FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS PLEASE READ THIS. I LOVE PRINTERS AS MUCH AS INFORMING PEOPLE. 1.) All other inkjet printers be it Epson, HP, have foam or sponges. Someway or the other all these inkjet printers will also show this absorber error issues. It is impossible for an inkjet to have no absorber foam/sponge. 2.) Mind you that ink tank printers are designed for use not just for seasonal use. Trust me, here people have been doing third party ink tanks since the 2008's and even factory OEM ink tanks like this Canon Pixma ink tank are prone to air presence (contamination) in the tube line because of ink backflow to the tank because of lack of usage. You should print FULL PAGE COLORED at least once a week to avoid this. 3.)Due to this absorber foam/sponge issue, CANON has released a new and improved ink tank printers lineup that overcomes this issues. These sponges/foam are now user replaceable in a form of a long cartridge, they call it now "Maintenance Cartridge." Users can just buy this in their local computer stores or online where it may be available and maybe buy bulk just to have some spare, who knows. -With the improved canon ink tank printers, users can just screw to remove with a penny the old maintenance cartridge (foam/sponge) and replace it with the new one. Right after that you can continue printing right away, no codes, no reset, no other software needed, no hassle. This new maintenance cartridge have microchips that get detected by the printer once replaced/installed so again no codes, no reset needed. -Printers that have this user replaceable cartridge are (variety of model codes depends on where you live) Canon Pixma G1020 G2020 G2060 G2260(usa) G3020 G3060 G3060 G3260(usa) G500 series, G520(usa) G540 G550 G570 G600 series, G620(usa) G640 G650 G670 and other models that has identical body style and design and other latter Canon ink tank models that are designed and released after 2020. 4.) On the other hand, I still do not recommend Epson because it has a BUILT-IN print heads as oppose to Canon that has REPLACEABLE print heads. When your prints have lines or missing colors even though you run a lot of head cleaning or deep clean then that is a sign that the print heads needs replacing. The only way to acquire a genuine brand new Epson print heads is only via service centers and it is very expensive, trust me I've been there. Unlike canon, just type the code of your print head or printer model online it is available everywhere and replace it yourself. PLUS canon has better photo print output! Note: 1.)This Maintenance Cartridge and Replaceable Print heads are advertised by Canon themselves, Here is the video of the advertisement (Asia model name is shown, it may just vary depends on where you live) th-cam.com/video/e5nmAJND6W4/w-d-xo.html 2.)Replacement of Maintenance Cartridge and Print heads are other maintenance are well explained in this video th-cam.com/video/2Di-_NLMwvQ/w-d-xo.html I'm in no way affiliated to any printer brands whatsoever. I just like informing people.
Very helpful information. I am glad to hear that Canon printers released since 2020 have a user-replaceable sponge. Canon should advertise this feature and remove all prior models off the market.
"This new maintenance cartridge have microchips that get detected by the printer once replaced/installed so again no codes, no reset needed." It's another scam. Damn Canon and their stupid chips. They should just switch to a waste ink tank than a sponge. A tank is easier to empty like those modded printers. How much do those maintenance cartridge cost again?
You have to consult with Canon to get print heads for some of their printers. I'm not sure which ones but I know the g6020 is only available through customer service BY PHONE! If the printers require weekly full page printing, the printers should be programmed to print weekly on their own if they haven't been used. I hate this printer so much
Props to you for having enough integrity to walk back and criticise something that you previously endorsed. Not everyone can do that. Thank you for this informative PSA
You're welcome! This was easy because I bought the Canon at retail. Once you have a relationship with a company, well, you can guess how this type of video would go over. But I'm still considering doing one like that for another product I've reviewed previously that has been a total bomb from a long term perspective.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru If you know that a product is behaving differently over long term, whether good or bad, you should actually do an updated review, or at least a PSA, like this video.
absorber problem fixing by reflashing the rom... and taking out the drain into some bottle... The bigger problem of this series is lifetime & cost of the printheads!!! a much better lifetime have the HP tanks, but the absorber problem is a way more dissaster!! Epson only one is good to go (end Brother maybe, didn`t try, but it must be similar to Epson
@@robertbodnar8745 : How long will these Laser Printer cartridges last? i too have the Cannon 3200 Tanker I had it for a while and printed too many to count unlike the HP cartridge only printed 30-40 if lucky prints no Photo regular prints. But I don't like the idea that I have to use my printer to keep it in working condition.
After many years of many inkjets I came to the conclusion there is no such thing as a good inkjet. As someone who rarely needs colour anyway, I binned my last inkjet and bought a black laser. Sending something to print and just have it print without 5 minutes of whirring and without splodges or lines or a complete failure to print is a great feeling.
Same here, I bought a 39 dollar Pantum wireless black laser printer 8 years ago and it still works fine ... on the original toner cart too! Granted we don't use it daily, or sometimes weeks go by but when we turn it on to use it it works every time. Inkjets are dead to me. If I need a photo or color print I'll go to Walgreens.
@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome same. I have had a cheap Brother A4 laser printer for 12 years. Put one new toner cartridge in it in that time. Colour prints I send out to a print shop. Cheaper in the end, better paper, and better results.
Added bonus: If you run some kind of home (automation) server using a non-windows OS, support for laser printers tends to be a lot better than for inkjet printers.
If you do your research and get a high end head and ink system in an affordable model, it is far better and more capable than any laser, and at much lower cost. I got 10 epson wf-5190 on an offer for 100 euro each. 3200 nozzles. 10 pages in normal quality duplex. Catridges stay fixed. Pigment inks. If you print a page every month it stays clean. I use them for different things, but the ones I have used all work fine. They are OK after many years in storage also. They are compatible with large refillable cartridges if you want to do that. The only way to get nozzle problems is to leave it off for many many months but that shouldn't be very hard to fix with the right liquid, and no, clean cycles do not reqlly clean nozzles .You can find tests for this class of injets that test paper feeding in heavy usage. Color lasers below 1000 euro are low quality high cost garbage and even business models are designed to scam businesses that cannot calculate total cost of ownership. Kyocera is a good brand if you want low cost mono and color, but only the expensive models.
@@aristotle_4532 no one was talking about colour laser printers and you are still saying I have to print once a month or risk having to clean heads. I rarely print anything, but when I do I need it to work reliably. Which a laser will always do. As for "better" I'll always take a black laser print over a black ink jet print. And cost? I think my printer cost me about AUD $60. And replacement toner cartridges are perhaps $40 (which I've used one of in 12 years). Inkjets are great if you need colour and print regularly, otherwise they are a waste of time and money.
Except this guy has no idea what he's talking about. like all pixima printers previously the user can reset the waste ink counter by pressing buttons on the printer. service mode, 5, 5, 3. While not dead simple, the absorber pads are also some of the easiest to change I've ever seen. only two screws to take off the back cover and a pair of long nose pliers or tweezers to pullout and push in the pads. they cost about $10 for a new set, or you can wash them in your sink. You only have to replace the pads every 2 or 3 times you reset the count. Having run hundreds of inkjet photo printers over the last 15 years the G1200/3200 are hands down the best inkjets ever sold. They have an issue with needing to be reprimed if they experience big temperature shifts or are bounced around in a car traveling, but for most folks they are fine as long as you keep them powered on and print something every couple weeks. The newer model has a lever inside that you can flip for storage that fixes this, but they have a host of small issues that make them a worse printer over all. Still better than most, but worse than the 1200/3200.
Absolutely!! This should be criminal. Look they are shutting down our energy because of Global Warming, but then it’s ok for all these corporations to flood the United States wait planned obsolescence junk.
All the inkjet scam was the reason i gave up on them... Got me a good colour laser printer for efficient and economical normal printing. And when I need a good photo print, i simply go out and pay for it - pay per print... It's much easier and i don't have to hate myself for making a poor buying decisions over time 🙂
You could even get one of those dedicated photo printers, the paper isn't cheap but they make damn nice prints and it's still probably cheaper than a printing service (and photo printing services are disappearing)
Just posted something similar and then saw your comment, spot on, colour laser all the way. But even then, you have to get the right one, have been using Kyocera ecosys units for a couple of decades now, they really are great and cheap to run.
@@Jdbye well, with such printer you are stuck with the given paper dimensions. And i don’t print my photos so often that I’d have usage for such a dedicated device.
@@ledsalesoz i got my HP some years ago, one of the first with AirPrint support. And pretty happy with it since than… one just have to ignore the low toner message for a while and gets to print many pages with that :)
I think the best way to handle this problem (and when you use the printer not so often) is buy a black laser printer for basic prints at home and print your photos at a printingstation (higher quality) in supermarket or so.
but you must have luck with printer, accepting third party toner cartridges without chips, which is scarce now, so dont throw your Canon LBP 2900 or HP 1018 for lack of wifi, duplex, or other modern features, maybe its USB only, but it works since 2012, and with every toner you change drum (part responsible to print quality) too. I have them both in my repair shop, lending them as spare printers free of charge, until repair/replace customers original one.
@@lukaswolf3012 just don't go with hp canon or epson. why would you got for brand that are known to eb scammer for inkect printer? why wouldn't they scam you on laser printer ? I juts use brother and i am not disapointed for now . but i'm sure other brand works fine
Some generic toner cartridges have chips now for certain printers. Brother being one of the brands. They make it easy to get around the BS. Ends up being like $75 to replace all the cartridges for a color printer.
An inkjet printer has tiny inkjets, so tiny they are prone to clog if you don't use the printer regularly, so my advice is: if you don't print at least once a day you're better off with a laser printer, period.
Yup, I have a Samsung laser printer that I bought sometime around 2010 still on its original toner cartridge. I print on average 1-2x per year and whenever I turn it on it just works, every time.
the reason most invest in inkjet are to print photos at home, using high grade photo papers. Laser cant do that , still far behind for photo printing quality.
This! Although photos won't be as good. I did this and my laser finally started leaking toner all over the page as it prints. But that was maybe after 15 years.
Canon G3260 megatank has replacable maintenance cartridge now for $10, perhaps in part due to videos like this. Good job, I think you have made a difference!
Indeet that's a very good solution. Unfortunately this series of printers doesn't support recto-verso-printing. And those, who do, do not have the maintenance cartridge. It's a shame.
You still have to stop the continuous error message telling you the waste ink absorber is full. You can only do this by reprogramming the eeprom (firmware.) The web explains this is done by pressing the on/off button and the Ready button in a sequence that only works on your particular model, but this completely erases the eeprom and "bricks" the printer. Believe me I found this the hard way 😩
The only thing I miss from working at an office is that I could just use their printer that one time every year I need to print something. Luckily I've learned that I can print at my local library for just a few bucks so that's what I do now. It's gonna take me a decade at least to rack up the cost of a single set of toner cartridges.
Let me share my experience about this printer: I rarely print anything, so printheads are regularly clogged up once I get to print something. Last time it was so bad as I couldn't unclog it with any maintenance option available, not even deep clean. I took out the printheads, got a syringe with warm water, and pushed the water through the printheads until it was just pure water coming out. Sucked out/drained the remaining water, put back the printheads, initiated a deep clean (or some kind of clean) and all colors started to work flawlessly. I don't remember the exact steps as I did it like a year ago. Just as an FYI, that you can unclog your printer this way as well, but if you do it this way, you must accept that you are doing it on your own risk.
I wash the printer heads under running hot water, forget the syringe. Run it till it is almost clear out of each port, tap dry then use a paper towel to dry the rest. Done this many times.
Thank you for publishing this. All computer hardware related youtubers should publish videos like this. Maybe printer manufacturers will stop wasting our money (and environment with broken printers).
I've been wary of these kinds of issues with ink printers - so I went with a Brother colour laser all-in-one *because* of how little printing I do. Sure, it's more expensive - but my reasons were two-fold: 1: Toner doesn't "dry out", and 2: It has good Linux support. 🙂
Brother color LED printers are like $200 or a bit more now. And it's easy to get around the stupid measures they put in place with the chips. Generic cartridges are cheap too.
It's 2 years late, but sadly this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. the canon can be reset by pressing buttons on the printer. service mode 5, 5, 3. the absorber pads cost $10 and take 2 minutes to change out. there's 2 screws holding the back cover on, and you pull them out with pliers or tweezers. You only have to change the pads every other time you reset the count. Having run this model, the G1220/3200 and dozens of other model inkjet photo printers, the megatank 1200/3200 are hands down the best of the best. The newer canon printers are almost as good, but have issues that make them not quite as good.
Thank you so freaking much for this video. I have this issue right now and I'm absolutely screwed. Canon told me my prints started getting streaky because you need to use it everyday to prevent clogs. They don't tell you this of course. And they don't warn you that the deep clean will fill your ink absorber either. They are absolutely scamming.
presenter guy doesn't know what he's on about. if you still have the printer, a year later, give me a reply or look for my post here. you can reset the waste ink counter just pressing buttons, you only have to replace the absorbers every other time you reset the count. replacing them is 2 screws on the back and they pull right out and slide right back in. If you think its still scamming i'll pay the shipping and buy your 1200/3200 off you. Best inkjet ever made.
Thank you. I have just brought one of these. I'm still waiting for it. I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what brand of printer they are designed to die after about 3 years.
The new Canon PIXMA G620 Megatank printer has a user replaceable maintenance cartridge for $9.99 which solves this issue. As far as the clogging, inkjet printers will clog if not used, just print a color document once a week or so and you won't clog up. Luckily these Megatank printers use dye based inks, which are water based, which don't clog as easily as pigment ink printers. I own the new G620 and it is a fantastic 6 color photo printer for only $299 with a built in scanner too. So, far I have not had any problems with my unit, and it sips ink. Came with a full set of inks too, not a starter set. My ink tanks are still full after about 100 4x6 so far. Those sponges at the bottom were a hassle on all older inkjet printers, I had an Epson 2200 photo printer that filled up its non-replaceable sponge too, and that was an expensive printer. More of the modern ones have replaceable waste cartridges. So, when buying one, make sure the printer has a replaceable one, or the printer will be disposable...lol.
Awesome info. I will check out that model. I did look into whether canon had changed its ways since my 2017 model, and missed your model. It's brand new but sold out, so didn't come up in searches on Amazon. Here it is, can't be ordered: amzn.to/38GXlFn
@@TheTechBuyersGuru Yes, it is new and always sold out. Very popular. I got mine at Adorama. Had to wait a month on my order, but was able to get one. They don't charge until the unit is shipped. Like I said, I have been very pleased with it, photo output is very good with the 6 inks as opposed to the 4 in the old units.
Thanks for all this feedback. As much as I've been burned with photo printing so far, I am nearly convinced to buy the G620 anyway, thanks to you, LOL!
as others mentioned, if you own a color printer, you pretty much have to print a color page every week to keep the nozzle from drying up. The longer it sits, the more cleaning it will require. If it sits for a few months it may be too far dried and it won't come out the nozzle at all.
My office inkjet printer, if no print in 1 week or more, sure will need initiate print head cleaning… But my canon maxify, I left it with out ink in the box for 2 year I think, after few flushing, can use again, but the ink expensive..
@@Tom-ku8bu Yep, I have a small Xerox Phaser color printer that's well over 10 years old and only paid $199 for it. I've replaced the inks a few times with a 3rd party and it kept on printing without issues. Even I haven't used the printer for months it still works without going through the cleaning nonsense.
I've paid $179 for the G7020 from Canon and it is their flagship for the ecotank printers. All the needed features and technologies included and it works great so far (1 year old now).
I'm at two years and nothing but problems with the same printer and the new heads are back ordered and you can't get them and the Canadian price is almost $500.00 for this junk.
@@dashcam3098 Me too. Nothing but problems. Not to mention that when the waste ink pad is full, you can't replace it. You need to pay several hundred dollars for service!
That’s the one I have. My wife recently retired, so the printer goes weeks without use, and now the black doesn’t print even after trying every cleaning method. Make sure you use it regularly or you will have the same issue.
I think its a lot more economical to go to anywhere that allows you to pay money to print / photocopy. Even if copying with color costs more, its still a lot better than buying a new printer / copier that starts to play up and becomes unusable. Many thanks for the video, you have saved me a lot of money.
It's not a fail. It all works as intended. You're supposed to hand the printer in for an expensive service or buy a new printer. (Most likely the latter) It is by design. It is how the manufacturer makes money. My tip: Never *ever* buy any kind of liquid/ink based printers. Go for laser/toner printers. They last a lot longer and don't clog up.
My color laser printer came with cartridges and the first color said it was empty 150 pages ago, yet it prints fine. Right now 3 out of 4 cartriges say they are empty yet it prints fine. Not sure if Canon is saying its empty when 25% is actually left or something... annoying to have to tell the printer to keep printing every reboot etc.
The biggest problem with Ink Jet printers is that they are made to be used. If you are just printing a single picture out once a month, a Printer at home isn't really ideal unless you go laser.
I agree. But they are not marketed that way. Regular consumers have no idea that they’re intended for frequent use until they learn my painful and expensive experience.
Most inkjets have always had a sponge for this, it’s just really hard to print enough to fill it up. Saying that, every time you switch it on there’s a cleaning cycle which wastes ink (and puts it in the sponge). Some printers (Epson PictureMate) have the sponge built into the cartridge. So you can expire a cartridge just by switching the printer on and off to print one photo at a time, long before the actual ink runs out!
@@Ussurin It isn't "literal sponge" it's more like dense cotton fibre that has some kind of gel in it to lock the ink in. I tried washing one out previously, what a mess!
