "Printer does not respond.."
windows, there was a note at the bottom that said "Unknown Print head".
(See my post in reply to Burt for the whole story--but, I guess my
failing parallel port gave the Canon drivers a phony indication.)

 

[Taliesyn]

Taliesyn wrote:




What made me think print head was in the "Printer does not respond.."
windows, there was a note at the bottom that said "Unknown Print head".
(See my post in reply to Burt for the whole story--but, I guess my
failing parallel port gave the Canon drivers a phony indication.)

Makes sense. It sounded like a lack of communication within the system.
But where? Glad it all worked out for you.

-Taliesyn

 

[measekite]

<<< SNIP >>> DA REMAINING WAS WORTHLESS

OEM INK IS FOR USERS WHO HAVE A LIGHT OR MEDIUM PRINT LOAD

AFTERMARKET INK MAY BE CONSIDERED IF YOU ARE A VERY VERY HEAVEY USER.
PRINTING WITH A VERY HIGH LOAD ASSISTS IN NEGATING THE CLOGS THAT
AFTERMARKET INK CAUSES.

UNFORTUNATELY YOU WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE RELABELERS WHO DO NOT
DISCLOSE WHAT THEY ARE SELLING.

THE REAL PROBLEM HERE IS IF YOU BUY SOMETHING FROM RELABELER A AND HAVE
TROUBLE AND THEN YOU GO AHEAD AND BUY WHAT YOU THINK IS DIFFERENT FROM
RELABELER B YOU WIND UP GETTING THE SAME EXACT THING SINCE THEY ARE
SELLING THE SAME EXACT THING BUT WILL NOT TELL YOU.

 

[measekite]

Taliesyn wrote:




What made me think print head was in the "Printer does not respond.."
windows, there was a note at the bottom that said "Unknown Print
head". (See my post in reply to Burt for the whole story--but, I
guess my failing parallel port gave the Canon drivers a phony
indication.)

NEVER SHOULD HAVE USED THAT AFTERMARKET INK
I DO IT IS THAT AFTERMAREKT INK
EBAY IS NOT THE MOST RELAIBLE PLACE TO BUY. MANY PEOPLE REALLY GOT
SCREWED THERE TRYING TO SAVE PENNIES. BUT HIGH SCHOOL KIDS NEED TO SAVE
THEIR PENNIES

 

[Burt]

Got one more idea. Drawing on my experience with stereo and video stuff,
and knowing about dirty connections, I sprayed some contact cleaner on
each end of my parallel printer cable and worked it into the connectors on
the printer and the first machine. Didn't help. So, I guess my 7 year
old Celeron is about to bite the dust. It does have 2 USB ports on the
back, but I don't think I'll spend any money to buy a USB 2 card, or a
multi-port hub. I think it's time for a new machine, anyway!

Thanks again for your help.

All the best,

Lakeside

Watch the weekly sales at the "big box" office supply stores like office
depot, etc. You will sometimes see a multi-port USB port at a very low
price. With all the new devices available with only USB connections it
really helps to have the port available. My hub is not a powered port, so I
use the built-in ports for devices that required a powered port and the hub
for all the other stuff - card reader, scanner, extra printers, etc. You
can also purchase powered hubs if you need them. I think my hub was sold as
a mini-hub (four ports) for laptops. I velcroed it to the side of my
monitor for easy access. One of my best purchases.

Good suggestion on the possibility of dirty connections. I've found that
removing and reinserting a connector several times sometimes does the job.
I don't know why an internal parallel printer connector would fail, but now
we know that it is not an isolated, one-time only occurance.

 

[zakezuke]

Watch the weekly sales at the "big box" office supply stores like office

depot, etc. You will sometimes see a multi-port USB port at a very low
price.

While I agree with you Burt, I also agree that even if you can find a
hub or a pci usb card for $20 or $10, you can also get close out
motherboards in the P4 or Athlon class for under $50 which would
include 6 usb ports. While yes we are likely talking $100 to $150 for
a modest motherboard/cpu/ram combo, this is a signifigent percent of
the total value. If the HUB or USB hub would be handy on a newer
machine i'd say go to it without a doubt, but I personaly don't use
more than a few USB connectors at a time, and if I need more I could
always slap my keyboard/mouse on the PS/2 ports.

So $10 to $20, not big price but I see it as an empty inventment. Not
bad for a machine you plan to keep in service.

Good suggestion on the possibility of dirty connections.

Yes, even though a given cable may work on a panasonic 2123 or a HP
III, these are older SPP printers that don't employ bi-directional
communication. Could be cable related, connector related. More likely
it's pc related as in the bios settings or software. The problem is
troubshooting parallel requires either an ohm meter and testing 25pins,
or buying a new cable that will cost as much as a USB hub or pci usb
card.

 

[Burt]

While I agree with you Burt, I also agree that even if you can find a
hub or a pci usb card for $20 or $10, you can also get close out
motherboards in the P4 or Athlon class for under $50 which would
include 6 usb ports. While yes we are likely talking $100 to $150 for
a modest motherboard/cpu/ram combo, this is a signifigent percent of
the total value. If the HUB or USB hub would be handy on a newer
machine i'd say go to it without a doubt, but I personaly don't use
more than a few USB connectors at a time, and if I need more I could
always slap my keyboard/mouse on the PS/2 ports.

So $10 to $20, not big price but I see it as an empty inventment. Not
bad for a machine you plan to keep in service.


