Canon s600 suddenly won't print at all

[plabord]

I have had my Canon s600 color printer for about three years now, and
it has worked absolutely great during that time--but today all of a
sudden it will not print at all. It seems to work fine mechanically,
but will not even put a smudge on the paper. I haven't printed
anything for awhile, probably a month, but it worked beautifully then,
and I've gone longer than that in the past without any problems.
I have tried the head-cleaning functions under the maintenance menu,
and tried some alcohol on the "mouth" of the cartridge, but none of
that has helped.
I'm using only the black ink since lately I only print text, and the
cartridge is fairly new and full (the color cartridges are empty and I
operate the printer on the "grayscale" setting).
Is there something else I can do before taking it someplace or
replacing it? I'm kind of in shock--this thing seemed so
indestructible!

Thanks for any help,
Peter L.

 

[Frank]

I have had my Canon s600 color printer for about three years now, and
it has worked absolutely great during that time--but today all of a
sudden it will not print at all. It seems to work fine mechanically,
but will not even put a smudge on the paper. I haven't printed
anything for awhile, probably a month, but it worked beautifully then,
and I've gone longer than that in the past without any problems.
I have tried the head-cleaning functions under the maintenance menu,
and tried some alcohol on the "mouth" of the cartridge, but none of
that has helped.
I'm using only the black ink since lately I only print text, and the
cartridge is fairly new and full (the color cartridges are empty and I
operate the printer on the "grayscale" setting).
Is there something else I can do before taking it someplace or
replacing it? I'm kind of in shock--this thing seemed so
indestructible!

Thanks for any help,
Peter L.

Did you upgrade to WIN XP SP2 ? I have a MPC 600F and this one has a
known difficulty with SP2.

Frank

 

[PC Medic]

I have had my Canon s600 color printer for about three years now, and
it has worked absolutely great during that time--but today all of a
sudden it will not print at all. It seems to work fine mechanically,
but will not even put a smudge on the paper. I haven't printed
anything for awhile, probably a month, but it worked beautifully then,
and I've gone longer than that in the past without any problems.
I have tried the head-cleaning functions under the maintenance menu,
and tried some alcohol on the "mouth" of the cartridge, but none of
that has helped.
I'm using only the black ink since lately I only print text, and the
cartridge is fairly new and full (the color cartridges are empty and I
operate the printer on the "grayscale" setting).
Is there something else I can do before taking it someplace or
replacing it? I'm kind of in shock--this thing seemed so
indestructible!

If you have already tried 3-4 deep cleanings in the printer, then at this
point (though I usually do not recommend it) you may want to try soaking the
nozzle area of the printhead in a shallow dish of VERY warm distilled water.
While it is not common for the printhead to clog after only a month of no
use, it is not unheard of.

If it does come down to replacing it Canon will offer a discount on a new
unit and ship the replacement to your door Next day at no extra charge.

 

[plabord]

If you have already tried 3-4 deep cleanings in the printer, then at this
point (though I usually do not recommend it) you may want to try soaking the
nozzle area of the printhead in a shallow dish of VERY warm distilled water.
While it is not common for the printhead to clog after only a month of no
use, it is not unheard of.

Thanks for the suggestions. To be honest, I didn't even think about
pulling out the entire housing that holds the cartridges. I realized
that I could do this only after posting my message, and when I took a
look there, sure enough that nozzle was a mess. After cleaning it with
some alcohol the printer works great. It's weird how it got so bad so
quickly, though. Thanks again for the suggestions.

PL

 

[PC Medic]

Thanks for the suggestions. To be honest, I didn't even think about
pulling out the entire housing that holds the cartridges. I realized
that I could do this only after posting my message, and when I took a
look there, sure enough that nozzle was a mess. After cleaning it with
some alcohol the printer works great. It's weird how it got so bad so
quickly, though. Thanks again for the suggestions.

Glad to here it worked out for you.
Some ink build-up on the bottom of the printhead is normal and should not be
of concern.
IF you do find yourself in position to wipe the bottom again try to avoid
alcohol.