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John Cruet
Joined: 30 Apr 2004
Posts: 352
Location: Guilford, CT
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 Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:34 am Post subject: Canon iP710 and related printers |
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I am having serious trouble with my Canon printer.
I tried cleaning the print head according to the menu on the print display. Every time I go to make a print I have to clear the print error, then the machine prints an acceptable black line print, but cannot print a color print without ugly streaks. A test sheet shows the cyan head is not cleaning and is clogged.
I contacted the local Canon representative, Joseph Merritt and company. Their service rep claimed that the print head lasts for only a year to 18 months, depending upon usage. He also claims that the print head needs to be replaced at a price of $700.00.
That's right- Seven Hundred dollars!
I had this printer for hardly a year and its giving me this kind of expensive trouble. At this rate it would make more sense to me to farm out my print orders, since the printer will never recover the initial cost or cost of maintenance.
I had recommended Canon printers in the past.
I no longer recommend any Canon large format printer, based upon this bad experience.
In these times, it's important to be able to watch my wallet.
I plan to contact Canon regarding my grievance.
_________________
John Cruet
G4/733 w/1028 mb RAM & OS 10.4.10, Classic-free, skuzzy-free (runs PC7)
MacBook Pro 2G Intel core duo 2 gig RAM & OS 10.5.4.
PowerCadd 8, WT 9
Canon iP710 printer
www.johncruet.com |
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fred johnson
Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 85
Location: CT
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| Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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| $700!!! Good God. I remember when you got that printer and you recommended it to me as a good buy..I did not take your advice then duel to lack of work but now I am thinking of a new printer before the end of the year. I guess the Canon is OUT for me so its probally going to be another HP. I hope you can get some resolution from Canon as Merritt for plots does not seem like a good long-term solution. |
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MikeCharek
Joined: 14 Apr 2004
Posts: 180
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| Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I finally decided to replace my aging and ailing Designjet 800ps with a Designjet T610. So far about 6 weeks in service and doing well. No Postscript, but the prints are better and the colors much truer with the new printer. And the new printer driver understands and works well with the PowerCADD pages and margins routine. What you see is what you get. No guessing and fiddling. |
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pbacot
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 959
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:55 am Post subject: |
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I have the 610. I knew the print heads need replacing at some time but I don't recall anything like this being quoted to me. Feel like I've been duped. If less than a year, I'd still call it a warranty issue, as no one buying a printer should expect this sort of thing. Sounds like a class action suit is in order.
Also the cartridges are expensive and few people sell them (no discounts, no competition).
Otherwise it has been a good printer and so much nicer than the HP I had, which doesn't say much I guess, since the HP lasted for years with few repairs.
Maybe we should learn to repair the print heads. Soak em in vinegar?
Small solace, but shop around for the print head. http://www.aarongraphics.com/commerce/ccpc1200-1934-2251b003aa-canon-pf-03-printhead-print-head-2251b003aa-2251b003aa.htm
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Peter B |
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John Cruet
Joined: 30 Apr 2004
Posts: 352
Location: Guilford, CT
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:30 am Post subject: Canon- follow up |
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I called Canon Tech Support.
The resolution was tthat i was to:
1. Print out a "Status report" which the tech then asked me to read off a couple of numbers pertaining to pixel count, etc.
2. From my responses, he determined that the printhead was eligible for the program described below.
Since the printer is 16 months old, the tech explained to me that the print head came under a special service program, and they would send me a replacement print head- at no cost.
I received the replacement print head this morning (overnighted from VA) and then replaced the print head myself. It's a relatively simple operation, but make sure that you did not print anything prior to replacing the printhead, or it will be hot. I hadn't printed anything.
After replacement of the print head, the printer works OK, now. No error messages.
I do have to return the defective print head to Canon in postage-paid packaging. I'm OK with that. If I worked through the dealer I would have been out $700 of very hard earned money.
Canon, to their credit, did respond properly and promptly to my service request.
The replacement print head does come with a one year warranty. I'll have to monitor this situation closely to see if there are any more problems like this.
Footnote- when I spoke to the Canon tech support rep regarding the cost of the print head, he said that Merritt was off by $150.00- the part is $550, not $700.
If you own a Canon printer like this and encounter this problem, contact Canon directly, not the dealer.
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John Cruet
G4/733 w/1028 mb RAM & OS 10.4.10, Classic-free, skuzzy-free (runs PC7)
MacBook Pro 2G Intel core duo 2 gig RAM & OS 10.5.4.
PowerCadd 8, WT 9
Canon iP710 printer
www.johncruet.com |
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fred johnson
Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 85
Location: CT
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:13 am Post subject: |
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John,
Sound like you came away OK with a little luck and work. I will still probally not get a Canon printer and the HP sounds pretty good.
Best of luck and thanks for the "heads-up". |
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pbacot
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 959
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:42 am Post subject: |
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Thanks John for posting and saving me a similar headache.
I found the head online for as low as $519.00 (CDW). I also saw some listed that looked erroneous. I could not find it on Canon's E-store. Since it seems to me the ink cartridges are always the same price, whomever I ask, Canon must set prices with their authorized resellers. So was your reseller dishonest, greedy, or what? Or is this the special program price only?
Happy plotting. Things like this make me thankful for this forum. I wonder if there is a "Canon" printers forum that'd so helpful.