Yes, even though a given cable may work on a panasonic 2123 or a HP
III, these are older SPP printers that don't employ bi-directional
communication. Could be cable related, connector related. More likely
it's pc related as in the bios settings or software. The problem is
troubshooting parallel requires either an ohm meter and testing 25pins,
or buying a new cable that will cost as much as a USB hub or pci usb
card.

In my situation the printer/parallel cable/pc worked just fine for many
months and then suddenly quit. I tested several parallel cables, including
one that was on the other lpt port for an HP 5p that was working perfectly.
I finally isolated the problem to the inkjet printer's parallel connection,
as mentioned in another post. The PC is an older P4 1.7 gig that was built
with just two usb 1.1 ports in the back of the box. At that time I saw a
nearly-free 4 port USB 2.0 compatable hub (with a hardwired extension cable)
on sale and bought it. Very convenient as it is now attached to my monitor.
I subsequently installed a four port USB 2.0 card but still find the hub to
be more convenient as my computer is under my desk. It was a lot easier to
deal with the need for additional ports and upgrading to USB 2.0 this way
than purchasing a new box with ports in the front and reinstalling
everything into it. My keyboard, mouse, bluetooth USB adaptor, external
hard drive for photo backups, and one printer plug into the back of the box
and other devices which are rarely used at the same time attach to the hub.
This makes it easy to also plug in my mp3 player for downloads, a card
reader or my cameras, a scanner, an additional printer, etc.

 

[Taliesyn]

<<< SNIP >>> DA REMAINING WAS WORTHLESS

and more <SNIP>.. the rest was worthless lies Measekite was spreading.

I couldn't give a shit what you think about the $1000 I saved last year
by not buying OEM ink. Any printer that would have died because of the
ink I used would have been covered by the money saved (did I mention
$1,000 saved?). The fact that no printer died, showed any form of
sickness, malaise, lethargy, clog, etc, etc, plus the fact that I
stopped all my personal projects - I just print a page or two on both
printers, shows more than clearly that you lie through your teeth. You
don't use the ink; I DO. There's no clogging, no difference, whether I
do heavy or extremely light printing. It's all a pigment of your highly
imaginative childish fears, based on zero facts, zero experiences, and
zero credibility. Who in their right mind would even remotely believe a
word you say and risk the health of their printers to you?

-Taliesyn

 

[zakezuke]

The PC is an older P4 1.7 gig that was built with just two usb 1.1 ports in the back of the

box.

It's odd for such system to only have two USB ports. Usually there are
headers on the motherboard for at least two more USB ports, most often
4 though I wasn't thinking about Older USB ports. Big box stores tend
to charge as much for the header ports as they do for hubs or pci cards
but your typicaly indy computer shop tends to have boxes of those. In
your case, you planned to keep the p4-1.7 in service.

There may come a time where I need more than 6 usb ports. I do have
the bluetooth, the keyboard, a pair of mice, and the printer. At such
time I may have to go with a hub.

But I'm not saying there are not reasons to consider a hub or PCI usb
card, only that if you are not planning on keeping a system in service
most new motherboards offer 4 to 6 usb ports and one should consider
whether such an investment, though only $10 to $20 is empty or not.

More handy I believe are those 3.5 USB hubs that mount in the PC.
Those at least offer some benifit to machines with no front mount ports.

 

[Gary Tait]

I don't know why you're getting the message "Printer does not respond".
When a printhead is failing there is usually no message, just streaks
and failing nozzle checks. If your nozzle checks and printouts come out
okay, there isn't anything wrong with your printhead.

My i320 "quit". It gave a message it could not recognize the printhead.
I never really pushed trying to fix it, just toyed with it off and on.
I got me a new printer (iP5000) for real printing, and am going to consider
a working i320 a bonus.

 

[Burt]

It's odd for such system to only have two USB ports. Usually there are
headers on the motherboard for at least two more USB ports, most often
4 though I wasn't thinking about Older USB ports. Big box stores tend
to charge as much for the header ports as they do for hubs or pci cards
but your typicaly indy computer shop tends to have boxes of those. In
your case, you planned to keep the p4-1.7 in service.

There may come a time where I need more than 6 usb ports. I do have
the bluetooth, the keyboard, a pair of mice, and the printer. At such
time I may have to go with a hub.

But I'm not saying there are not reasons to consider a hub or PCI usb
card, only that if you are not planning on keeping a system in service
most new motherboards offer 4 to 6 usb ports and one should consider
whether such an investment, though only $10 to $20 is empty or not.

More handy I believe are those 3.5 USB hubs that mount in the PC.
Those at least offer some benifit to machines with no front mount ports.

I actually prefer the ports in the back of the box PLUS the hub that I've
attached to the side of my monitor as I'm always fighting the "rat's nest"
of cables and wires that come with the computer territory. I've worked with
ports on the front of the box and I would only consider them when attaching
a device that I would use periodically and immediately disconnect - like an
MP3 player or camera. Except for the first IBM computer I purchased in
1981, I've had all my computers assembled to order by a small shop in my
neighborhood in San Francisco. Reasonable price, all quality components,
fantastic service, and owned by a really nice couple with whom I've become
friends. Anytime I have a problem I bring the CPU to their shop, five
minutes from my home, and often have it repaired while I wait. Worst case,
the next day. I will definitely go for more ports in my next computer, but
I don't think that will happen for quite a long time as the one I am using
more than meets my needs at this time.

 

[measekite]

and more <SNIP>.. the rest was worthless lies Measekite was spreading.