They don't need to sell replacements, the ink is literally dumped into the pad through a tube. As the guy even mentions in the video you can just connect that tube up to a tub and get presto you've got yourself all the wasted ink dumped into a tub that you can then just dump back into your black ink every so often. The printers like the that have ink tanks really should have also done this design change and had the waste ink be dumped right back into the black by default, that way the cleaning process does what it needs to by paying ink through the head, and the ink just goes around in a cycle. Or at the very least just have a waste pot people can empty. The real scam in this is that the printers still are locked down in the firmware to basically stop working after a set number of cleaning a cycles. When it thinks the pad is "full", even if its not. This problem even means a scanner printer will stop letting people scan anything. There should be a way to tell the printer that the spine was cleaned or the tank was emptied. They should never be locked down like they still are, but it seems even when trying to claim they're not going to scam people on ink they still scam people in other ways
I've encountered many of those issues in approx. 15 years of inkjet printer use. When I finally was fed up and came up with the following solution: Buy a Color Laser Printer for 300 Euros and have my photos printed by a print service. OK, I want less than 50 photos to be printed out in 4 years, but this solution has perfectly worked out for me. No toner change in 5 years, no hassle, no scam.
I love the Ecotank series. I have two. One is a 6 color model dedicated for photography. Color output quality is unbeatable; print cost is lower than high volume monochrome laser. 1. Your printer must be an older model than mine. I have a ET-7550 that I've been using heavily for about 5 years now. On this printer, there's a removable exhaust ink box. It's good for maybe 20 thousand pages. I've replaced that maybe four or five times. It's ~$10 direct from Epson; Amazon prices are much higher. 2. The print head does plug - no matter how regularly you print. The key thing to recognize is that the built in cleaning procedure just doesn't work well. Effective cleaning means a more manual (and undocumented) process. For my usage pattern, this manual deep clean is necessary maybe once every 5 reams of paper. That's around 2500 sheets. Okay, here's how to clean: 1. Start printing something; the nozzle check is fine. The point is to pull power when the print head is near middle of the print carriage. 2. Take a sheet of kitchen paper towel. Roll that into a strip of around 1.5in wide. Saturate it with Windex. 3. Slip the strip under the print head. Hold both ends of the strip. Lift until you feel tension against the print head. Pull the strip back and forth along its length. You'll see thick blotches of ink bleed onto the towel strip. You're literally wiping dried ink off the print head. 4. Repeat step 3 another once or twice more. Shove the print head back toward the right edge of the printer. Plug it back in. 5. That's it. The print head is now cleared for another 2500 sheets.
@@FrozenHaxor not sure its still the case, but Canon printers 20 years ago used Epson printheads, they were the first that I recall which didn't replace the head with the cartridge
@@FrozenHaxor Yeah, seems like it. Nevertheless I would recommend to take a look at Epson’s line up. They have replaceable ink dumps if I remember correctly
@@mchenri9683 I have their L310 printer, the diaper is largely non-replaceable but if you don't run cleaning and purging cycles all the time like a lunatic, they won't get soaked. Head clogged? Use proper chemical to clean it. Works for 5 years now.
Epson Ecotank absorber sponges are easily replaceable. They are the only high capacity inkjet line that has such a feature. The ink is slightly more expensive than both Canon and HP at about $40-$50 for a 4 color set of refills instead of $20-$30, but the tanks are overall larger and the printer itself tends to provide better performance and more consistent prints.
Thank you Glenn! I also have an Epson Ecotank ET-4850 that I spent nearly $500 on in January 2022. I saw this video and was concerned that the Epson would have the same flaw as Canon. I spent the extra $ on the Ecotank in the hopes it would be better engineered vs cheaper inkjet printers. It’s relieving to know Epson took the time to implement a solution for this issue.
@@edubbs3528 Oh, that’s interesting. Perhaps there are variance in the models. Like more expensive models have more maintenance features built-in, whereas less expensive models have things non-user replaceable sponges. That would be a crappy thing for Epson to do though. Getting good reviews on the fancy models, misleading people to think all of them have the same robustness.
@@edubbs3528 Maybe you had to just cut out the tube to the sponge and put it somewhere to drain the ink from the very new state. But it would work if we know, that the "full sponge" detected by some "wet sensor". And I don't know, whether there is a moisture sensor at all. Maybe there is just a counter...
My family and I have been using Epson Eco Tank printers for quite some time now. And we absolutely swear by them. Sure, you pay more upfront, but you get a decent page yield out of the ink bottles. Print quality is also good just as long as you know how to adjust the printer’s print quality settings. And yes, it does indeed come with an easy to replace ink absorption pad that they call a “maintenance box”. This comes out easily with one screw and can be replaced when the need be. Epson Eco Tank printers are the only inkjet printers I’d recommend. Trust me, they’re worth it.
As someone who used to do large format printing professionally, the printers I used had a “waste tank” that basically looked like another ink cartridge. Those stupid things were expensive.
I just have a black and white laser printer. It always fires right up and ive not even used all of the included toner. 10/10. For photos that actually matter, you can always go to a print shop.
i have one too, has lasted 5 Years so far and the Printer lately mentoined the Cartridge might be empty soon, so we have a replacement at hand when that happens :D but this might be another year or two away, no idea. Also doesnt matter since the Powder doesnt dry up.
This "feature" has been around for a long time. One of my clients had a little Canon bubblejet printer (probably close to 20 years ago now) and I remember her contacting me saying she couldn't print anything any more, even with new ink installed. When she contacted Canon here in Australia she was told the ink absorber was full and that was the end of its operational life. She had printed a lot with it, and was told to purchase a larger model with a higher rated print yield. I guess some things never change!
Exactly. Theres no reason these printers couldn't have had a waste ink tank built in, with an accurate full measurement sensor that means the printer never disables itself forever with nothing the users can do except hack the firmware.
@@ge2719 There is no reason Canon can't make the ink counter easily resettable. They won't even tell consumers how to do it, and none of the procedures recommended on line work on mine. I can get it into service mode easily enough (hold down Stop, turn on Power, then flash Stop 5 times with Power held on), but then what???
@@johne6081 i had to buy a seeingoy dodge poeceof software for resetting a specific printer i had. Tested it in a locked off virtual machine and it didnt doathing malocious and the i ran it on a mini pc with a fresh windows with no network access, then reinstaled windows, just incase. It reset it fine. I cant remember the name of it though. Let me see if i can find it again.
oddly, for at least 15 years... I go back to the ip4000... all canon printers have been user resetable. The exact procedure has varied from model to model, but sadly the G1200/3200 in this video seems to be the end of the line for people being able to reset the counter easily. the next generation after this use a replaceable cartridge for wast ink... that has a chip on it that is not resetable just by pressing buttons on the printer. You can reset it with an Arduino, that's what I do, but it's far worse now that they "fixed it" as far as user serviceability goes.
I’ve basically given up with printers. I had an old Samsung laser printer I spent hours trying to get to print with no success. I Decided to buy the cheapest I can get especially since I print very little. I dislike that this will probably create more ewaste even though I will recycle at end of life. I wonder if the right to repair movement will have a positive effect on printers as well
Never buy HP or Canon for basic printing. If you really need a printer buy Epson or Brother inktank printer. If you don't use your printer regularly, never shut down your printer. It will allow the printer to clean it's head when required. You also need a resetting software, which you can get from online for free. If everything goes wrong you still can physically clean the head. Just unscrew the head and flash mild warm water inside the head and reattach it after drying. I got more than one lakh colour prints from my Epson with 3rd party ink.
This is why i always recommend to get laserprinters, especially for people who rarely need to print. These issues what you describe were hidden away from the consumer for decades. But in Large Format Printing this is no new thing. The sponges are not always used in this way. Depending on print technology (latex, inkjet, solvent ect) mostly use a waste tank, that is basically a empty can that recieves all the ink, that gets flushed through the printheads to get all the nozzles open again. Problem is, inkheads are easy (in some printers) to replace. But these consumer things; they require to be taken apart entirely. And we all know, getting that junk together is not really realistic. I once owned a 'office' grade Lexmark, which occasionally did it's flushes... ran out of a full set of cardridges in a few months, without making a single print myself :)
Depends on the printer design and age. Epson's Ecotanks had the same problems in the early models. Now it is a user-servicable part that just needs a screw driver and a ten buck replacement part. Same for newer Canon's, I think.
Laser printers have their own planned obsolescence thing. There's a powder salvage tank in every laser printer that is often impossible to remove and / or disassemble to empty it out because it's sealed. A IR laser beams to a sensor, when the powder blocks the light hitting the sensor, the printer stop working. It's possible to make it work again but ultimately the error will reappear and one day you will not be able to get rid of this without buying an off brand powder salvage tank if you can find it.
@Ryokath Irrelevant (but interesting nevertheless). Today, few people print more than a few pages per week -- and many print a few pages *a decade*. For this audience, the only thing that matters is that the mere passage of time won't damage the printer, and that's what a laser printer gives you. Buy the printer, buy a full set off toner cartridges, and the odds that the printer will work when you *need* to print a form a decade from now is good. With an ink jet printer, the odds of it working are close to zero -- even if you invested in a spare set of ink tanks.
@@RyokathI wonder how common this powder salvage thing is? I've not run into a problem with my 2012 Xerox yet. Still works fine for the occasional print job
Sorry if I talk with different brand, but I will said, Epson ECOTank that we use in the office is working perfectly fine (320K+ pages), but we do had replace the ink absorber as well. Epson told on the manual and you need replaced as it use cotton sponges, not standard sponges. i tried to wash it but like you said, it take few days to dry (must bone dry) and they will compacted and not as dense as before. And now for the newer model, the maintenance box had chip on it, so you cannot replace as easy as the older models. now For the missing color, Epson technician who service my printer told me, there is 2 reason: either the printhead is clogged if you rarely use it, or pump failure. If you rarely print, like your printer idle for few weeks, then you had chance that ink clogged the printhead and you don't need to replace, unless if the printhead is damage. Epson technician recommended you flush/deep cleaning several times then try to use the printer everyday. this is no.1 common problem that epson service center had. While my office printer is actually had PUMP Failure, and the technician said is actually very common if your printer already print 320K pages within 4-5 years, and the pump sparepart is quite afforable too when I service it on epson service center. but again , the technician always (what i seen), he always told me, NO MATTER THE BRAND IS, most tank based printer he seen can had long life as long you do this: 1. Print everyday if you can, at least 2 pages of mixed text & images. the longer idle duration of the printer, the higher chance your ink will clogged the printhead. 2. Use same ink, whether official ones or off brand ones, always stick to that brand. Never try to change brand every single refills. 3. save some money on fresh maintenance box, if you use older models then stock some fresh sponges. this one is rarely need to be done, but when the notification is showed, then it is the time to replace it. that why when I pickup the printer after he service it, he pointed out to some customer why my office printer can last 4+ year, but they don't. And that tips also said by some print station nearby my uni as well, and that's why their printer can print thousand of pages every day without any troubled.
That is nice to know. I checked and Canon states that the absorber is non-user replaceable. They state that the G3200 printer needs to go to a service center where they will charge to replace the absorber. My Epson ET-3750 uses a user replaceable maintenance tank. I am going on four years of ownership with no problems and only two head cleanings. It came with two free sets of ink bottles, and I am halfway through the second set of ink.
It may be what canon says, but it's untrue. the pads are $10 on amazon and take 2 minutes to swap out. you only actually have to replace them every other time you reset the counter. As for the epson's I'm glad they fixed it, but when we tried the ET2550's when they came out the ink absorber was not replaceable... and you could not reset the count without sketchy, one time use, codes from random ebay sellers. Epson refused to service them or provide the software to reset them. I've got about 20 of them in our storage shed just being e waste.
My prints looked exactly like yours. The green ones that is. This printer worked great for a couple of years but now I'm done with it. For people that only make 4x6 prints I recommend the Canon Selphy, It's a dye-sub printer. . . no ink. I used one for years in my photo studio for passport photos. It never failed. For large prints I switched from Epson to Canon because the heads were always needing cleaning. The cleaning worked good but the ink useage was excessive. It used 8 tanks at a cost of $100 each. The Canon printers needed cleaning as well but a lot less than the Epson. Love the concept of refillable ink tanks but there's always a hitch, isn't there! I hope you find a reliable home photo printer soon and pass it on.
Just been through a similar scenario with the G650. Unlike the author, I have used this printer virtually every day for 2 years and four months (I bought one of the first) and have printed over 25,000 pages with it. The black print head began to clog (lines) and then black failed altogether. I did several cleans and a deep clean. It just got worse, then after about the fourth deep clean, the colour printhead started to fail as well. I got a warning that the maintenance cartridge (sponge) was almost full. They are cheap enough, but then I started to think about the possible scenarios. I've replaced the maintenance cartridge twice already - the printer never cut off the ink supply, even when it was full. So, was I on the hook for a maintenance cartridge at about £10, or did I need to try new print heads at £55 each plus shipping? They were probably due to be replaced - but if that didn't work I would be £120+ down and unable to return anything. Then there was the ink - I had about 50% to go before buying a new set. All things considered, I decided to write it off and get a new Epson printer/scanner with a new warranty, new heads, full ink and an actual print driver for my Mac (as opposed to Canon insisting I use Airprint) for £229.00. Four bottle system as opposed to six, but faster and smaller and less expensive to fill. This is one of those occasions where the first loss is the best loss, in my opinion.
Sir Here is ur solution for canon printer it just needs a conbination of keys on printer to clear code and change the ink pad which are availble for under 5$ th-cam.com/video/jHprxt8ghYk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=7kjMFo9n5KqNsApV
The G3260 has a replaceable maintenance cartridge with a sensor that determines when the cartridge needs to be replaced. It costs about $20.00, and the replacement procedure is easy. Our G3260 is now on month ten and so far no message the maintenance cartridge needs replacing.
The actuall required components of that cartridge for proper functioning cost less than dollar if you go to hardware store, you know? Paying 20 dollars every time you change a sponge is pretty huge scam.
It's no sensor, just a counter chip. if you're adventurous you can build a device to reset it for $5 and just rinse out the pads when the time comes... but iId just buy a new one and keep it on the shelf if you haven't gotten that far a year... or three now. I "fill" mine every 4 to 6 months, on a dozen printers.
Sadly the guy here doesn't know what he's on about. the count and the pads are user serviceable. a pad kit costs $10 takes 2 screws you pull them right out. the count takes pressing buttons on the printer.
Thanks for your video! I'm frustrated too as my colour cartridges wont work after doing all the recommendations. It seems I have the same problem as you. Makes me wonder if it is worth having a coloured printer/ cost of instalment, inks etc for very limited lifespan.
I had a similar experience at one point. I had to run the deep clean through multiple cycles and it finally came clear. After that experience, I learned to use my printer often. I never use just black as I want to exercise all colors/lines. I have not experienced the same issue since and I have purchased this printer at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Even with that experience, I still suggest this printer to others. I have the G7020.
The best investment I ever made was for a second hand colour laser printer. It always works and never needs cleaning. The toner cartridges are good for 1000's if not 10000's of prints. I've had it now for 6 years and I'm still on the original toner cartridges which are still at 50%. I only paid £200 for it.
I'm looking to switch over to laser because I'm just done with inkjet printers all together. I'm hoping that the laser printer will work well with making bookmarks on cardstock and can pick up texture and print as close to what's on the screen as possible
@@LunarNoire Did you buy yet? Be sure to research any printer you're considering, because laser printers don't generally do heavy cardstock well. It bonds toner to paper with heat, and if the cardstock is too thick for the printer it will flake off. That said, I LOVE my color laser printer, but def buy after-market toner or it's like paying for ink cartridges. Good luck!
@@imadish5356 I ended up getting a laser printer, but I want to get this one too to replace my ecotank since I'm using both for different purposes. So far the laser printer that I have has been pretty good with heavy cardstock. I'm going to try cover cardstock next to see if it will go through and pray I don't break the the printer lolz. The colors came out really nice and accurate so I am pleased with the laser printer thus far, but still want an inkjet as well. I got the Canon ImageCLASS MF644Cdw
@@LunarNoire Congrats! That looks like a really nice printer. I'm jealous.😉I have (old!!) HP M251nw. Have done up to 271 gsm/100 lb. It made it through, but toner "just" sticks -can flake it off in places. Depending on project, I sticky laminate or spray w/Crystal Clear. Page curl is a major prob for me --my printer can't load from the back. PLEASE let me know how it goes with your new Canon! I'm shopping -this poor old thing is gonna quit soon. Good luck!
I want to consult with you, I have a Canon G2000 I haven't used it for several weeks and it finally broke, replacing the spare parts is more expensive than buying a new printer. in the end I bought an Epson L3210, please tell me the weaknesses of this printer and how to maintain it so that it lives long
If you print seasonally, a color laser printer is your best bet. There's no ink to worry about drying up. Yes they might be more expensive initially, but you won't run into the maintenance hassle
I have never had an inkjet printer remotely come close to the photo/label quality of my Kyocera colour laser printer. The only reason I keep my shitheap Canon around is because of the ADF scanner
@@prathamshenoy9840 sure but you won't ever have to worry about print heads clogging up because the ink dried. And most of those bins are user serviceable
This! I had an inkjet 11 years ago but I was printing half a dozen documents or photos a year and having to replace the ink every time. Got a Canon MF634C a few years ago. Scans, prints, never have any problems.
I recently got one of the g3000 series for printing cards, I run it almost constantly, done 5 ink refils for these full color pages so far, several thousand pages double side printed, and it's running fine. ran way past the duty cycle right away
This was exactly the reason that made me make a choice of never buying a home printer unless I absolutely am forced to. I was also excited about the refillable inkjets, but that feeling came crashing down when I learned about the software locked absorber counter. I was a day away from buying this exact printer. I will utilize the printers at work and if needed, printing services. Much better value.
If you do not print enough to *need* a printer at home, you are much better off with a laser. Stick it away in a closet for a year or two if you want to, and it still works when you need it.
Yeah, this is basically why I went with color laser a couple printers ago, they don’t have the same picture quality but make up for it in not having any issues with being used infrequently. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more development of home digital photographic paper prints, I’m sure anyone really dedicated to the true top quality wouldn’t mind loading some photo chemicals instead of ink... I was always impressed by the prints I obtained from my local electronics shop, that tech just needs to get desktop sized and mass produced, and black and white would be even simpler to implement.
I have a different model in the same line, and the only problem has been connectivity, now resolved. I am not questioning your discovery, just a different experience. It is used just about every day, though, perhaps that is part of it?