Peter
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Peter B |
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John Cruet
Joined: 30 Apr 2004
Posts: 352
Location: Guilford, CT
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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| fred johnson wrote: | John,
Sound like you came away OK with a little luck and work. I will still probally not get a Canon printer and the HP sounds pretty good.
Best of luck and thanks for the "heads-up". |
Seems to me like the HP wide format printers- at least the three I had experience with (including the Encad which used HP cartridges) have the following advantages over the Epson and Canon printers:
1. Seems like the cartridge and print head are more or less integral, such that one could clean the cartridge head manually if need be.
2. HP cartridges cost me between $25 and $30, whereas the Canon ink tanks average $65 a pop.
_________________
John Cruet
G4/733 w/1028 mb RAM & OS 10.4.10, Classic-free, skuzzy-free (runs PC7)
MacBook Pro 2G Intel core duo 2 gig RAM & OS 10.5.4.
PowerCadd 8, WT 9
Canon iP710 printer
www.johncruet.com |
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fred johnson
Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 85
Location: CT
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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One thing I have not tried yet and can't seem to find the answer to:
Will my trusty HP330 still work under 10.5, without XRip? Right now it is working fine under 9.2.2 with MacPlot stuff. I did not see a driver for the 330 but there is one for the 430 which is a similar machine, in fact 10.5x has all the hp designjets EXCEPT the 330. |
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lavardera
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 431
Location: merchantville, nj
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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yikes - 550 is a lot for an item of annual maintenance. One thing I've found with my Cannon desktop is that it never seems to get clogged heads, and I've never needed to run a cleaning routine, and the cartridges are less than the other desktops I've owned. Obviously this does not necessarily transfer to the wide formats.
Do the newer HP plotters still use cartridges with integral print heads, or have they gone to the separate tanks + print head scheme?
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greg |
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John Cruet
Joined: 30 Apr 2004
Posts: 352
Location: Guilford, CT
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| fred johnson wrote: | One thing I have not tried yet and can't seem to find the answer to:
Will my trusty HP330 still work under 10.5, without XRip? Right now it is working fine under 9.2.2 with MacPlot stuff. I did not see a driver for the 330 but there is one for the 430 which is a similar machine, in fact 10.5x has all the hp designjets EXCEPT the 330. |
I think x-rip will run the HP 330.
The Canon came with its own MacOS X printer driver which works very well. I've since abandoned X-Rip.
What about Gimp- print?
_________________
John Cruet
G4/733 w/1028 mb RAM & OS 10.4.10, Classic-free, skuzzy-free (runs PC7)
MacBook Pro 2G Intel core duo 2 gig RAM & OS 10.5.4.
PowerCadd 8, WT 9
Canon iP710 printer
www.johncruet.com |
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lavardera
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 431
Location: merchantville, nj
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:19 am Post subject: |
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actually, it would be useful to see a cost analysis of the Canon ink tanks + print head cost over a year for a given ml of ink VS the same amount of ink run through an HP using cartridges with integral print heads.
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greg |
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fred johnson
Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 85
Location: CT
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:27 am Post subject: |
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John,
X-Rip does support the 330, although it needs a USB to parallel cable and Micro-enter is not sure what cable will work. Now I use the USB to parallel cable which came with Microspot graphic pak + dongle. No one at ME is sure that cable would work with X-rip or that the dongle is still necessary, not very helpful, nor is HP interms of cables. The HP designjet 430 via gimp is supported under Leopard and Snow Leopard, although one still needs the right cable with USB to parallel connections and this is where the problem is: no one has a cable recommendation. |
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John Cruet
Joined: 30 Apr 2004
Posts: 352
Location: Guilford, CT
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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| fred johnson wrote: | John,
X-Rip does support the 330, although it needs a USB to parallel cable and Micro-enter is not sure what cable will work. Now I use the USB to parallel cable which came with Microspot graphic pak + dongle. No one at ME is sure that cable would work with X-rip or that the dongle is still necessary, not very helpful, nor is HP interms of cables. The HP designjet 430 via gimp is supported under Leopard and Snow Leopard, although one still needs the right cable with USB to parallel connections and this is where the problem is: no one has a cable recommendation. |
I still have Aten's UC-1284B USB-to-parallel cable which worked with X-Rip on my Encad plotter. I don't know if your current dongle will work with X-Rip; MacroEnter should furnish you with one with X-rip.
I also have a Belkin F5U002 USB-to-parallel cable which worked in the halcyon days of Classic and MacPlot. It did not work with X-Rip and OS X.
I don't need any of this for my Canon printer, so if you like, I could loan you both and you can figure out which works.
A note of caution- I don't think the connection has the speed of USB2. My Canon printer uses an Ethernet connection to my desktop Mac.
_________________
John Cruet
G4/733 w/1028 mb RAM & OS 10.4.10, Classic-free, skuzzy-free (runs PC7)
MacBook Pro 2G Intel core duo 2 gig RAM & OS 10.5.4.
PowerCadd 8, WT 9
Canon iP710 printer
www.johncruet.com |
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fred johnson
Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 85
Location: CT
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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| I am actually considering the designjet 510 - $1795 + 325 for stand for 24" model; 2695 w/stand for 42" model. Comes with Mac driver & USB. Driver included and supported in Snow Leopard. Can also get/use ethernet. Very good reviews, separate print heads and ink supplys. |
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