Over the past week it's become apparent that the new style of Canon printer has some problems associated with it and the use of refilled cartridges.

So far only two reports have come in relating to the iP5200 printer but at present there are indications that the printer will essentially lock up and refuse to print once the last cartridge has been disabled.

This "lock" doesn't appear to happen immediately and with only 2 reports to date it's hard to confirm it properly but there does seem to be a situation that is common to both reports.

The normal situation is that:

• the printer declares the last cartridge as empty
  
• The user removes that cartridge, refills it and then replaces it
  
• The printer then declares the cartridge has been refilled and goes through the normal warning screens
  
• The user accepts the warnings and presses the resume button for 5 seconds as per instruction
  
• The printer will then continue to print...

This is all well and good but the common event for both lock-ups was that the user decided to top-up the cartridges in the printer.. After they'd done this the printer refused to print at all.

The only solution known to work at this point is to replace at least one of the cartridges with a new OEM Canon cartridge.


I have however developed a theory as to how to avoid this lock up situation and would appreciate anyone trying this approach to report back on success or failure.


Note: This approach will not stop the printer from recognising the cartridges are no longer Canon OEM filled cartridges but it may stop the printer from locking up and refusing to print.

1. The key thing here is not to remove any cartridges when the printer is turned on
   
2. open the lid (this causes the carriage unit to move to replacement position)
   
3. pull the power cord out of the printer (or just turn it off at the mains) BE CAREFUL! (it's still electricity you know!)
   
4. remove the cartridge(s) you want to refill
   
5. fill them up and replace them in the printer (still unplugged)
   
6. check everything is in place and seated correctly
   
7. plug the printer back in
   
8. turn the printer back on
   

As noted before the key to this is that the printer is not "alive" when the cartridges are removed and/or replaced in the printer. The reason for this is simple. The printer is fitted with sensors that detect whether there is any ink in the cartridges (prism).. It's also obvious that the printer detects when a cartridge is removed (when it's turned on).. You can observe this when you put any cartridges into your printer normally. The red LED will start flashing for any cartridges that have been moved.

So, with this in mind, if your printer is not turned on it cannot detect any cartridge changes and so long as your cartridges haven't actually run out you shouldn't hit a problem.


Now, as I said this is an educated guess that's based on just 2 error reports for which details are a little sketchy but if it works it is a useful workaround for refillers.

More on this topic will be provided as and when I develop it..



Additional references:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=85473&forum_id=40&jump_to=539373#p539373
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1145


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680

It seems my earlier theory may have been partly correct but not entirely...

New evidence seems to indicate that the printer may use the chip and prism in a rather cunning way to trap potential refillers.. It's normal practice for a refiller to pull the cartridge out of the printer when the cartridge is low on ink or as part of a regular refilling routine every X days or so...

Unfortunately it seems that the printer may have a "logic trap" of sorts that compares the chips data with the information (if any) that the prism has on the ink levels.. Prisms seem to indicate whether the cartridges spongeless part is full or empty.. Based on this you tend to get a "low ink" warning as the sponge part will still hold enough ink for a few more printouts..

My suspicion is that the printer uses this "low ink" information to check it's sanity with the chip.. So, if the printer gives a low ink warning, you (the user) may decide to refill it before it runs out. Replacing the cartridge then provides the printer with a schizophrenic sanity problem as the chip is saying "hey, I'm nearly empty" and the prism is saying "empty? are you sure... looks pretty damned full to me!".. Thus the printer goes "erm.. oh help... ERROR!".

Now interestingly Canon have allowed the user to refill their cartridges when they first run out completely or for the fact that some cartridges may never show as "empty" (eg: a CIS fitted system) because you get the 3 warning/nag screens before the ink levels disconnect..

So, the logic is incomplete but it does mean that refillers will need to reconsider how they go about their refilling and the interesting question now is whether or not refilling should be done:
- before the cartridge ever reaches "low ink"
- after the cartridge is empty every time

This last option may still be thwarted by Canon disabling the ink levels for any refilled cartridges and thus having a handy excuse for allowing the cartridge to run out of ink, remain undetected (or at least unreported!) and thus burn out the printhead. Nice eh!


It's still all supposition and guesswork, but is would appear Canon have created a real b*tch of a system in an attempt to reconcile their hold on their inkjet printers consumables market and I now wouldn't recommend anyone consider buying one.


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680