I recommend the Ecotank series for my consumer customers. The ink maintenance boxes are cheap (10-25$) and they aren't hard to manually flush if you absolutely must. I just recommend that my clients print at least 1 page a week in full color to keep the ink flowing properly.
Ditto. I can fully recommend the Epson EcoTank series. I've had the ET-2500 for 7 years now and not had a problem. All the ink tanks have only been re-filled once in that time.
Absolutely. I say the same thing for my customers. The issue he was experiencing is just a head clog due to inactivity. Isopropyl alcohol usually fixes it. Of course if he runs cleaning after cleaning he’ll saturate the sponge. That’s what it’s designed for. Running a print once a week prevents all of this.
I have an Epson 2400 less than a year old that printed regularly and still stopped all color printing except black. Called Epson and installed new drivers and did a power cleaning and it works well now and I print a color print every week til the sponges fill up and then probably dump the machine and go back to cartridges and it is a shame. More expensive Epsons have user replaceable sponges but I don't want to pay $500 for a printer I rarely use as I am retired 12 years and love every minute of it.@@ryan_529
I have an Epson EcoTank L6170 all-in-one printer that has a removable maintenance box that an end user can do it without the hassle, and the maintenance box is fairly cheap. It may be a premium-priced printer, but it was worth the money for a hassle-free user experience. As for the budget oriented EcoTank models (ex. L121) though, the waste tank isn't "user installable/replaceable" as Epson states and must be serviced by authorized Epson service centers. But it doesn't mean it can't be possible for a user to install/replace with a 3rd party ink pad (in fact, it's stupid easy and you can find video tutorials on how to do it on youtube). And there's a free 3rd party utility app to reset the waste ink counter.
I have a Brother AIO that cost me about $100 maybe 6 years ago. I buy generic ink cartridges online pretty cheaply. I have had to clean the heads once but otherwise it's been fine for me. I also appreciate that I can print from MacOS and Linux easily as well.
A Brother user over here as well. I cant really understand why its the only brand that haven't been problematic so far. Or at least less problematic. Earlier on I had two HP printers, one had this rather cool ability to print on printable discs, which has been a huge help with my first business, but sadly the ink was deadly expensive. I tried to refill the cartridges, and while black worked out well, the color one did not, and it printed weird colors. And not to mention it broke after some time, it was probably around 2010 or so. The second one I got for free from my mobile operator after signing a new deal, and it worked a small bit longer. It was a combo, had the scanner on top (tbh all of the later printers I got had those built in scanners). But again had that annoyance in form of expensive inks. Not to mention it used a very weird kind of PSU, and after moving out I lost one, so now its basically a piece of junk. In the meantime my grandfather bought himself a Brother printer. It was in around 2007 I believe so. He still uses it like... once over 3 months? And it works like a charm. And so I went for buying Epson printer. It had those cool features like Wi-Fi printing, fax, and so on. Had a normal 8-style power cord, and it wasnt HP. Ink wasnt cheapest, but still better than HP. It worked for like 2 years. Still got it, but I dont really know why I keep this. Probably just to give away to someone who'd want a free scanner. Sadly this carried on. Around 2019 my father wanted to buy a printer for himself, and chose HP, after all I went through. I told him "dont buy this junk, you'd only lose money", but he insisted that he has to own a printer, because he has to have ability to print something when he needs to. Yep. He maybe used it like once or twice, and it stopped working. He is not used to print anything if he doesnt need to. It was a real annoyance that I couldn't print anything at home, and had to go visit my buddy who worked at the office. Until one day he asked me "hey, wouldnt you want a printer?". After I saw that its a Brother, I happily agreeded. The only reason he gave it away for me was the fact that it's "too slow", and his customers had to wait like 30 seconds for their documents, and he has to give it to them in lesser time. It was already used heavily, because he printed documents every day, and not to mention its already probably 10 years old. But it prints! And since I got it in 2020 I'm printing as much as I want. In colour and b&w. The only problem I have got now is where to get a cheap paper. This leaves a question. Why should I bother printing a page weekly if I dont need to, when my current printer works even if I leave it for a month or two? Even the OG inks for the Brother printer are cheap, and the third party ones now costs less than a pack of 500 sheet copy paper. The only problem I had with the printer recently was the fact, that the transparent ribbon inside got splashed with ink. After I cleaned it, it works again. Couldnt repair a similiar issue in my first HP. Sure - the print quality isnt the best one I had ever seen. But I can turn a blind eye on it, because it pays off with the reliability. It has almost zero impact when printing documents anyway. And what's best - printing has become affordable again. I'm not the kind of person who likes to praise big companies, but when it comes to printers I just can't stay silent, because this is a real difference. HP printers had this magnet for clients of being cheap, but then you had to spend more on inks, and the company earned their money anyway. Its probably a similiar story with Canon and Epson. I'm not sure how does Brother products hold up now, but Im sure that Im not going to change my printer anytime soon.
This is an excellent printer IF you use it (almost) daily. If you don't, some of the ink will fall back because of gravity. This problem already existed 20 years ago with those large format inkjet printer. On the lastest Canon printer driver, already have "ink flush" feature in Printer Maintenance to address empty tube problem. They'll just need to add "reset absorber". But on the otherhand if user start to abuse "reset absorber" without changing the absorber, one day ink will leaks out.
You can reset the absorber by pressing buttons on the printer. You can reset it at least twice without ink coming out. I clean mine out after 2 resets of the count. The generation after this that came out in early 2020 has a replaceable waste ink collector cartridge.
I agree with most of your points. I wish the ink absorber was openly available for consumers to replace. I was able to clean the absorbers and reset the error on my g3200 a while back, but it was obviously not encourage on a consumer level. I just ordered a new absorber from China because I doubt my old sponges will make it through another cleaning. Also my on screen options have 3 levels of cleaning. I’ve had to use the “System Cleaning” option at least three times now. It takes about ten minutes and you really see the ink levels drain while the ink is purged.
@@johne6081 After everything is cleaned and closed up, I used this manual reset code: -press stop and hold power -push stop 5 times -release power Next -press stop 5 times, then push power (a page prints) -press stop 3 times, then push power (a test page prints) (th-cam.com/video/Zu_vONAEM4A/w-d-xo.html)
I have an Epson ET-4550, I did get over 10,000 prints out of mine. But I did run into the same problem. But I am more determined to keep mine. So I did find some replacement sponges for it and it did just drop out. The newer ones have replaceable sponges. But they all will shut off and not work after so many usages, and you will have to reset the counter.
I have a 10-year old (or so) Epson printer, and while the ink clogs up a lot, and I have to do cleaning cycles all the time, it's still cheap and worth the hassle because I buy 3rd party cartridges from eBay for like 1 euro... The sponge has probably "expired" physically a long time ago, but it doesn't seem there's any "digital expiration" on it.
You can get rid of the error, there are plenty of tutorials on TH-cam. Done it a couple of times. Also, you can buy ink absorbing pads, and they are not expensive.
I've got this same printer, or pretty close. I've printed so much, and have used off-brand ink. The printer is so economical, but I have had to do the deep clean twice.
Seems this guy has no clue what he is recommending on his youtube channel or even on national television, just recommends whatever he happened to have bought... You recommend a printer you don't even have looked at, haven't even read up on the limitations and requirements (frequent printing is required for inkt jet, especially with little tubes such as these). Then he doesn't even apologize/take responsibility and just fully blames Cannon for his own mistake of buying a heavy-use printer for occasional use...
I don't have this printer but we had an Epson Etank we got when they 1st came out and it lasted years for us and finally had to replace it because my son dropped something on it and cracked one of the tanks
So glad I found this video!! These tanks printers sound too good to be true. I own an HP Envy 4500 that I got for $45 in 2015 and it’s still working like a beast! I’ve printed almost 10500 pages so far. The only reason I’m looking into a better printer is because I started a small business that requires me to produce quality readable labels on just about every type of paper (textured, matte, glossy, clear). I tried Epson EcoTank but I was honestly not amazed with the print quality. The colors were dull and despite letting it dry for days, the black ink on a clear label kept smudging. Also the updates became toooo frequent and annoying my god! And it won’t even accept a card stock paper no matter the settings. So I’m still using that HP inkjet but I have to be prepared when it starts breaking down.
After various colour inkjet printers from Canon and Epson, I gave up on ink jet printing a long, long time ago due to the ridiculous cost of replacement inks, the generally inferior quality of third party inks, firmware updates that rejected third party cartridges, shamefully low print counts per cartridge, etc. We now have a moderately priced, high quality (in our experience) Brother mono-laser that accepts third party toner cartridges, for all our general printing needs. Any colour printing we use either a retail store or there are now quite a few online stores that print and ship prints at a very low cost ... and all with superior results to what the inkjet printers ever gave me even at their best. Your video is very on point, and I would go further to suggest that everyone should simply, and permanently, shun inkjet printers marketed for home use, so as to cease rewarding manufacturers in their shameful inkjet cartridge cost 'scams'. Third party printing services, that use higher quality machines than the home user could afford, while printing at a lower cost per page than the home user could achieve, are the way to go!
The reason I'm here is that I need a document with personal info on it printed immediately and my printer isn't working. They know they can do whatever they want
This is why I use a 31 year old dot matrix printer for my documents. It never fails and the ink ribbon is cheap and lasts a lot. For Photos I prefer to go to a dedicated center to get them printed.
I have a G4210, that suffered the same malady as described in the video. Upon discovering what the error code indicated, I searched the web to no avail looking for replacement ink pads. My next resort was to call Canon USA, where-upon I was told ( by a very nice lady, whom I cannot fault as she was only the messenger ) that: 1. "Canon has no service centers, and the factory will do no service past warranty". 2. "This product is not field serviceable". 3. "Canon will not provide replacement ink pads". 4. "Canon will not provide the error re-set key". However, she did offer info about a discount on a new printer. So, figuring that I couldn't hurt a "dead" machine, I set-out to prove Canon wrong on point #2 above. A couple of DIY videos later I had the machine open enough ( quite easy ) to remove the offending ink filled pads ( fairly easy with a large tweezers ). Note though, that one pad is locked in position behind the "power entry box" and will come out not undamaged unless much more disassembly is undertaken. As my wife washed the pads that I could get out ( it took her about 45 mins. - solving most of point #3 ), I pulled and tugged on the last pad till I accepted the "locked-in" assessment. Again thinking what can it hurt, I decided to flush the pad in-place with a squirt bulb using hot water. It was labor and paper towel intensive ( but I was on a mission about point #2 ), and I probably achieved 80-90% success ( this pad could be left alone as the others are probably 75-80% of the overall capacity ). After blow-drying the machine and re-inserting the cleaned pads, re-assembly was just reverse dis-assembly ( One caution, take care to mark the position of the ink flush tubes in their deflectors above the pads. If you push the tubes in too far during re-assembly, it puts a strain on the movement of the mechanisms at the other end. Do the marking, however you chose to do it, BEFORE you pull them out in the beginning. I learned this the hard way! ). Once back together, I used a FREE on-line error code reset key to bypass point #4 above. The "dead toss-away" is back in service. Sorry Canon ....... nah, not really.
About the point #4, there is always a rule about this: "if someone has physical access to your machine, it's no longer your machine". And it's of great use here. It boils down to the logical "and" of all of these truisms: - Printers have firmware. - Firmware is stored in flash chips on the motherboard. - Motherboards can be taken out of the device. - Flash chips are soldered, so they can be desoldered and put in a programmer again. - Firmware is written in a machine language. - For every compiled program, there is a possibility to translate it back into assembly, and then disassemble and analyze. - A service center should have an option to reset non-user-resettable parts of the memory, and it shouldn't involve soldering. So, basically: there is always a factory service mode (FSM for short), and so, there is always a method to access FSM. And, in the FSM, there are operations that can be performed from there. Taking this further: - Any method to access FSM will sooner or later be discovered and published. - Any FSM opcodes will sooner or later be documented independently of the NDA-gatekeeped service centers. Taking the G3x10 series: - FSM entry sequence is already known (printer OFF -> hold power button, press stop 5 times, release power). - FSM opcodes are three-digit, no "0" can exist in them, you enter digits using stop button (as many times as the target digit states) and confirm with a single press of a power button. - "Reset waste ink pad utilization and recalibrate print head movement" is already known to be opcode 435.
Ken, was your error code the same, or was it something else? I have your model and am getting a 5200 when i try to deep clean. Also what's he equiv of "system clean" for this one? Flush? The online manual suggests a "system clean" but I find nothing labeled such in the mtc menu.
I do remember it as being 5200 - but it's been a while now and I've since moved on to another machine/brand as the canon developed a hit and miss printing style that I didn't want to mess with. "Rest in pieces Canons everywhere!"
I literally just ditched my old Canon Pixma because it threw up the ink absorber error - I can’t believe I’d never heard of this before! And your description of it as a ‘diaper’ was exactly how I was describing it. I tried to full the printer apart to see if I could fix it, but the process was so convoluted and messy I gave up, dumped the whole thing at a recycling centre and came home with a cheap little laser. No mess, no fuss, and it prints like a dream
When my Pixma showed the absorber error code I just set the printer in a small boot tray and decided to let it leak if it should overflow. Then I reset the error code. Now after two years, it's still running fine and still no leakage. Talk about crying wolf! And yes, replacing the absorber pads is ridiculously complicated.
@@johncoenraads9681 I gave up - the Pixma was getting elderly and cantankerous, and tbh we print so rarely it was using more ink to prime the nozzles than was being used to actually print. It was very cathartic to pull apart, though
@@johncoenraads9681 Depends on the model. every pixima through the G1200/3200 generation is user resetable just by pressing buttons on the printer. You should be fine for 2-3 resets on factory pads. the off brand ones are not quite as absorbent so I'd only go 2 between replacements. On the 1200/3200 in this video there's two screws on the back cover, and the pads pull right out and new ones slide right in.
Great video. I’ve given up on printers. I mostly use it for scanning and printing a form once a month. For photos I go to a store and pay 10c per print.
I had the same feeling as yours but was gladly seeing a lot of TH-cam videos teaching us how to fix the problems you mentioned in your video. But there is a lot of work that you couldn't do it without making your hands dirty. I fully agree that all the printer manufacturers have collectively decided to design some maintenance-heavy printers or ink cartridges so that you would regularly replace the cartridges or the printers itself.
@@Brisco_County_Jr the pad maintenance cassette that for one apparently is not stocked at canon and second printer lineup double the price? The printhead in a maxify alone is $165.
@@Brisco_County_Jr does it have a chip and just inserting it reset the counter? This is all confusing because I'm reading ebayers selling that cartridge, the sponge and chips plus resetter for more than if I was just to buy that cartridge. I don't understand why people would go through the trouble unless they have an abundance of sponge and feel like paying $12 for chips
@@Brisco_County_Jr so now I either get a 620 to avoid this pad issue but pay double to triple for ink of that of the 6020, or get a 3260 which got lower reviews and no network connection. Ugh why can't canon just deliver a 6020 or 7020 upgrade with maintenance pad without having to pay $700 for a maxify. Or I'll just get the 6020 and bestbuy 4 yr warranty and let them deal with any codes
Thanks a lot! This is clearly planned obsolescence! Now I understand what the "Maintenance Cartridge" is on Newer models (Pixma G15/25/35xx and Maxify GX5050, 6050...) : it's a sponge in a plastic tray, with a chip so you can only use the original one! In France we have a law against planned obsolescence, it's typically a case where it could apply.
Those chips are relatively easy to reset, apparently, by copying one that has a low use count, then writing it every time it gets full. Of course you need to manually clean the sponge so it doesn't overflow.
@@DiThi You can just write all zeros to the chip... that's what a brand new one reads. Arduino to the rescue. That said the new printer with the chip is much more planned obsolescence than the one in the video. the guy didn't do his homework and doesn't know what he's talking about. The G1200/3200 counter can be reset just pressing buttons on the printer and the pads take 2 minutes to replace. they are $10 on amazon. Or 15 minutes if you are cleaning out and reusing the old ones.
Maybe I am just lucky: I purchased three Canon G7000 series megatank printers and have not have any issues with any of them. Two of them are used at least once a week and the third is used on a daily basis. Two of the printers were purchased back in 2020 and the third was purchased in 2021. Is it possible that the problem with the sponge has been fixed with the 7000 series?
I have been using this printer for about 5 years without running into any problem. Sometimes i dont use it for months and everything is working good. It’s an awesome printer. Haven’t buy an ink bottle since i bought it 😅
Thank you, you came up with this! Can absolutely feel your disappointment. I bought the same printer. In my case he likes to chew the sheets… error 1300 So that’s the way we go nowadays 😊
@@nrich5127 hey thank you! That’s a good tip, to pay attention to a humidity 👍. Would never think about, that printer over 300€ would strike because of slight humidity changes. (No offence on you! 🍀) Storing my paper in my table. The humidity is the same as in the whole appartement.
For those who just do occasional printings at home, I would suggest the Brother MFCL3750CDW, coloured print, Auto 1-travel-2-side ADF, auto 2-side printing, laser printer. The only downside is: genuine Brother toner cartridges and drumps are not cheap (but 3rd party cartridges are available and not rejected by the machine)
I had a similar issue with an epson dye sub printer but it wasn't a death sentence like with your Canon. My ecotank printer has a "maintenance box". When you do print head cleanings, that's where it throws all the waste that comes from the cleaning process. The maintenance box also has a counter that prevents printing when it reaches zero. I found out about this while printing at a vendor event. I print pictures on metal and mugs on the spot using pictures from people's phones. The printer never gave a warning that it was almost full. It just stopped printing. So there's goes the sales for the day. But you only have to order another box (maybe $25), swap it out, and you're good. So it's annoying that it doesn't give you a warning, but its a quick fix. It takes a while to fill up too. I printed several hundred images over a four months before it filled.
epson L series has a compartment where the sponges are located and its just a screw to be able to open it and replace/clean the sponges. that being said it still has a virtual hard limit and you can only bypass it if you download a service program to reset the counter (the said program is malicious though, according to antivirus at least)
Thanks for that info. I knew Epson also used a sponge. The hard limit that needs a reset via shady software is just like Canon. If they were serious about delivering a good product, epson and canon would sell legitimate maintenance kits that didn't require hacks.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru i think (for epson at least) that you are able to bring them to service, but i find it scummy to pay whatever price for replacing few sponges and pressing a button on a service menu.. plus they force me to waste time going to a service center for something i could do in 10 minutes at my home.
@@f1_ock i dont have any reliable link, you must risk it :/ which model you have? mine is L3150 and has the inkpads in a compartment that you can access from the back of the printer th-cam.com/video/pf-D1UePGKM/w-d-xo.html
It's not malicious. It needs hardware access to the printer and it's not signed because epson might sue them for reverse engineering. I have it myself and does what it says.
G Chatz I have a Canon Pixma G4210 which was expensive for me. At around 11 months, I began to get an error message and I would have to power down the printer then start it back up in order for it to print. Extremely frustrating! At that moment I should have picked up the phone and called Canon to get it fixed. I thought I had purchased the extended warranty when I purchased it at Best Buy. Nope! One month after the warranty was up, Unbeknownst to me, I was screwed. Canon told me it was a chip inside the printer and was not able to be fixed. Seemed like a bunch of BS to me, but I was at the mercy of Canon. I need a multi-function printer and I don’t want to buy cartridges all the time. You seem like you know what you are talking about so, any recommendations? I have a iPad, iPhone and MacBook. Help!
I almost pulled the trigger on buying this printer. Glad I found your video. In the past, I would only print one or two times per year. My ink cartridges were all dried up by then. So, I switch to a separate B&W printer that use toner and another portable printer that printed color photos using heat transfer film. I now have a couple kids in elementary and am printing more often, but still not often enough. I guess I will stay put with my current two printer solution.
Having a laser printer is actually one of the best possible choices as the ink doesn't dry up so it won't matter if you don't print often but also the cartriges are less of a scam than inkjet ones. Plus it prints faster and to me the hot and dry sheets coming out of a laser printer feel nicer than the ones coming out of a inkjet printer, it's only personal preference though. One of the few cons however is the fact it can't print good quality photos, unlike the dye sumbliation aka heat transfer film printers, again a good choice for you as it's literally the best way to print digital photos you can possibly get.
My Brother 3290 laser is a horrible printer. I’ve always loved Brother laser printers, but this model has streaks that their tech support could never resolve. It works ok as long as it is a white background, but colored backgrounds streak. It was under warranty, but Brother was not very helpful despite hours on the phone with them.
I have a slightly fancier version of this same generation of printer, I print about 100 pages a month, only had to run the deep cleaning once or twice. Works pretty great still. Ink jets do require regular use, the nature of crystals [print heads] that clog. That being said, an ink sponge maintenance kit and reset option should absolutely be available from the manufacturer.
I got 99800+ total prints from this printer and still working. During this time I had to replace only once the print head for black colour. Regarding the ink not coming, you have to open the ink tank lid during ink flush to let out the air and pressure that is stuck in the ink pipe. For the waste ink you have to use an external tank to prevent the waste pad full. You have to understand the basic functionality for each printer. Each printer is designed differently.
there's no need for burping or for an external collector. I'm running 30 G1200/3200 printers. I've had a couple head failures, all caused by employees burning them out running them dry. The absorber pads take 2 minutes to replace and can be flushed out and reused if you feel like it.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm always wary of new products nowadays. I admit that I still have the urge to buy impulsively because they sell it so good. However, lately I think twice before buying anything since we are still living in a throwaway culture and companies take advantage of that. Laser printers have stood the test of time, I guess I'll look into that.
I've been using a Brother MFC-6490CDW for the past ~13 years and have been pretty happy with it, not just for its reliability and interoperability with modern devices, but also relatively low cost per page, if using the larger cartridges. Although a Minolta Magicolor 2350 DL I have works well for color photos.
I think this problem has been resolved in the canon GX series. All of those printers have a maintenance tray for the spent ink. A display graph shows how full it is. You get a warning before it’s completely full. It is very accessible and replaceable. I’m about to get the GX5020. I’ll let you know.
@@macavalli2619 Did you reply to the wrong comment? It says Canon now allows users to replace the part that was mentioned in this video as making the printer useable.
What you are telling is true to the tiniest detail, thank you for informing other people as well.. I have a Canon PIXMA printer (E414), even though it doesn't have a tank to hold ink , I had the same problem . I have been refilling my cartridges for a while now and I thought I struck gold because my ink cost was cheap and the cartridges didn't mind getting refilled. But then I faced the same error, cleaned the absorber but couldn't reset the absorber counter( by using 3rd party service Software) and now it's literally dead. If anyone has a solution or work around this problem ,i appreciate the help .
Years later, every Pixima I've used going back as far as the ip4000 could be reset with just button presses on the printer. the combination varies by model. that said the E414 appears to be a low end/entry level printer that isn't worth the time to replace the pads in in the first place. Any printer that uses one cartridge for all colors is a "toy" printer that you can replace with any other $50 printer. I can't find for E414, but this is from the 400 series in the US: 1.Make sure the printer is turned off. 2.Press and hold the Resume button (triangle inside a circle). 3.Whilst it is held down, hold down the Power button. The green led light should come on. 4.Keep the Power button held down. Release the Resume button and then press it twice. The light should go amber, then green again. 5.Release the Power button. 6.Press the Resume button four times and then press the Power button straight after to confirm the selected action (Reset Counter Absorber). 7.Turn off the printer and then turn it on again It may not be the same for yours, but will be similar.
I'm still using a Xerox color laser I bought in 2012. I print something on it like 4 times a year, but toner powder doesn't clog so i just turn it on and it always works. No maintenance.
I've had an Epson L110 some years ago, bought from new, printed everyday with it. It had required some 'upgrades' in 4 years and some software available on the internet. But I managed to print 700,000 a4 pages and when I quit my job the printer was still working. I paid for it only 100 euros at that time. Had the same problem with the sponges but they were available on Aliexpress. Good equipment.
That's why Epson has so called "maintenance box" in their higher level EcoTank printers. It's basically box with sponges that can be changed, it is equiped with chip so it knows it was changed and it costs about 10€ in store as it is user replaceable part.
I've not had my Epson long enough yet, but the maintenance box was a key requirement. You can buy a chip resetter for it from China if you plan to self-reload it a lot, or just get a bunch of chips for a few bucks. It would be nice if you could reset in-the-printer instead, but if you don't empty the ink, you will destroy the printer... so I don't blame them for chipifying it. Some of their earlier budget Ecotanks didn't have a maintenance box, but mine did, yeah. I had to replace the Canon print head on my old ink jet a dozen times, so I am worried about that on the Epson - most important thing to do there is to not leave the printer unplugged and to print once a week or so. Maybe have your computer setup to auto-printer the weekly calendar for you.
Canon added the maintenance cart in the generation following the one in this video, the G1220/3260 that came out in early 2020. That said, the G1200/3200 in the video can be reset just pressing buttons on the printer and it takes 2 minutes to open the back and replace the absorber pads. The newer epsons have it fixed, but the first and second generation ecotanks did not have serviceable waste ink collectors and more importantly do not have any reputable way to reset the counter. there are sketchy folk on ebay that sell single use keys for software to reset them, but it's super sketchy. I've got about 20 of the ET 2550 and 2650 printers all bricked up in to ewaste because they wouldn't do what every canon printer has for 20 years, let me enter service mode by pressing buttons.
As other people have said, if you don’t use a ink printer a lot the ink will start to dry up and cause quality issues. I print at least 1-2x per week and still have to do print head cleanings in my Epson Ecotank printers a few times a year. As to the sponge, Epson Ecotank printers have replaceable “maintenance boxes” that cost around $10 each and take 5 minutes to swap out. I think the newer Canon models do this now too, but always double check if the printer you’re getting lets you replace the sponge/maintenance box/whatever.
I have used brother and epson ink tank printers... the epsons are good and can be hacked to continue working but the brothers are mostly uncompromising workhorses. We've had a brother at work in a semi harsh environment for about 2 years and its is going great. Also I am pretty sure the brother printers do not have hard coded limits like the epsons and cannon printers.
This could have easily been solved by canon making the ink absorber a replaceable module with a self contained monitoring chip. I think that this particular printer was designed for high workflow environments where a lot of printing occurs. For most home environments I'm concerned about ink solidifying in the tanks and getting sucked in the lines. Most of your purges/cleanings are focused on making sure that the nozzle is clean enough that it sprays properly.
If it is a sponge, couldn't it be simply rinsed out and put back in? Or design it as a tank can be wiped clean with alcohol. If we need a replacement cartridge with a microchip, then we are back to the old situation with expensive consumable parts.
@@j7ndominica051 as far as rinsing it out, some inks become insoluble to water when dried. A tank seems like a good idea but so little ink is used each time that it would be dried out before you think to clean it. All I'm thinking for the monitoring chip is that it holds the counter not the equipment. I'm not talking about serious DRM on a replaceable component that could easily be manufactured by a third party.
i just came up with the same problem ,that 5boo error code. i tried all the tricks i found on you tube but nothing. let me get this straight ,you mean that the printer cannot be fixed in this case ????
Canon and Epson went through the route of the refillable ink tanks that were popular from gray market ink vendors since the 90s. The technology is very old. I remembered getting a pre-configured epson R200 printer with the ink tank kit for about $200. Printed over 10,000 pages for the next 5 years so it is worth the investment. Since you got the printer since 2017, it gave about 5 years of use. Unfortunately you only use it for 50 photos. Give you props for the courage to go back on your previous review.
Just an FYI: *do not remove AC power from an inkjet printer when not in use.* Just turn it off with its front panel power button. That way, it keeps its memory of how long it’s been since the last time the nozzles were used (whether by printing or cleaning). When you remove AC power, it forgets this and then runs a cleaning cycle before use, since it has no way of knowing how recent the last use was. That wastes ink and consumes the absorber.
@@afterburner3999 It’s fine to unplug if you know there’s a storm coming. It’s just not something you want to do when not absolutely necessary. I hear of people who turn off the power strip with their printer after every use, to save standby power, not realizing this will cost them ink.
I have an HP smart tank printer which I often have to manually clean the print heads for because the automatic 3-stage printhead cleaning isn't perfect. Unfortunately, the only way to access and remove the printheads is to unplug it whilst they are moving (during a start up).
@@chesshead The video, like many, advised routinely unplugging to save money. That is what I am replying to. It’s completely unhelpful to anyone to have to listen to someone argue “well I have to unplug it to take it apart to perform repairs”. When someone says “avoid running your car engine for less than 5 minutes at a time”, that doesn’t mean that you can’t drive it to the mechanic 3 minutes away if you have to… And if you read the comments you’d see I’d clarified even more, adding “unless you absolutely have to”. Performing repairs certainly is covered by that.
Some newer canon magatank printers have a user replacable waste tank. We have just bought a Maxify GX4050 and also purchased a replacement waste tank. We were going to get an Epson until we found out about Epson Error E-11. Canon do seem to have acted on this.
I went through so many inkjet printers in the last 15 years it isn't funny. I finally gave up and bought an HP ColorLaserJet for my office work, and I send my photos out to a printing service.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru so, there's 2 ways to reset ink abosrber count: 1. th-cam.com/video/4FJ-R0tSmks/w-d-xo.html doing exact same things as this russian youtuber. Translation of video: 1. Turn power off on the printer, and wait until all light indicators are disabled. 0:30-0:39 on video 2. Turn Service Mode: Hold "Stop Button", Hold "Power Button", Release "Stop Button", after press "Stop Button" 5 Times and release "Power Button", wait until power led turns off. 0:40-1:00 on video 3. Ink Absorber reset actions: Press 5 times "Stop Button" and then press "Power Button", then printer should print information about Ink Absorber Count reset. 1:00-1:21 on video 4. Print Settings info: Press 3 times "Stop Button" and then press "Power Button". Settings info should print out. 1:22-1:34 on video 5. Leave Service Mode: Just turn off and turn on the printer. 1:35-1:50 2nd way. using reset service tool from Canon: bloggerseoscience .us/2020/07/ free-download-canon-resetter-service .html (no space) mediafire. com/file/67av8xztuplzzee/ Canon-Service-Tool-v5103.zip /file (no space) but check for viruses yourself, at your own risk. I've downloaded it, Windows Defender reported no viruses. I recommend trying Russian TH-camr's method first.
@@WENEVERLEFT WARNING! First method can completely brick printer sometimes. And it will be need to buy new mainboard or soldering 2 new clear chips from gray market or desolder old chip to flash it on programmer with gray market firmware.
Great video.I agree with you .Could it be another scam? A sponge to soak up ink doesn't look like a design at all.Perhaps they should have another tank connected where after flushing the ink could go .My printer made me so mad .I spend over $400.00 on it and it worked for just 4/5 months .Used tons of paper .Can't print colour anymore .My black printer is green now.I given up this cheap manufacturing crap.I decide I just will you it n the B/W ak Green mode HR
I always recommended color laser printers. They have become so cheap these days, are really robust, the toner cardridges don't dry out if you dont use the printer for a while and last much longer then ink
Good idea. This might work best for charts, reports and some posters. However, and please correct me anyone if I am wrong, this will not work for printing photographs at home using photo paper.
You are absolutely right. Inkjet printers can print higher quality photos provided you use the right photo ink and photo paper. However, I would only prefer an inkjet printer if you really print a lot of photos at home. If it is only occasionally, then I would rather have my photos printed by an online provider (e.g. as a photo book) or go to one of the photo machines that are in all large supermarkets. Both options produce even better photo quality than an inkjet printer could, at a lower cost and with fewer hassles.@@AmmarHabjouqa
The total cost of ownership of a color laser printer (e.g. over 5 years) is much lower than that of an inkjet printer. Only the acquisition costs are higher because the purchase price is not subsidized by the ink.@@offspringfan89
FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS PLEASE READ THIS. I LOVE PRINTERS AS MUCH AS INFORMING PEOPLE.
1.) All other inkjet printers be it Epson, HP, have foam or sponges. Someway or the other all these inkjet printers will also show this absorber error issues. It is impossible for an inkjet to have no absorber foam/sponge.
2.) Mind you that ink tank printers are designed for use not just for seasonal use. Trust me, here people have been doing third party ink tanks since the 2008's and even factory OEM ink tanks like this Canon Pixma ink tank are prone to air presence (contamination) in the tube line because of ink backflow to the tank because of lack of usage. You should print FULL PAGE COLORED at least once a week to avoid this.
3.)Due to this absorber foam/sponge issue, CANON has released a new and improved ink tank printers lineup that overcomes this issues. These sponges/foam are now user replaceable in a form of a long cartridge, they call it now "Maintenance Cartridge." Users can just buy this in their local computer stores or online where it may be available and maybe buy bulk just to have some spare, who knows.
-With the improved canon ink tank printers, users can just screw to remove with a penny the old maintenance cartridge (foam/sponge) and replace it with the new one. Right after that you can continue printing right away, no codes, no reset, no other software needed, no hassle. This new maintenance cartridge have microchips that get detected by the printer once replaced/installed so again no codes, no reset needed.
-Printers that have this user replaceable cartridge are (variety of model codes depends on where you live)
Canon Pixma G1020 G2020 G2060 G2260(usa) G3020 G3060 G3060 G3260(usa)
G500 series, G520(usa) G540 G550 G570
G600 series, G620(usa) G640 G650 G670
and other models that has identical body style and design and other latter Canon ink tank models that are designed and released after 2020.
4.) On the other hand, I still do not recommend Epson because it has a BUILT-IN print heads as oppose to Canon that has REPLACEABLE print heads. When your prints have lines or missing colors even though you run a lot of head cleaning or deep clean then that is a sign that the print heads needs replacing. The only way to acquire a genuine brand new Epson print heads is only via service centers and it is very expensive, trust me I've been there. Unlike canon, just type the code of your print head or printer model online it is available everywhere and replace it yourself. PLUS canon has better photo print output!
Note:
1.)This Maintenance Cartridge and Replaceable Print heads are advertised by Canon themselves,
Here is the video of the advertisement (Asia model name is shown, it may just vary depends on where you live)
th-cam.com/video/e5nmAJND6W4/w-d-xo.html
2.)Replacement of Maintenance Cartridge and Print heads are other maintenance are well explained in this video
th-cam.com/video/2Di-_NLMwvQ/w-d-xo.html
I'm in no way affiliated to any printer brands whatsoever. I just like informing people.
Very helpful information. I am glad to hear that Canon printers released since 2020 have a user-replaceable sponge. Canon should advertise this feature and remove all prior models off the market.
"This new maintenance cartridge have microchips that get detected by the printer once replaced/installed so again no codes, no reset needed."
It's another scam. Damn Canon and their stupid chips. They should just switch to a waste ink tank than a sponge. A tank is easier to empty like those modded printers. How much do those maintenance cartridge cost again?
They’re switching their tricks from chipped ink cartridges to chipped maintenance cartridges?
You have to consult with Canon to get print heads for some of their printers. I'm not sure which ones but I know the g6020 is only available through customer service BY PHONE!
If the printers require weekly full page printing, the printers should be programmed to print weekly on their own if they haven't been used. I hate this printer so much
Sure wish I could print this out , but can't
Props to you for having enough integrity to walk back and criticise something that you previously endorsed. Not everyone can do that. Thank you for this informative PSA
You're welcome! This was easy because I bought the Canon at retail. Once you have a relationship with a company, well, you can guess how this type of video would go over. But I'm still considering doing one like that for another product I've reviewed previously that has been a total bomb from a long term perspective.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru If you know that a product is behaving differently over long term, whether good or bad, you should actually do an updated review, or at least a PSA, like this video.
absorber problem fixing by reflashing the rom... and taking out the drain into some bottle...
The bigger problem of this series is lifetime & cost of the printheads!!!
a much better lifetime have the HP tanks, but the absorber problem is a way more dissaster!!
Epson only one is good to go (end Brother maybe, didn`t try, but it must be similar to Epson
It's a truly rare thing.
@@robertbodnar8745 : How long will these Laser Printer cartridges last? i too have the Cannon 3200 Tanker I had it for a while and printed too many to count unlike the HP cartridge only printed 30-40 if lucky prints no Photo regular prints. But I don't like the idea that I have to use my printer to keep it in working condition.
After many years of many inkjets I came to the conclusion there is no such thing as a good inkjet. As someone who rarely needs colour anyway, I binned my last inkjet and bought a black laser. Sending something to print and just have it print without 5 minutes of whirring and without splodges or lines or a complete failure to print is a great feeling.
Same here, I bought a 39 dollar Pantum wireless black laser printer 8 years ago and it still works fine ... on the original toner cart too! Granted we don't use it daily, or sometimes weeks go by but when we turn it on to use it it works every time. Inkjets are dead to me. If I need a photo or color print I'll go to Walgreens.
@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome same. I have had a cheap Brother A4 laser printer for 12 years. Put one new toner cartridge in it in that time. Colour prints I send out to a print shop. Cheaper in the end, better paper, and better results.
Added bonus: If you run some kind of home (automation) server using a non-windows OS, support for laser printers tends to be a lot better than for inkjet printers.
If you do your research and get a high end head and ink system in an affordable model, it is far better and more capable than any laser, and at much lower cost. I got 10 epson wf-5190 on an offer for 100 euro each. 3200 nozzles. 10 pages in normal quality duplex. Catridges stay fixed. Pigment inks. If you print a page every month it stays clean. I use them for different things, but the ones I have used all work fine. They are OK after many years in storage also. They are compatible with large refillable cartridges if you want to do that. The only way to get nozzle problems is to leave it off for many many months but that shouldn't be very hard to fix with the right liquid, and no, clean cycles do not reqlly clean nozzles .You can find tests for this class of injets that test paper feeding in heavy usage. Color lasers below 1000 euro are low quality high cost garbage and even business models are designed to scam businesses that cannot calculate total cost of ownership. Kyocera is a good brand if you want low cost mono and color, but only the expensive models.
@@aristotle_4532 no one was talking about colour laser printers and you are still saying I have to print once a month or risk having to clean heads.
I rarely print anything, but when I do I need it to work reliably. Which a laser will always do. As for "better" I'll always take a black laser print over a black ink jet print.
And cost? I think my printer cost me about AUD $60. And replacement toner cartridges are perhaps $40 (which I've used one of in 12 years).
Inkjets are great if you need colour and print regularly, otherwise they are a waste of time and money.
It's not design failure, it's blatantly designed to fail. What a horrible example of Corporate greed.
Except this guy has no idea what he's talking about. like all pixima printers previously the user can reset the waste ink counter by pressing buttons on the printer. service mode, 5, 5, 3. While not dead simple, the absorber pads are also some of the easiest to change I've ever seen. only two screws to take off the back cover and a pair of long nose pliers or tweezers to pullout and push in the pads. they cost about $10 for a new set, or you can wash them in your sink. You only have to replace the pads every 2 or 3 times you reset the count. Having run hundreds of inkjet photo printers over the last 15 years the G1200/3200 are hands down the best inkjets ever sold. They have an issue with needing to be reprimed if they experience big temperature shifts or are bounced around in a car traveling, but for most folks they are fine as long as you keep them powered on and print something every couple weeks. The newer model has a lever inside that you can flip for storage that fixes this, but they have a host of small issues that make them a worse printer over all. Still better than most, but worse than the 1200/3200.
I honestly believe that the only way these types of inkjet printers can be fixed is if a law gets made against them
😂🤣👌
We are definitely need laws knowing what Apple did
Yeah we need more laws, nobody follows the ones we have now!
Absolutely!! This should be criminal. Look they are shutting down our energy because of Global Warming, but then it’s ok for all these corporations to flood the United States wait planned obsolescence junk.
apple and samsung has paid in dimes and nickles back and forth. nobody cares
All the inkjet scam was the reason i gave up on them... Got me a good colour laser printer for efficient and economical normal printing. And when I need a good photo print, i simply go out and pay for it - pay per print... It's much easier and i don't have to hate myself for making a poor buying decisions over time 🙂
You could even get one of those dedicated photo printers, the paper isn't cheap but they make damn nice prints and it's still probably cheaper than a printing service (and photo printing services are disappearing)
Just posted something similar and then saw your comment, spot on, colour laser all the way. But even then, you have to get the right one, have been using Kyocera ecosys units for a couple of decades now, they really are great and cheap to run.
I too gave up the inkjet and went to laser, tired of the scam. My printer prints pretty good photos.
@@Jdbye well, with such printer you are stuck with the given paper dimensions. And i don’t print my photos so often that I’d have usage for such a dedicated device.
@@ledsalesoz i got my HP some years ago, one of the first with AirPrint support. And pretty happy with it since than… one just have to ignore the low toner message for a while and gets to print many pages with that :)
I think the best way to handle this problem (and when you use the printer not so often) is buy a black laser printer for basic prints at home and print your photos at a printingstation (higher quality) in supermarket or so.
but you must have luck with printer, accepting third party toner cartridges without chips, which is scarce now, so dont throw your Canon LBP 2900 or HP 1018 for lack of wifi, duplex, or other modern features, maybe its USB only, but it works since 2012, and with every toner you change drum (part responsible to print quality) too. I have them both in my repair shop, lending them as spare printers free of charge, until repair/replace customers original one.
@@lukaswolf3012 just don't go with hp canon or epson. why would you got for brand that are known to eb scammer for inkect printer? why wouldn't they scam you on laser printer ?
I juts use brother and i am not disapointed for now . but i'm sure other brand works fine
I just buy the cheapest printer and instead of buying new cartridges, I get a new printer. That way I know these companies are losing money.
Some generic toner cartridges have chips now for certain printers. Brother being one of the brands. They make it easy to get around the BS. Ends up being like $75 to replace all the cartridges for a color printer.
An inkjet printer has tiny inkjets, so tiny they are prone to clog if you don't use the printer regularly, so my advice is: if you don't print at least once a day you're better off with a laser printer, period.
Yup, I have a Samsung laser printer that I bought sometime around 2010 still on its original toner cartridge. I print on average 1-2x per year and whenever I turn it on it just works, every time.
It’s still a scam with the counter that stops it from printing.
the reason most invest in inkjet are to print photos at home, using high grade photo papers. Laser cant do that , still far behind for photo printing quality.
@@Netlogic. Samsung was superb, but bought out by HP and all production sent to garbage dump, production lines sent to garbage dump
This! Although photos won't be as good. I did this and my laser finally started leaking toner all over the page as it prints. But that was maybe after 15 years.
Canon G3260 megatank has replacable maintenance cartridge now for $10, perhaps in part due to videos like this. Good job, I think you have made a difference!
@@edhgsilva you did well, either way its made in china
@@edhgsilva what and where is the chip? How about a photo?
@@edhgsilva 👍👍
Indeet that's a very good solution. Unfortunately this series of printers doesn't support recto-verso-printing. And those, who do, do not have the maintenance cartridge. It's a shame.
You still have to stop the continuous error message telling you the waste ink absorber is full. You can only do this by reprogramming the eeprom (firmware.) The web explains this is done by pressing the on/off button and the Ready button in a sequence that only works on your particular model, but this completely erases the eeprom and "bricks" the printer. Believe me I found this the hard way 😩
The only thing I miss from working at an office is that I could just use their printer that one time every year I need to print something. Luckily I've learned that I can print at my local library for just a few bucks so that's what I do now. It's gonna take me a decade at least to rack up the cost of a single set of toner cartridges.
Let me share my experience about this printer: I rarely print anything, so printheads are regularly clogged up once I get to print something. Last time it was so bad as I couldn't unclog it with any maintenance option available, not even deep clean. I took out the printheads, got a syringe with warm water, and pushed the water through the printheads until it was just pure water coming out. Sucked out/drained the remaining water, put back the printheads, initiated a deep clean (or some kind of clean) and all colors started to work flawlessly. I don't remember the exact steps as I did it like a year ago. Just as an FYI, that you can unclog your printer this way as well, but if you do it this way, you must accept that you are doing it on your own risk.
Yes, but that wasn't the problem.
Clogged heads are not his issue though.
It's a full waste sponge.
@@dudmanjohn yeah, but this way you can reduce the ink amount getting in the sponge. With this you cannot solve the obvious problem of course...
@n What do you have?
I wash the printer heads under running hot water, forget the syringe. Run it till it is almost clear out of each port, tap dry then use a paper towel to dry the rest. Done this many times.
Thank you for publishing this. All computer hardware related youtubers should publish videos like this. Maybe printer manufacturers will stop wasting our money (and environment with broken printers).
I've been wary of these kinds of issues with ink printers - so I went with a Brother colour laser all-in-one *because* of how little printing I do. Sure, it's more expensive - but my reasons were two-fold: 1: Toner doesn't "dry out", and 2: It has good Linux support. 🙂
Laser printers emit harmful particles.
I've always liked Brother - I had a monochrome laser printer that worked faithfully for years. I'm in. I'll go to a print shop for my color!
well if you don't have budget issue than laser printer is the way to go but otherwise inktank is mostly affordable for everyone
Brother color LED printers are like $200 or a bit more now. And it's easy to get around the stupid measures they put in place with the chips. Generic cartridges are cheap too.
You can also get 3rd party toner powder to refill it DIY
I've been researching tank printers for a couple of months. This has to be the most informative video I've found yet. Thank you!
I've an "HP Smart Tank" for more than a year. So far so good. Just make sure to print something every couple of weeks so that it wount dry and jam.
It's 2 years late, but sadly this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. the canon can be reset by pressing buttons on the printer. service mode 5, 5, 3. the absorber pads cost $10 and take 2 minutes to change out. there's 2 screws holding the back cover on, and you pull them out with pliers or tweezers. You only have to change the pads every other time you reset the count. Having run this model, the G1220/3200 and dozens of other model inkjet photo printers, the megatank 1200/3200 are hands down the best of the best. The newer canon printers are almost as good, but have issues that make them not quite as good.
Thank you so freaking much for this video. I have this issue right now and I'm absolutely screwed. Canon told me my prints started getting streaky because you need to use it everyday to prevent clogs. They don't tell you this of course. And they don't warn you that the deep clean will fill your ink absorber either. They are absolutely scamming.
presenter guy doesn't know what he's on about. if you still have the printer, a year later, give me a reply or look for my post here. you can reset the waste ink counter just pressing buttons, you only have to replace the absorbers every other time you reset the count. replacing them is 2 screws on the back and they pull right out and slide right back in. If you think its still scamming i'll pay the shipping and buy your 1200/3200 off you. Best inkjet ever made.
Thank you. I have just brought one of these. I'm still waiting for it. I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what brand of printer they are designed to die after about 3 years.
The new Canon PIXMA G620 Megatank printer has a user replaceable maintenance cartridge for $9.99 which solves this issue. As far as the clogging, inkjet printers will clog if not used, just print a color document once a week or so and you won't clog up. Luckily these Megatank printers use dye based inks, which are water based, which don't clog as easily as pigment ink printers. I own the new G620 and it is a fantastic 6 color photo printer for only $299 with a built in scanner too. So, far I have not had any problems with my unit, and it sips ink. Came with a full set of inks too, not a starter set. My ink tanks are still full after about 100 4x6 so far. Those sponges at the bottom were a hassle on all older inkjet printers, I had an Epson 2200 photo printer that filled up its non-replaceable sponge too, and that was an expensive printer. More of the modern ones have replaceable waste cartridges. So, when buying one, make sure the printer has a replaceable one, or the printer will be disposable...lol.
Awesome info. I will check out that model. I did look into whether canon had changed its ways since my 2017 model, and missed your model. It's brand new but sold out, so didn't come up in searches on Amazon. Here it is, can't be ordered: amzn.to/38GXlFn
@@TheTechBuyersGuru Yes, it is new and always sold out. Very popular. I got mine at Adorama. Had to wait a month on my order, but was able to get one. They don't charge until the unit is shipped. Like I said, I have been very pleased with it, photo output is very good with the 6 inks as opposed to the 4 in the old units.
Thanks for all this feedback. As much as I've been burned with photo printing so far, I am nearly convinced to buy the G620 anyway, thanks to you, LOL!
@@TheTechBuyersGuru Lol...so much pressure. Do I have to go into hiding if you have a problem?
@@TheTechBuyersGuru i got mine delivered from Canon yesterday. I am so excited to try it out.
as others mentioned, if you own a color printer, you pretty much have to print a color page every week to keep the nozzle from drying up. The longer it sits, the more cleaning it will require. If it sits for a few months it may be too far dried and it won't come out the nozzle at all.
That's why we started to buy laser printer since they were more relayable or don't try out
My office inkjet printer, if no print in 1 week or more, sure will need initiate print head cleaning…
But my canon maxify, I left it with out ink in the box for 2 year I think, after few flushing, can use again, but the ink expensive..
@@Tom-ku8bu Yep, I have a small Xerox Phaser color printer that's well over 10 years old and only paid $199 for it. I've replaced the inks a few times with a 3rd party and it kept on printing without issues. Even I haven't used the printer for months it still works without going through the cleaning nonsense.
But the cleaning process should fix it mine never did but my brother version is perfect and will self clean
@@Tom-ku8bu plus a laser print is somewhat moist proof, one speck of water on an inkjet print and it's ruined as the ink starts dissolving again.
I've paid $179 for the G7020 from Canon and it is their flagship for the ecotank printers. All the needed features and technologies included and it works great so far (1 year old now).
I'm at two years and nothing but problems with the same printer and the new heads are back ordered and you can't get them and the Canadian price is almost $500.00 for this junk.
@@dashcam3098 Me too. Nothing but problems. Not to mention that when the waste ink pad is full, you can't replace it. You need to pay several hundred dollars for service!
That’s the one I have. My wife recently retired, so the printer goes weeks without use, and now the black doesn’t print even after trying every cleaning method. Make sure you use it regularly or you will have the same issue.
14 months and no issue. Print plenty as I teach
I think its a lot more economical to go to anywhere that allows you to pay money to print / photocopy. Even if copying with color costs more, its still a lot better than buying a new printer / copier that starts to play up and becomes unusable. Many thanks for the video, you have saved me a lot of money.
Thats true, you pay for electricity, printer, ink ans paper...
It's not a fail. It all works as intended.
You're supposed to hand the printer in for an expensive service or buy a new printer. (Most likely the latter)
It is by design. It is how the manufacturer makes money.
My tip:
Never *ever* buy any kind of liquid/ink based printers.
Go for laser/toner printers. They last a lot longer and don't clog up.
My color laser printer came with cartridges and the first color said it was empty 150 pages ago, yet it prints fine. Right now 3 out of 4 cartriges say they are empty yet it prints fine.
Not sure if Canon is saying its empty when 25% is actually left or something... annoying to have to tell the printer to keep printing every reboot etc.
The biggest problem with Ink Jet printers is that they are made to be used. If you are just printing a single picture out once a month, a Printer at home isn't really ideal unless you go laser.
I agree. But they are not marketed that way. Regular consumers have no idea that they’re intended for frequent use until they learn my painful and expensive experience.
@@Sashazur I have found even using it once a week, the black ink has a habit of clogging. Interestingly, the color ink has been working fine for me.
Most inkjets have always had a sponge for this, it’s just really hard to print enough to fill it up. Saying that, every time you switch it on there’s a cleaning cycle which wastes ink (and puts it in the sponge). Some printers (Epson PictureMate) have the sponge built into the cartridge. So you can expire a cartridge just by switching the printer on and off to print one photo at a time, long before the actual ink runs out!
It's literal sponge, how hard is to make a plastic glass door to it's container and let people just exchange it? I guess it wouldn't be a scam then.
@@Ussurin It isn't "literal sponge" it's more like dense cotton fibre that has some kind of gel in it to lock the ink in. I tried washing one out previously, what a mess!
@@ferrumignis But they could sell these, so that they could be replaced.
@@ferrumignis Ok, it is a diaper, should not be that hard to replace either :)
They don't need to sell replacements, the ink is literally dumped into the pad through a tube. As the guy even mentions in the video you can just connect that tube up to a tub and get presto you've got yourself all the wasted ink dumped into a tub that you can then just dump back into your black ink every so often.
The printers like the that have ink tanks really should have also done this design change and had the waste ink be dumped right back into the black by default, that way the cleaning process does what it needs to by paying ink through the head, and the ink just goes around in a cycle. Or at the very least just have a waste pot people can empty.
The real scam in this is that the printers still are locked down in the firmware to basically stop working after a set number of cleaning a cycles. When it thinks the pad is "full", even if its not. This problem even means a scanner printer will stop letting people scan anything.
There should be a way to tell the printer that the spine was cleaned or the tank was emptied. They should never be locked down like they still are, but it seems even when trying to claim they're not going to scam people on ink they still scam people in other ways
I've encountered many of those issues in approx. 15 years of inkjet printer use. When I finally was fed up and came up with the following solution: Buy a Color Laser Printer for 300 Euros and have my photos printed by a print service. OK, I want less than 50 photos to be printed out in 4 years, but this solution has perfectly worked out for me. No toner change in 5 years, no hassle, no scam.
I love the Ecotank series. I have two. One is a 6 color model dedicated for photography. Color output quality is unbeatable; print cost is lower than high volume monochrome laser.
1. Your printer must be an older model than mine. I have a ET-7550 that I've been using heavily for about 5 years now. On this printer, there's a removable exhaust ink box. It's good for maybe 20 thousand pages. I've replaced that maybe four or five times. It's ~$10 direct from Epson; Amazon prices are much higher.
2. The print head does plug - no matter how regularly you print. The key thing to recognize is that the built in cleaning procedure just doesn't work well. Effective cleaning means a more manual (and undocumented) process. For my usage pattern, this manual deep clean is necessary maybe once every 5 reams of paper. That's around 2500 sheets.
Okay, here's how to clean:
1. Start printing something; the nozzle check is fine. The point is to pull power when the print head is near middle of the print carriage.
2. Take a sheet of kitchen paper towel. Roll that into a strip of around 1.5in wide. Saturate it with Windex.
3. Slip the strip under the print head. Hold both ends of the strip. Lift until you feel tension against the print head. Pull the strip back and forth along its length. You'll see thick blotches of ink bleed onto the towel strip. You're literally wiping dried ink off the print head.
4. Repeat step 3 another once or twice more. Shove the print head back toward the right edge of the printer. Plug it back in.
5. That's it. The print head is now cleared for another 2500 sheets.
You must be heavily confused here. You're talking about an Epson printer, his video is about a Canon printer.
@@FrozenHaxor not sure its still the case, but Canon printers 20 years ago used Epson printheads, they were the first that I recall which didn't replace the head with the cartridge
@@FrozenHaxor Yeah, seems like it. Nevertheless I would recommend to take a look at Epson’s line up. They have replaceable ink dumps if I remember correctly
@@mchenri9683 I have their L310 printer, the diaper is largely non-replaceable but if you don't run cleaning and purging cycles all the time like a lunatic, they won't get soaked. Head clogged? Use proper chemical to clean it. Works for 5 years now.
@@mistermartin82 It's not. Epson uses piezo heads and canon uses thermal.
Epson Ecotank absorber sponges are easily replaceable. They are the only high capacity inkjet line that has such a feature. The ink is slightly more expensive than both Canon and HP at about $40-$50 for a 4 color set of refills instead of $20-$30, but the tanks are overall larger and the printer itself tends to provide better performance and more consistent prints.
Thats good to know.
I have an Ecotank printer and i do believe it even came with a spare maintenance box for waste ink included.
Thank you Glenn!
I also have an Epson Ecotank ET-4850 that I spent nearly $500 on in January 2022. I saw this video and was concerned that the Epson would have the same flaw as Canon.
I spent the extra $ on the Ecotank in the hopes it would be better engineered vs cheaper inkjet printers.
It’s relieving to know Epson took the time to implement a solution for this issue.
@@edubbs3528 Oh, that’s interesting. Perhaps there are variance in the models. Like more expensive models have more maintenance features built-in, whereas less expensive models have things non-user replaceable sponges. That would be a crappy thing for Epson to do though. Getting good reviews on the fancy models, misleading people to think all of them have the same robustness.
@@edubbs3528 Maybe you had to just cut out the tube to the sponge and put it somewhere to drain the ink from the very new state. But it would work if we know, that the "full sponge" detected by some "wet sensor". And I don't know, whether there is a moisture sensor at all. Maybe there is just a counter...
My family and I have been using Epson Eco Tank printers for quite some time now. And we absolutely swear by them. Sure, you pay more upfront, but you get a decent page yield out of the ink bottles. Print quality is also good just as long as you know how to adjust the printer’s print quality settings. And yes, it does indeed come with an easy to replace ink absorption pad that they call a “maintenance box”. This comes out easily with one screw and can be replaced when the need be. Epson Eco Tank printers are the only inkjet printers I’d recommend. Trust me, they’re worth it.
As someone who used to do large format printing professionally, the printers I used had a “waste tank” that basically looked like another ink cartridge. Those stupid things were expensive.
Are Canon Arizona 6160 xts and 6170 xts printers have a waste tank with a tap that we drain out when its full.
I just have a black and white laser printer. It always fires right up and ive not even used all of the included toner. 10/10. For photos that actually matter, you can always go to a print shop.
i have one too, has lasted 5 Years so far and the Printer lately mentoined the Cartridge might be empty soon, so we have a replacement at hand when that happens :D but this might be another year or two away, no idea. Also doesnt matter since the Powder doesnt dry up.
This "feature" has been around for a long time. One of my clients had a little Canon bubblejet printer (probably close to 20 years ago now) and I remember her contacting me saying she couldn't print anything any more, even with new ink installed. When she contacted Canon here in Australia she was told the ink absorber was full and that was the end of its operational life. She had printed a lot with it, and was told to purchase a larger model with a higher rated print yield.
I guess some things never change!
Same here. 20 years ago, then Canon offered to send me a new inkjet printer at the cost of a new set of cartridges when the ink absorber filled up.
Exactly. Theres no reason these printers couldn't have had a waste ink tank built in, with an accurate full measurement sensor that means the printer never disables itself forever with nothing the users can do except hack the firmware.
@@ge2719 There is no reason Canon can't make the ink counter easily resettable. They won't even tell consumers how to do it, and none of the procedures recommended on line work on mine. I can get it into service mode easily enough (hold down Stop, turn on Power, then flash Stop 5 times with Power held on), but then what???
@@johne6081 i had to buy a seeingoy dodge poeceof software for resetting a specific printer i had.
Tested it in a locked off virtual machine and it didnt doathing malocious and the i ran it on a mini pc with a fresh windows with no network access, then reinstaled windows, just incase.
It reset it fine. I cant remember the name of it though. Let me see if i can find it again.
oddly, for at least 15 years... I go back to the ip4000... all canon printers have been user resetable. The exact procedure has varied from model to model, but sadly the G1200/3200 in this video seems to be the end of the line for people being able to reset the counter easily. the next generation after this use a replaceable cartridge for wast ink... that has a chip on it that is not resetable just by pressing buttons on the printer. You can reset it with an Arduino, that's what I do, but it's far worse now that they "fixed it" as far as user serviceability goes.
My inkjet printer is 10 years old and still going, I found an off-brand ink that's been working. Now I have to worry about these sponges?
I’ve basically given up with printers. I had an old Samsung laser printer I spent hours trying to get to print with no success. I Decided to buy the cheapest I can get especially since I print very little. I dislike that this will probably create more ewaste even though I will recycle at end of life. I wonder if the right to repair movement will have a positive effect on printers as well
Never buy HP or Canon for basic printing. If you really need a printer buy Epson or Brother inktank printer. If you don't use your printer regularly, never shut down your printer. It will allow the printer to clean it's head when required. You also need a resetting software, which you can get from online for free. If everything goes wrong you still can physically clean the head. Just unscrew the head and flash mild warm water inside the head and reattach it after drying. I got more than one lakh colour prints from my Epson with 3rd party ink.
This is why i always recommend to get laserprinters, especially for people who rarely need to print. These issues what you describe were hidden away from the consumer for decades. But in Large Format Printing this is no new thing. The sponges are not always used in this way. Depending on print technology (latex, inkjet, solvent ect) mostly use a waste tank, that is basically a empty can that recieves all the ink, that gets flushed through the printheads to get all the nozzles open again. Problem is, inkheads are easy (in some printers) to replace. But these consumer things; they require to be taken apart entirely. And we all know, getting that junk together is not really realistic. I once owned a 'office' grade Lexmark, which occasionally did it's flushes... ran out of a full set of cardridges in a few months, without making a single print myself :)
Depends on the printer design and age. Epson's Ecotanks had the same problems in the early models. Now it is a user-servicable part that just needs a screw driver and a ten buck replacement part. Same for newer Canon's, I think.
Laser printers have their own planned obsolescence thing. There's a powder salvage tank in every laser printer that is often impossible to remove and / or disassemble to empty it out because it's sealed. A IR laser beams to a sensor, when the powder blocks the light hitting the sensor, the printer stop working. It's possible to make it work again but ultimately the error will reappear and one day you will not be able to get rid of this without buying an off brand powder salvage tank if you can find it.
@Ryokath Irrelevant (but interesting nevertheless).
Today, few people print more than a few pages per week -- and many print a few pages *a decade*. For this audience, the only thing that matters is that the mere passage of time won't damage the printer, and that's what a laser printer gives you.
Buy the printer, buy a full set off toner cartridges, and the odds that the printer will work when you *need* to print a form a decade from now is good. With an ink jet printer, the odds of it working are close to zero -- even if you invested in a spare set of ink tanks.
@@RyokathI wonder how common this powder salvage thing is? I've not run into a problem with my 2012 Xerox yet. Still works fine for the occasional print job
@@CasualTS Because it's quite common for the "powder salvage" to be a part of the toner cartridge.
Sorry if I talk with different brand, but I will said, Epson ECOTank that we use in the office is working perfectly fine (320K+ pages), but we do had replace the ink absorber as well. Epson told on the manual and you need replaced as it use cotton sponges, not standard sponges. i tried to wash it but like you said, it take few days to dry (must bone dry) and they will compacted and not as dense as before. And now for the newer model, the maintenance box had chip on it, so you cannot replace as easy as the older models.
now For the missing color, Epson technician who service my printer told me, there is 2 reason: either the printhead is clogged if you rarely use it, or pump failure. If you rarely print, like your printer idle for few weeks, then you had chance that ink clogged the printhead and you don't need to replace, unless if the printhead is damage. Epson technician recommended you flush/deep cleaning several times then try to use the printer everyday. this is no.1 common problem that epson service center had. While my office printer is actually had PUMP Failure, and the technician said is actually very common if your printer already print 320K pages within 4-5 years, and the pump sparepart is quite afforable too when I service it on epson service center.
but again , the technician always (what i seen), he always told me, NO MATTER THE BRAND IS, most tank based printer he seen can had long life as long you do this:
1. Print everyday if you can, at least 2 pages of mixed text & images. the longer idle duration of the printer, the higher chance your ink will clogged the printhead.
2. Use same ink, whether official ones or off brand ones, always stick to that brand. Never try to change brand every single refills.
3. save some money on fresh maintenance box, if you use older models then stock some fresh sponges. this one is rarely need to be done, but when the notification is showed, then it is the time to replace it.
that why when I pickup the printer after he service it, he pointed out to some customer why my office printer can last 4+ year, but they don't. And that tips also said by some print station nearby my uni as well, and that's why their printer can print thousand of pages every day without any troubled.
That is nice to know. I checked and Canon states that the absorber is non-user replaceable. They state that the G3200 printer needs to go to a service center where they will charge to replace the absorber.
My Epson ET-3750 uses a user replaceable maintenance tank. I am going on four years of ownership with no problems and only two head cleanings. It came with two free sets of ink bottles, and I am halfway through the second set of ink.
It may be what canon says, but it's untrue. the pads are $10 on amazon and take 2 minutes to swap out. you only actually have to replace them every other time you reset the counter.
As for the epson's I'm glad they fixed it, but when we tried the ET2550's when they came out the ink absorber was not replaceable... and you could not reset the count without sketchy, one time use, codes from random ebay sellers. Epson refused to service them or provide the software to reset them. I've got about 20 of them in our storage shed just being e waste.
My prints looked exactly like yours. The green ones that is. This printer worked great for a couple of years but now I'm done with it. For people that only make 4x6 prints I recommend the Canon Selphy, It's a dye-sub printer. . . no ink. I used one for years in my photo studio for passport photos. It never failed. For large prints I switched from Epson to Canon because the heads were always needing cleaning. The cleaning worked good but the ink useage was excessive. It used 8 tanks at a cost of $100 each. The Canon printers needed cleaning as well but a lot less than the Epson. Love the concept of refillable ink tanks but there's always a hitch, isn't there! I hope you find a reliable home photo printer soon and pass it on.
Just been through a similar scenario with the G650. Unlike the author, I have used this printer virtually every day for 2 years and four months (I bought one of the first) and have printed over 25,000 pages with it. The black print head began to clog (lines) and then black failed altogether. I did several cleans and a deep clean. It just got worse, then after about the fourth deep clean, the colour printhead started to fail as well.
I got a warning that the maintenance cartridge (sponge) was almost full. They are cheap enough, but then I started to think about the possible scenarios. I've replaced the maintenance cartridge twice already - the printer never cut off the ink supply, even when it was full. So, was I on the hook for a maintenance cartridge at about £10, or did I need to try new print heads at £55 each plus shipping? They were probably due to be replaced - but if that didn't work I would be £120+ down and unable to return anything. Then there was the ink - I had about 50% to go before buying a new set.
All things considered, I decided to write it off and get a new Epson printer/scanner with a new warranty, new heads, full ink and an actual print driver for my Mac (as opposed to Canon insisting I use Airprint) for £229.00. Four bottle system as opposed to six, but faster and smaller and less expensive to fill. This is one of those occasions where the first loss is the best loss, in my opinion.
Sir Here is ur solution for canon printer it just needs a conbination of keys on printer to clear code and change the ink pad which are availble for under 5$ th-cam.com/video/jHprxt8ghYk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=7kjMFo9n5KqNsApV
The G3260 has a replaceable maintenance cartridge with a sensor that determines when the cartridge needs to be replaced. It costs about $20.00, and the replacement procedure is easy. Our G3260 is now on month ten and so far no message the maintenance cartridge needs replacing.
The actuall required components of that cartridge for proper functioning cost less than dollar if you go to hardware store, you know? Paying 20 dollars every time you change a sponge is pretty huge scam.
@@Ussurin everything about printing is a scam
It's no sensor, just a counter chip. if you're adventurous you can build a device to reset it for $5 and just rinse out the pads when the time comes... but iId just buy a new one and keep it on the shelf if you haven't gotten that far a year... or three now. I "fill" mine every 4 to 6 months, on a dozen printers.
i was about to buy this efficient” printer but after this honest review, I just thank you so much for not letting me fall in such scam !!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Sadly the guy here doesn't know what he's on about. the count and the pads are user serviceable. a pad kit costs $10 takes 2 screws you pull them right out. the count takes pressing buttons on the printer.
Thanks for your video! I'm frustrated too as my colour cartridges wont work after doing all the recommendations. It seems I have the same problem as you. Makes me wonder if it is worth having a coloured printer/ cost of instalment, inks etc for very limited lifespan.
I had a similar experience at one point. I had to run the deep clean through multiple cycles and it finally came clear. After that experience, I learned to use my printer often. I never use just black as I want to exercise all colors/lines. I have not experienced the same issue since and I have purchased this printer at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
Even with that experience, I still suggest this printer to others.
I have the G7020.
The best investment I ever made was for a second hand colour laser printer. It always works and never needs cleaning. The toner cartridges are good for 1000's if not 10000's of prints. I've had it now for 6 years and I'm still on the original toner cartridges which are still at 50%. I only paid £200 for it.
I'm looking to switch over to laser because I'm just done with inkjet printers all together. I'm hoping that the laser printer will work well with making bookmarks on cardstock and can pick up texture and print as close to what's on the screen as possible
What model is that?
@@LunarNoire Did you buy yet? Be sure to research any printer you're considering, because laser printers don't generally do heavy cardstock well. It bonds toner to paper with heat, and if the cardstock is too thick for the printer it will flake off. That said, I LOVE my color laser printer, but def buy after-market toner or it's like paying for ink cartridges. Good luck!
@@imadish5356 I ended up getting a laser printer, but I want to get this one too to replace my ecotank since I'm using both for different purposes. So far the laser printer that I have has been pretty good with heavy cardstock. I'm going to try cover cardstock next to see if it will go through and pray I don't break the the printer lolz. The colors came out really nice and accurate so I am pleased with the laser printer thus far, but still want an inkjet as well.
I got the Canon ImageCLASS MF644Cdw
@@LunarNoire Congrats! That looks like a really nice printer. I'm jealous.😉I have (old!!) HP M251nw. Have done up to 271 gsm/100 lb. It made it through, but toner "just" sticks -can flake it off in places. Depending on project, I sticky laminate or spray w/Crystal Clear. Page curl is a major prob for me --my printer can't load from the back. PLEASE let me know how it goes with your new Canon! I'm shopping -this poor old thing is gonna quit soon. Good luck!
I want to consult with you, I have a Canon G2000 I haven't used it for several weeks and it finally broke, replacing the spare parts is more expensive than buying a new printer. in the end I bought an Epson L3210, please tell me the weaknesses of this printer and how to maintain it so that it lives long
"Just when I thought I was out of the inkjet mafia, they just pull me back in".
😆
If you print seasonally, a color laser printer is your best bet. There's no ink to worry about drying up. Yes they might be more expensive initially, but you won't run into the maintenance hassle
I have never had an inkjet printer remotely come close to the photo/label quality of my Kyocera colour laser printer. The only reason I keep my shitheap Canon around is because of the ADF scanner
I have a hp laser 1020 plus 2015. No counters, waste bin etc. But I believe color lasers have toner waste bin? Also, they have counters for toner left
@@john_barnett I haven't heard of kyocera before. Could you tell me which model you have?
@@prathamshenoy9840 sure but you won't ever have to worry about print heads clogging up because the ink dried. And most of those bins are user serviceable
This! I had an inkjet 11 years ago but I was printing half a dozen documents or photos a year and having to replace the ink every time.
Got a Canon MF634C a few years ago. Scans, prints, never have any problems.
I recently got one of the g3000 series for printing cards, I run it almost constantly, done 5 ink refils for these full color pages so far, several thousand pages double side printed, and it's running fine. ran way past the duty cycle right away
This was exactly the reason that made me make a choice of never buying a home printer unless I absolutely am forced to. I was also excited about the refillable inkjets, but that feeling came crashing down when I learned about the software locked absorber counter. I was a day away from buying this exact printer. I will utilize the printers at work and if needed, printing services. Much better value.
If you do not print enough to *need* a printer at home, you are much better off with a laser. Stick it away in a closet for a year or two if you want to, and it still works when you need it.
Yeah, this is basically why I went with color laser a couple printers ago, they don’t have the same picture quality but make up for it in not having any issues with being used infrequently. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more development of home digital photographic paper prints, I’m sure anyone really dedicated to the true top quality wouldn’t mind loading some photo chemicals instead of ink... I was always impressed by the prints I obtained from my local electronics shop, that tech just needs to get desktop sized and mass produced, and black and white would be even simpler to implement.
I have a different model in the same line, and the only problem has been connectivity, now resolved. I am not questioning your discovery, just a different experience. It is used just about every day, though, perhaps that is part of it?
I recommend the Ecotank series for my consumer customers. The ink maintenance boxes are cheap (10-25$) and they aren't hard to manually flush if you absolutely must. I just recommend that my clients print at least 1 page a week in full color to keep the ink flowing properly.
Ditto. I can fully recommend the Epson EcoTank series. I've had the ET-2500 for 7 years now and not had a problem. All the ink tanks have only been re-filled once in that time.
Absolutely. I say the same thing for my customers. The issue he was experiencing is just a head clog due to inactivity. Isopropyl alcohol usually fixes it. Of course if he runs cleaning after cleaning he’ll saturate the sponge. That’s what it’s designed for. Running a print once a week prevents all of this.
Epson also has these problems. Need a counter reset and sponge replacement. Just search it yourself, l5190 InkPad reset
I have an Epson 2400 less than a year old that printed regularly and still stopped all color printing except black. Called Epson and installed new drivers and did a power cleaning and it works well now and I print a color print every week til the sponges fill up and then probably dump the machine and go back to cartridges and it is a shame. More expensive Epsons have user replaceable sponges but I don't want to pay $500 for a printer I rarely use as I am retired 12 years and love every minute of it.@@ryan_529
I have an Epson EcoTank L6170 all-in-one printer that has a removable maintenance box that an end user can do it without the hassle, and the maintenance box is fairly cheap. It may be a premium-priced printer, but it was worth the money for a hassle-free user experience.
As for the budget oriented EcoTank models (ex. L121) though, the waste tank isn't "user installable/replaceable" as Epson states and must be serviced by authorized Epson service centers. But it doesn't mean it can't be possible for a user to install/replace with a 3rd party ink pad (in fact, it's stupid easy and you can find video tutorials on how to do it on youtube). And there's a free 3rd party utility app to reset the waste ink counter.
I have a Brother AIO that cost me about $100 maybe 6 years ago. I buy generic ink cartridges online pretty cheaply. I have had to clean the heads once but otherwise it's been fine for me. I also appreciate that I can print from MacOS and Linux easily as well.
A Brother user over here as well.
I cant really understand why its the only brand that haven't been problematic so far. Or at least less problematic.
Earlier on I had two HP printers, one had this rather cool ability to print on printable discs, which has been a huge help with my first business, but sadly the ink was deadly expensive. I tried to refill the cartridges, and while black worked out well, the color one did not, and it printed weird colors. And not to mention it broke after some time, it was probably around 2010 or so. The second one I got for free from my mobile operator after signing a new deal, and it worked a small bit longer. It was a combo, had the scanner on top (tbh all of the later printers I got had those built in scanners). But again had that annoyance in form of expensive inks. Not to mention it used a very weird kind of PSU, and after moving out I lost one, so now its basically a piece of junk.
In the meantime my grandfather bought himself a Brother printer. It was in around 2007 I believe so. He still uses it like... once over 3 months? And it works like a charm.
And so I went for buying Epson printer. It had those cool features like Wi-Fi printing, fax, and so on. Had a normal 8-style power cord, and it wasnt HP. Ink wasnt cheapest, but still better than HP. It worked for like 2 years. Still got it, but I dont really know why I keep this. Probably just to give away to someone who'd want a free scanner.
Sadly this carried on. Around 2019 my father wanted to buy a printer for himself, and chose HP, after all I went through. I told him "dont buy this junk, you'd only lose money", but he insisted that he has to own a printer, because he has to have ability to print something when he needs to. Yep. He maybe used it like once or twice, and it stopped working. He is not used to print anything if he doesnt need to.
It was a real annoyance that I couldn't print anything at home, and had to go visit my buddy who worked at the office. Until one day he asked me "hey, wouldnt you want a printer?". After I saw that its a Brother, I happily agreeded. The only reason he gave it away for me was the fact that it's "too slow", and his customers had to wait like 30 seconds for their documents, and he has to give it to them in lesser time. It was already used heavily, because he printed documents every day, and not to mention its already probably 10 years old. But it prints! And since I got it in 2020 I'm printing as much as I want. In colour and b&w. The only problem I have got now is where to get a cheap paper.
This leaves a question. Why should I bother printing a page weekly if I dont need to, when my current printer works even if I leave it for a month or two?
Even the OG inks for the Brother printer are cheap, and the third party ones now costs less than a pack of 500 sheet copy paper.
The only problem I had with the printer recently was the fact, that the transparent ribbon inside got splashed with ink. After I cleaned it, it works again. Couldnt repair a similiar issue in my first HP.
Sure - the print quality isnt the best one I had ever seen. But I can turn a blind eye on it, because it pays off with the reliability. It has almost zero impact when printing documents anyway. And what's best - printing has become affordable again.
I'm not the kind of person who likes to praise big companies, but when it comes to printers I just can't stay silent, because this is a real difference. HP printers had this magnet for clients of being cheap, but then you had to spend more on inks, and the company earned their money anyway. Its probably a similiar story with Canon and Epson. I'm not sure how does Brother products hold up now, but Im sure that Im not going to change my printer anytime soon.
May I ask what the model number is? PRETTY PLEASE
Does Canon provide replacement parts for the ink absorber?
No and there is nothing to reset the counter hidden in their chip.
This is an excellent printer IF you use it (almost) daily.
If you don't, some of the ink will fall back because of gravity. This problem already existed 20 years ago with those large format inkjet printer.
On the lastest Canon printer driver, already have "ink flush" feature in Printer Maintenance to address empty tube problem. They'll just need to add "reset absorber".
But on the otherhand if user start to abuse "reset absorber" without changing the absorber, one day ink will leaks out.
You can reset the absorber by pressing buttons on the printer. You can reset it at least twice without ink coming out. I clean mine out after 2 resets of the count. The generation after this that came out in early 2020 has a replaceable waste ink collector cartridge.
I agree with most of your points. I wish the ink absorber was openly available for consumers to replace. I was able to clean the absorbers and reset the error on my g3200 a while back, but it was obviously not encourage on a consumer level. I just ordered a new absorber from China because I doubt my old sponges will make it through another cleaning. Also my on screen options have 3 levels of cleaning. I’ve had to use the “System Cleaning” option at least three times now. It takes about ten minutes and you really see the ink levels drain while the ink is purged.
How did you reset the error?
@@johne6081 After everything is cleaned and closed up, I used this manual reset code:
-press stop and hold power
-push stop 5 times
-release power
Next
-press stop 5 times, then push power
(a page prints)
-press stop 3 times, then push power
(a test page prints)
(th-cam.com/video/Zu_vONAEM4A/w-d-xo.html)
@@LOSJr4 I'll give it a shot. Thank you.
I have an Epson ET-4550, I did get over 10,000 prints out of mine. But I did run into the same problem. But I am more determined to keep mine. So I did find some replacement sponges for it and it did just drop out. The newer ones have replaceable sponges. But they all will shut off and not work after so many usages, and you will have to reset the counter.
I have a 10-year old (or so) Epson printer, and while the ink clogs up a lot, and I have to do cleaning cycles all the time, it's still cheap and worth the hassle because I buy 3rd party cartridges from eBay for like 1 euro... The sponge has probably "expired" physically a long time ago, but it doesn't seem there's any "digital expiration" on it.
You can get rid of the error, there are plenty of tutorials on TH-cam. Done it a couple of times. Also, you can buy ink absorbing pads, and they are not expensive.
I've got this same printer, or pretty close. I've printed so much, and have used off-brand ink. The printer is so economical, but I have had to do the deep clean twice.
Seems this guy has no clue what he is recommending on his youtube channel or even on national television, just recommends whatever he happened to have bought...
You recommend a printer you don't even have looked at, haven't even read up on the limitations and requirements (frequent printing is required for inkt jet, especially with little tubes such as these). Then he doesn't even apologize/take responsibility and just fully blames Cannon for his own mistake of buying a heavy-use printer for occasional use...
I don't have this printer but we had an Epson Etank we got when they 1st came out and it lasted years for us and finally had to replace it because my son dropped something on it and cracked one of the tanks
So glad I found this video!! These tanks printers sound too good to be true. I own an HP Envy 4500 that I got for $45 in 2015 and it’s still working like a beast! I’ve printed almost 10500 pages so far. The only reason I’m looking into a better printer is because I started a small business that requires me to produce quality readable labels on just about every type of paper (textured, matte, glossy, clear). I tried Epson EcoTank but I was honestly not amazed with the print quality. The colors were dull and despite letting it dry for days, the black ink on a clear label kept smudging. Also the updates became toooo frequent and annoying my god! And it won’t even accept a card stock paper no matter the settings. So I’m still using that HP inkjet but I have to be prepared when it starts breaking down.
Trying to start my own sticker thing did you ever find a printer I’ve been researching for weeks and can’t figure out the best for glossy sticker
I am happy with My Epson L805 with ink tank. 65,000+ pages printed SO far. Thousands of letter size photos. Even more in 4x6.
If you don't print photos use pigment ink and printers that can use them, sharper and don't smudge and print on more medias
After various colour inkjet printers from Canon and Epson, I gave up on ink jet printing a long, long time ago due to the ridiculous cost of replacement inks, the generally inferior quality of third party inks, firmware updates that rejected third party cartridges, shamefully low print counts per cartridge, etc. We now have a moderately priced, high quality (in our experience) Brother mono-laser that accepts third party toner cartridges, for all our general printing needs. Any colour printing we use either a retail store or there are now quite a few online stores that print and ship prints at a very low cost ... and all with superior results to what the inkjet printers ever gave me even at their best. Your video is very on point, and I would go further to suggest that everyone should simply, and permanently, shun inkjet printers marketed for home use, so as to cease rewarding manufacturers in their shameful inkjet cartridge cost 'scams'. Third party printing services, that use higher quality machines than the home user could afford, while printing at a lower cost per page than the home user could achieve, are the way to go!
Well said!
I am in total agreement! I use a Brother monochrome laser and it is bulletproof and very cost-effective!
The reason I'm here is that I need a document with personal info on it printed immediately and my printer isn't working. They know they can do whatever they want
Does this problem still exist in 2024? Is there a CMYK inkjet printer you can recommend? I’m shopping for one now
This is why I use a 31 year old dot matrix printer for my documents. It never fails and the ink ribbon is cheap and lasts a lot. For Photos I prefer to go to a dedicated center to get them printed.
It's also why I travel on horseback to avoid motor vehicle costs.
@@incandescentwithrage I'm winding a generator manually right now to save electricity. Typing this with the other hand.
@@incandescentwithrage I mean, don't knock the dot matrix. For document printing they are still adequate.
I have a G4210, that suffered the same malady as described in the video. Upon discovering what the error code indicated, I searched the web to no avail looking for replacement ink pads. My next resort was to call Canon USA, where-upon I was told ( by a very nice lady, whom I cannot fault as she was only the messenger ) that: 1. "Canon has no service centers, and the factory will do no service past warranty". 2. "This product is not field serviceable". 3. "Canon will not provide replacement ink pads". 4. "Canon will not provide the error re-set key". However, she did offer info about a discount on a new printer. So, figuring that I couldn't hurt a "dead" machine, I set-out to prove Canon wrong on point #2 above. A couple of DIY videos later I had the machine open enough ( quite easy ) to remove the offending ink filled pads ( fairly easy with a large tweezers ). Note though, that one pad is locked in position behind the "power entry box" and will come out not undamaged unless much more disassembly is undertaken.
As my wife washed the pads that I could get out ( it took her about 45 mins. - solving most of point #3 ), I pulled and tugged on the last pad till I accepted the "locked-in" assessment. Again thinking what can it hurt, I decided to flush the pad in-place with a squirt bulb using hot water. It was labor and paper towel intensive ( but I was on a mission about point #2 ), and I probably achieved 80-90% success ( this pad could be left alone as the others are probably 75-80% of the overall capacity ). After blow-drying the machine and re-inserting the cleaned pads, re-assembly was just reverse dis-assembly ( One caution, take care to mark the position of the ink flush tubes in their deflectors above the pads. If you push the tubes in too far during re-assembly, it puts a strain on the movement of the mechanisms at the other end. Do the marking, however you chose to do it, BEFORE you pull them out in the beginning. I learned this the hard way! ). Once back together, I used a FREE on-line error code reset key to bypass point #4 above. The "dead toss-away" is back in service. Sorry Canon ....... nah, not really.
Heroic effort! Very interesting to hear Canon's official position on this.
About the point #4, there is always a rule about this: "if someone has physical access to your machine, it's no longer your machine". And it's of great use here.
It boils down to the logical "and" of all of these truisms:
- Printers have firmware.
- Firmware is stored in flash chips on the motherboard.
- Motherboards can be taken out of the device.
- Flash chips are soldered, so they can be desoldered and put in a programmer again.
- Firmware is written in a machine language.
- For every compiled program, there is a possibility to translate it back into assembly, and then disassemble and analyze.
- A service center should have an option to reset non-user-resettable parts of the memory, and it shouldn't involve soldering.
So, basically: there is always a factory service mode (FSM for short), and so, there is always a method to access FSM. And, in the FSM, there are operations that can be performed from there.
Taking this further:
- Any method to access FSM will sooner or later be discovered and published.
- Any FSM opcodes will sooner or later be documented independently of the NDA-gatekeeped service centers.
Taking the G3x10 series:
- FSM entry sequence is already known (printer OFF -> hold power button, press stop 5 times, release power).
- FSM opcodes are three-digit, no "0" can exist in them, you enter digits using stop button (as many times as the target digit states) and confirm with a single press of a power button.
- "Reset waste ink pad utilization and recalibrate print head movement" is already known to be opcode 435.
Beautiful.
Ken, was your error code the same, or was it something else? I have your model and am getting a 5200 when i try to deep clean. Also what's he equiv of "system clean" for this one? Flush? The online manual suggests a "system clean" but I find nothing labeled such in the mtc menu.
I do remember it as being 5200 - but it's been a while now and I've since moved on to another machine/brand as the canon developed a hit and miss printing style that I didn't want to mess with. "Rest in pieces Canons everywhere!"
I literally just ditched my old Canon Pixma because it threw up the ink absorber error - I can’t believe I’d never heard of this before! And your description of it as a ‘diaper’ was exactly how I was describing it. I tried to full the printer apart to see if I could fix it, but the process was so convoluted and messy I gave up, dumped the whole thing at a recycling centre and came home with a cheap little laser. No mess, no fuss, and it prints like a dream
When my Pixma showed the absorber error code I just set the printer in a small boot tray and decided to let it leak if it should overflow. Then I reset the error code. Now after two years, it's still running fine and still no leakage. Talk about crying wolf!
And yes, replacing the absorber pads is ridiculously complicated.
What laser printer did you get?
@@SK-lt1so I need to check my messages more often. It’s a brother hl-l2350d which was the cheapest I could find ;-)
@@johncoenraads9681 I gave up - the Pixma was getting elderly and cantankerous, and tbh we print so rarely it was using more ink to prime the nozzles than was being used to actually print. It was very cathartic to pull apart, though
@@johncoenraads9681 Depends on the model. every pixima through the G1200/3200 generation is user resetable just by pressing buttons on the printer. You should be fine for 2-3 resets on factory pads. the off brand ones are not quite as absorbent so I'd only go 2 between replacements. On the 1200/3200 in this video there's two screws on the back cover, and the pads pull right out and new ones slide right in.
Great video. I’ve given up on printers. I mostly use it for scanning and printing a form once a month. For photos I go to a store and pay 10c per print.
I had the same feeling as yours but was gladly seeing a lot of TH-cam videos teaching us how to fix the problems you mentioned in your video. But there is a lot of work that you couldn't do it without making your hands dirty. I fully agree that all the printer manufacturers have collectively decided to design some maintenance-heavy printers or ink cartridges so that you would regularly replace the cartridges or the printers itself.
Do you know if Epson mega tank printers have the same issue? I have had my eye on one but am slow to pull the trigger.
Wow Canon actually designed this printer with a fixed pre-programmed counter to kill it.
Great job on bringing this to life. Terrible job Canon!!
Epson has the SAME THING.
@@IronWarhorsesFun while Epsons still do this, Canon has fixed this in their 2022 line.
@@Brisco_County_Jr the pad maintenance cassette that for one apparently is not stocked at canon and second printer lineup double the price? The printhead in a maxify alone is $165.
@@Brisco_County_Jr does it have a chip and just inserting it reset the counter?
This is all confusing because I'm reading ebayers selling that cartridge, the sponge and chips plus resetter for more than if I was just to buy that cartridge. I don't understand why people would go through the trouble unless they have an abundance of sponge and feel like paying $12 for chips
@@Brisco_County_Jr so now I either get a 620 to avoid this pad issue but pay double to triple for ink of that of the 6020, or get a 3260 which got lower reviews and no network connection. Ugh why can't canon just deliver a 6020 or 7020 upgrade with maintenance pad without having to pay $700 for a maxify. Or I'll just get the 6020 and bestbuy 4 yr warranty and let them deal with any codes
Thanks a lot! This is clearly planned obsolescence! Now I understand what the "Maintenance Cartridge" is on Newer models (Pixma G15/25/35xx and Maxify GX5050, 6050...) : it's a sponge in a plastic tray, with a chip so you can only use the original one! In France we have a law against planned obsolescence, it's typically a case where it could apply.
Those chips are relatively easy to reset, apparently, by copying one that has a low use count, then writing it every time it gets full. Of course you need to manually clean the sponge so it doesn't overflow.
@@DiThi You can just write all zeros to the chip... that's what a brand new one reads. Arduino to the rescue.
That said the new printer with the chip is much more planned obsolescence than the one in the video. the guy didn't do his homework and doesn't know what he's talking about. The G1200/3200 counter can be reset just pressing buttons on the printer and the pads take 2 minutes to replace. they are $10 on amazon. Or 15 minutes if you are cleaning out and reusing the old ones.
Maybe I am just lucky: I purchased three Canon G7000 series megatank printers and have not have any issues with any of them. Two of them are used at least once a week and the third is used on a daily basis. Two of the printers were purchased back in 2020 and the third was purchased in 2021. Is it possible that the problem with the sponge has been fixed with the 7000 series?
I have been using this printer for about 5 years without running into any problem. Sometimes i dont use it for months and everything is working good. It’s an awesome printer. Haven’t buy an ink bottle since i bought it 😅
Me too. I am very happy with mine
Thank you, you came up with this! Can absolutely feel your disappointment. I bought the same printer. In my case he likes to chew the sheets… error 1300
So that’s the way we go nowadays 😊
Try a top quality Xerographic paper - don't store your paper in a humid basement.
I just picked it up on clearance for 55$ the other day.
@@nrich5127 hey thank you! That’s a good tip, to pay attention to a humidity 👍. Would never think about, that printer over 300€ would strike because of slight humidity changes. (No offence on you! 🍀)
Storing my paper in my table. The humidity is the same as in the whole appartement.
For those who just do occasional printings at home, I would suggest the Brother MFCL3750CDW, coloured print, Auto 1-travel-2-side ADF, auto 2-side printing, laser printer.
The only downside is: genuine Brother toner cartridges and drumps are not cheap (but 3rd party cartridges are available and not rejected by the machine)
I had a similar issue with an epson dye sub printer but it wasn't a death sentence like with your Canon. My ecotank printer has a "maintenance box". When you do print head cleanings, that's where it throws all the waste that comes from the cleaning process. The maintenance box also has a counter that prevents printing when it reaches zero. I found out about this while printing at a vendor event. I print pictures on metal and mugs on the spot using pictures from people's phones. The printer never gave a warning that it was almost full. It just stopped printing. So there's goes the sales for the day. But you only have to order another box (maybe $25), swap it out, and you're good. So it's annoying that it doesn't give you a warning, but its a quick fix. It takes a while to fill up too. I printed several hundred images over a four months before it filled.
So your selling cheap stickers stuck on different items?
@@kitchenbriks3685 Dye sub onto aluminum panels and ceramic mugs.
epson L series has a compartment where the sponges are located and its just a screw to be able to open it and replace/clean the sponges. that being said it still has a virtual hard limit and you can only bypass it if you download a service program to reset the counter (the said program is malicious though, according to antivirus at least)
Thanks for that info. I knew Epson also used a sponge. The hard limit that needs a reset via shady software is just like Canon. If they were serious about delivering a good product, epson and canon would sell legitimate maintenance kits that didn't require hacks.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru i think (for epson at least) that you are able to bring them to service, but i find it scummy to pay whatever price for replacing few sponges and pressing a button on a service menu.. plus they force me to waste time going to a service center for something i could do in 10 minutes at my home.
@@f1_ock i dont have any reliable link, you must risk it :/
which model you have? mine is L3150 and has the inkpads in a compartment that you can access from the back of the printer th-cam.com/video/pf-D1UePGKM/w-d-xo.html
It's not malicious. It needs hardware access to the printer and it's not signed because epson might sue them for reverse engineering. I have it myself and does what it says.
G Chatz I have a Canon Pixma G4210 which was expensive for me. At around 11 months, I began to get an error message and I would have to power down the printer then start it back up in order for it to print. Extremely frustrating! At that moment I should have picked up the phone and called Canon to get it fixed. I thought I had purchased the extended warranty when I purchased it at Best Buy. Nope! One month after the warranty was up, Unbeknownst to me, I was screwed. Canon told me it was a chip inside the printer and was not able to be fixed. Seemed like a bunch of BS to me, but I was at the mercy of Canon.
I need a multi-function printer and I don’t want to buy cartridges all the time. You seem like you know what you are talking about so, any recommendations? I have a iPad, iPhone and MacBook. Help!
I almost pulled the trigger on buying this printer. Glad I found your video. In the past, I would only print one or two times per year. My ink cartridges were all dried up by then. So, I switch to a separate B&W printer that use toner and another portable printer that printed color photos using heat transfer film. I now have a couple kids in elementary and am printing more often, but still not often enough. I guess I will stay put with my current two printer solution.
Having a laser printer is actually one of the best possible choices as the ink doesn't dry up so it won't matter if you don't print often but also the cartriges are less of a scam than inkjet ones.
Plus it prints faster and to me the hot and dry sheets coming out of a laser printer feel nicer than the ones coming out of a inkjet printer, it's only personal preference though.
One of the few cons however is the fact it can't print good quality photos, unlike the dye sumbliation aka heat transfer film printers, again a good choice for you as it's literally the best way to print digital photos you can possibly get.
Thank you so much for this! I always thought these refillable printers are “too good to be true”. I will for sure get a laser printer instead.
I absolutely love every Brother laser printer I've purchased. But lasers are not good for photos, just keep that in mind.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru I am now officially interested in getting a Brother. Are there color print versions?
@@IronWarhorsesFun Yes
My Brother 3290 laser is a horrible printer. I’ve always loved Brother laser printers, but this model has streaks that their tech support could never resolve. It works ok as long as it is a white background, but colored backgrounds streak. It was under warranty, but Brother was not very helpful despite hours on the phone with them.
I have a slightly fancier version of this same generation of printer, I print about 100 pages a month, only had to run the deep cleaning once or twice. Works pretty great still. Ink jets do require regular use, the nature of crystals [print heads] that clog. That being said, an ink sponge maintenance kit and reset option should absolutely be available from the manufacturer.
If you get the same problem as him it will be air in the lines and you run the INK FLUSH option to fix it.
To my knowledge, ALL inkjet printers have this "ink absorber" sponge, and all of them are set up to brick themselves when it gets full...
I got 99800+ total prints from this printer and still working. During this time I had to replace only once the print head for black colour. Regarding the ink not coming, you have to open the ink tank lid during ink flush to let out the air and pressure that is stuck in the ink pipe. For the waste ink you have to use an external tank to prevent the waste pad full.
You have to understand the basic functionality for each printer. Each printer is designed differently.
there's no need for burping or for an external collector. I'm running 30 G1200/3200 printers. I've had a couple head failures, all caused by employees burning them out running them dry. The absorber pads take 2 minutes to replace and can be flushed out and reused if you feel like it.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm always wary of new products nowadays. I admit that I still have the urge to buy impulsively because they sell it so good. However, lately I think twice before buying anything since we are still living in a throwaway culture and companies take advantage of that. Laser printers have stood the test of time, I guess I'll look into that.
HOW many Purges did u do to manage to fill the sponge????
I've been using a Brother MFC-6490CDW for the past ~13 years and have been pretty happy with it, not just for its reliability and interoperability with modern devices, but also relatively low cost per page, if using the larger cartridges. Although a Minolta Magicolor 2350 DL I have works well for color photos.
I think this problem has been resolved in the canon GX series. All of those printers have a maintenance tray for the spent ink. A display graph shows how full it is. You get a warning before it’s completely full. It is very accessible and replaceable. I’m about to get the GX5020. I’ll let you know.
I have a GX7021 and I love it! It is a great printer and feels solid and of good build quality. It came with a 3yr warranty out of the box.
Planned obsolescence
"We designed it poorly so you could buy a more expensive one"
@@macavalli2619 Did you reply to the wrong comment? It says Canon now allows users to replace the part that was mentioned in this video as making the printer useable.
@@bunnywarrenYet they released a printer in the past with a problem they were likely aware of in testing.
Why make a "replaceable" tray when you could make a reusable one? Seems like just another way to milk customers, so nothing new really.
Can I ask you if do you recommend putting a diy external ink waste tank to a canon inkjet printer to prevent the malfunction in the future?
I hate planned obsolescence
Me too.
What you are telling is true to the tiniest detail, thank you for informing other people as well..
I have a Canon PIXMA printer (E414), even though it doesn't have a tank to hold ink , I had the same problem . I have been refilling my cartridges for a while now and I thought I struck gold because my ink cost was cheap and the cartridges didn't mind getting refilled. But then I faced the same error, cleaned the absorber but couldn't reset the absorber counter( by using 3rd party service Software) and now it's literally dead. If anyone has a solution or work around this problem ,i appreciate the help .
the solution to this problem is buy another printer :)
Years later, every Pixima I've used going back as far as the ip4000 could be reset with just button presses on the printer. the combination varies by model. that said the E414 appears to be a low end/entry level printer that isn't worth the time to replace the pads in in the first place. Any printer that uses one cartridge for all colors is a "toy" printer that you can replace with any other $50 printer.
I can't find for E414, but this is from the 400 series in the US:
1.Make sure the printer is turned off.
2.Press and hold the Resume button (triangle inside a circle).
3.Whilst it is held down, hold down the Power button. The green led light should come on.
4.Keep the Power button held down. Release the Resume button and then press it twice. The light should go amber, then green again.
5.Release the Power button.
6.Press the Resume button four times and then press the Power button straight after to confirm the selected action (Reset Counter Absorber).
7.Turn off the printer and then turn it on again
It may not be the same for yours, but will be similar.
I'm still using a Xerox color laser I bought in 2012. I print something on it like 4 times a year, but toner powder doesn't clog so i just turn it on and it always works. No maintenance.
I've had an Epson L110 some years ago, bought from new, printed everyday with it. It had required some 'upgrades' in 4 years and some software available on the internet. But I managed to print 700,000 a4 pages and when I quit my job the printer was still working. I paid for it only 100 euros at that time. Had the same problem with the sponges but they were available on Aliexpress. Good equipment.
That's why Epson has so called "maintenance box" in their higher level EcoTank printers. It's basically box with sponges that can be changed, it is equiped with chip so it knows it was changed and it costs about 10€ in store as it is user replaceable part.
I've not had my Epson long enough yet, but the maintenance box was a key requirement. You can buy a chip resetter for it from China if you plan to self-reload it a lot, or just get a bunch of chips for a few bucks. It would be nice if you could reset in-the-printer instead, but if you don't empty the ink, you will destroy the printer... so I don't blame them for chipifying it.
Some of their earlier budget Ecotanks didn't have a maintenance box, but mine did, yeah.
I had to replace the Canon print head on my old ink jet a dozen times, so I am worried about that on the Epson - most important thing to do there is to not leave the printer unplugged and to print once a week or so. Maybe have your computer setup to auto-printer the weekly calendar for you.
Canon added the maintenance cart in the generation following the one in this video, the G1220/3260 that came out in early 2020. That said, the G1200/3200 in the video can be reset just pressing buttons on the printer and it takes 2 minutes to open the back and replace the absorber pads.
The newer epsons have it fixed, but the first and second generation ecotanks did not have serviceable waste ink collectors and more importantly do not have any reputable way to reset the counter. there are sketchy folk on ebay that sell single use keys for software to reset them, but it's super sketchy. I've got about 20 of the ET 2550 and 2650 printers all bricked up in to ewaste because they wouldn't do what every canon printer has for 20 years, let me enter service mode by pressing buttons.
As other people have said, if you don’t use a ink printer a lot the ink will start to dry up and cause quality issues. I print at least 1-2x per week and still have to do print head cleanings in my Epson Ecotank printers a few times a year. As to the sponge, Epson Ecotank printers have replaceable “maintenance boxes” that cost around $10 each and take 5 minutes to swap out. I think the newer Canon models do this now too, but always double check if the printer you’re getting lets you replace the sponge/maintenance box/whatever.
I have used brother and epson ink tank printers... the epsons are good and can be hacked to continue working but the brothers are mostly uncompromising workhorses. We've had a brother at work in a semi harsh environment for about 2 years and its is going great. Also I am pretty sure the brother printers do not have hard coded limits like the epsons and cannon printers.
This could have easily been solved by canon making the ink absorber a replaceable module with a self contained monitoring chip. I think that this particular printer was designed for high workflow environments where a lot of printing occurs. For most home environments I'm concerned about ink solidifying in the tanks and getting sucked in the lines. Most of your purges/cleanings are focused on making sure that the nozzle is clean enough that it sprays properly.
If it is a sponge, couldn't it be simply rinsed out and put back in? Or design it as a tank can be wiped clean with alcohol. If we need a replacement cartridge with a microchip, then we are back to the old situation with expensive consumable parts.
@@j7ndominica051 as far as rinsing it out, some inks become insoluble to water when dried. A tank seems like a good idea but so little ink is used each time that it would be dried out before you think to clean it. All I'm thinking for the monitoring chip is that it holds the counter not the equipment. I'm not talking about serious DRM on a replaceable component that could easily be manufactured by a third party.
i just came up with the same problem ,that 5boo error code. i tried all the tricks i found on you tube but nothing. let me get this straight ,you mean that the printer cannot be fixed in this case ????
Canon and Epson went through the route of the refillable ink tanks that were popular from gray market ink vendors since the 90s. The technology is very old. I remembered getting a pre-configured epson R200 printer with the ink tank kit for about $200. Printed over 10,000 pages for the next 5 years so it is worth the investment.
Since you got the printer since 2017, it gave about 5 years of use. Unfortunately you only use it for 50 photos. Give you props for the courage to go back on your previous review.
Just an FYI: *do not remove AC power from an inkjet printer when not in use.* Just turn it off with its front panel power button. That way, it keeps its memory of how long it’s been since the last time the nozzles were used (whether by printing or cleaning). When you remove AC power, it forgets this and then runs a cleaning cycle before use, since it has no way of knowing how recent the last use was. That wastes ink and consumes the absorber.
@@afterburner3999 It’s fine to unplug if you know there’s a storm coming. It’s just not something you want to do when not absolutely necessary. I hear of people who turn off the power strip with their printer after every use, to save standby power, not realizing this will cost them ink.
I have an HP smart tank printer which I often have to manually clean the print heads for because the automatic 3-stage printhead cleaning isn't perfect. Unfortunately, the only way to access and remove the printheads is to unplug it whilst they are moving (during a start up).
@@chesshead That sucks, but has nothing to do with the point I am making.
@@tookitogo you advised not to unplug the printer. I gave an example of when I must.
@@chesshead The video, like many, advised routinely unplugging to save money. That is what I am replying to.
It’s completely unhelpful to anyone to have to listen to someone argue “well I have to unplug it to take it apart to perform repairs”.
When someone says “avoid running your car engine for less than 5 minutes at a time”, that doesn’t mean that you can’t drive it to the mechanic 3 minutes away if you have to…
And if you read the comments you’d see I’d clarified even more, adding “unless you absolutely have to”. Performing repairs certainly is covered by that.
Some newer canon magatank printers have a user replacable waste tank. We have just bought a Maxify GX4050 and also purchased a replacement waste tank. We were going to get an Epson until we found out about Epson Error E-11. Canon do seem to have acted on this.
I went through so many inkjet printers in the last 15 years it isn't funny. I finally gave up and bought an HP ColorLaserJet for my office work, and I send my photos out to a printing service.
Yeah, I think a service surprisingly may be the most economical way to print photos!
@@TheTechBuyersGuru I think, I found a working service program for your printer, but I need exact model of your printer to help you, lol.
My canon is the G3200.
@@TheTechBuyersGuru so, there's 2 ways to reset ink abosrber count:
1. th-cam.com/video/4FJ-R0tSmks/w-d-xo.html doing exact same things as this russian youtuber.
Translation of video:
1. Turn power off on the printer, and wait until all light indicators are disabled. 0:30-0:39 on video
2. Turn Service Mode: Hold "Stop Button", Hold "Power Button", Release "Stop Button", after press "Stop Button" 5 Times and release "Power Button", wait until power led turns off. 0:40-1:00 on video
3. Ink Absorber reset actions: Press 5 times "Stop Button" and then press "Power Button", then printer should print information about Ink Absorber Count reset. 1:00-1:21 on video
4. Print Settings info: Press 3 times "Stop Button" and then press "Power Button". Settings info should print out. 1:22-1:34 on video
5. Leave Service Mode: Just turn off and turn on the printer. 1:35-1:50
2nd way. using reset service tool from Canon:
bloggerseoscience .us/2020/07/ free-download-canon-resetter-service .html (no space)
mediafire. com/file/67av8xztuplzzee/ Canon-Service-Tool-v5103.zip /file (no space)
but check for viruses yourself, at your own risk. I've downloaded it, Windows Defender reported no viruses.
I recommend trying Russian TH-camr's method first.
@@WENEVERLEFT WARNING! First method can completely brick printer sometimes. And it will be need to buy new mainboard or soldering 2 new clear chips from gray market or desolder old chip to flash it on programmer with gray market firmware.
Great video.I agree with you .Could it be another scam? A sponge to soak up ink doesn't look like a design at all.Perhaps they should have another tank connected where after flushing the ink could go .My printer made me so mad .I spend over $400.00 on it and it worked for just 4/5 months .Used tons of paper .Can't print colour anymore .My black printer is green now.I given up this cheap manufacturing crap.I decide I just will you it n the B/W ak Green mode HR
Do Epson have the same issue with Ecotanks?maybe you do have to use them regularly or the ink dries/jams??
I always recommended color laser printers. They have become so cheap these days, are really robust, the toner cardridges don't dry out if you dont use the printer for a while and last much longer then ink
Good idea. This might work best for charts, reports and some posters. However, and please correct me anyone if I am wrong, this will not work for printing photographs at home using photo paper.
yup. for photographs, inkjet is better@@AmmarHabjouqa
Color laser printers are everything but cheap.
You are absolutely right. Inkjet printers can print higher quality photos provided you use the right photo ink and photo paper. However, I would only prefer an inkjet printer if you really print a lot of photos at home. If it is only occasionally, then I would rather have my photos printed by an online provider (e.g. as a photo book) or go to one of the photo machines that are in all large supermarkets. Both options produce even better photo quality than an inkjet printer could, at a lower cost and with fewer hassles.@@AmmarHabjouqa
The total cost of ownership of a color laser printer (e.g. over 5 years) is much lower than that of an inkjet printer. Only the acquisition costs are higher because the purchase price is not subsidized by the ink.@@offspringfan89