Ip4000 Not Printing Cd's

Hi folks



Recently my cannon has been printing out faded cd's .. ive tried to clean the nozzles but to no avail. Could someone tell me what might be the problem



Thanks del

Run the nozzle check test

I have mate still nothing

There can be a number of reasons for this.
Are the carts properly locked down?
Have you removed the tape strip on the top when you installed them?
Run a deep cleaning cycle a couple of times wait about 10 minutes and then try a nozzle check.
If none of the above it could be that the nozzles are blocked. You can remove the print head and soak the jet holes over night.

I think the nozzles are blocked. Is there a tutorial anywhere that i can use to remove the print head?

Blocked nozzles will ALWAYS show up on the nozzle check test. I'd change the ink tanks and try again. BTW, if you print with blocked nozzles, you'll kill the print head.

How to do it is in your owners manual. If you don't have that you can download it from the Canon website.

Canon IP print heads simply lift out after moving the clamping lever. The opposite of what you did when you installed it. (the heads are in the tank carraige)

i have tired everything.. the printer was bought from the cannon outlet on ebay and im sure its still under warrently unless it was sold with a 6 mth warrenty in which case its not.. i have also been using good non originals.. its printing really faded cd's and but when printing to paper its ok but not great

nozzles dont seem to be blocked.. so im thinking new printhead? or could there be a build up of ink inside the printer which needs taking out??


thanks guys for the info

If it's printing photos, to photo paper settings, and it looks OK, there's nothing wrong with the hardware. Disc printing uses the same settings as photo paper.

Starting to wonder if you're using proper inkjet-printable discs.

Hi its not printing to properly to photo or normal paper.. I am using the exact same printable discs i was when it was working fine.. I have also tried other brands but still no luck. It has to be a hardware fault with the printer .. but i am not too sure what it could be

the fact that you're using a canon to print CDs leads me to the conclusion that you're not in the US...am i correct?

in the US, printer manufacturers have to authorize warranty work on the unit even if the user does not use manufacturer's ink cartridges.

you say you are using non-original cartridges (at least i assume you meant the ink cartridges when you said this...if i'm incorrect then disregard this post). you may want to check the warranty laws in your country and the terms of the warranty itself to see if you will be covered.

I can guarantee when you call canon they will blame it on non-original cartridges so be prepared with this information.

if it really is a hardware fault with the printer as you suspect the warranty will be the best route to go first. if canon cannot help you under warranty THEN you should go about looking for information on how to take that sucker apart.

the last time i had a print head problem with a canon printer, they would not fix it under warranty claiming that the print head was a "consumable" (ie a part that was meant to be replaced just like the ink itself) when the print head was a part of the printer hardware. if you have a print head issue, canon may be able to sell you a replacement print head.

I still say that if it passes the nozzle check, the head can't be the problem. Sometimes, a partially blocked ink passage (under the tanks) can cause the printer to print fine for a few lines, then fade out. In this instance, sometimes the nozzle check looks ok. this is easy to fix yourself, but you need a set of empty tanks and some "solvent" (either a commercially prepared solvent meant for this purpose or just warm distilled water with a dash of plain ammonia.) Cleaning kits for Canons can be bought with all the tools and solvent.

Filling the empty tanks with the solvent, then printing several pages with 3-color bars and black bars till the page comes out clear. If you want to clean the photo-black, you'll need to use photo paper settings when printing. Ocasionally, a really blocked passage can require use of a syringe to force fluid through the passage. Removing the tank carraige is a good idea, and you can also soak the whole thing in warm water and ammonia.

For some fairly good instructions on all this, refer to a seller of cleaning kits. Also, NEVER leave your ink tanks out of the printer for more than a few minutes, as this is what causes those passages to clog.

HI, folks

Yeah im in the UK. This printer has been nothing but hassle ive only been really using it last few months.. I have a r220 which ive had for longer and that still works great. But i prefer the ip4000 as its a more soild printer and prints cd's faster than the r220.

Back to this problem.. I have tried the cleaning with those cleaning kits.. and im still getting this problem.. Does anyone know how to drain the waste ink inside the printer? Im thinking it may be that thats caused this problem

Thanks for the input its always appreciated

The same thing with the printer's PSU (according to the Canon warranty card - it is also not under the warranty, as well as print head, ink tanks and cables). But when I brought Pixma ip1500 with dead PSU to local Canon service-center, they replaced this "consumable" part without any questions. For free, of course

From the original post, here's some grist for the mill.

You said "faded" and you did not say the problem was only with one color. That rules out blocked nozzles because they would not all become partially clogged at the same time. Therefore, the root cause of the problem must have a common denominator in that it causes too little ink regardless of color.

You've ruled out the media types in Post #11. That leaves a couple of other possibilities.

Here's a possibility entirely consistent with normal printing for a while and then a fading out problem. The cartridges have not had their vents opened. Air has to come in for ink to go out. There is a piece of tape across the top of each cartridge. A small portion of the tape toward the rear should be removed to expose a capillary air vent molded into the top surface of the cartridge. That capillary lets enough air into the cartridge for printing purposes. The reason its a snaked capillary is so that it can't let in rapidly. Otherwise, if a cartridge starts to drip when it's out of the printer, it would pour, not slowly drip, and handling the cartridges would be a big problem.

Another possibility is that the electronics is having a problem supplying adequate power levels for the pulses to the printhead that cause the droplets to explode out of the nozzles. These days, even the techs in a Canon repair shop would not diagnose which single component, e.g. resistor, transistor, etc., and replace it. A whole pc board would be swapped to get the printer working. If this is the problem, it's not likely it's a repair that can be done without having a spare board.

Having said all of that, I do have a problem with my own Canon iP4000, but only with the larger black cartridge. It prints a few lines well, but then gets starved. Heavy cleaning has fixed it a few times, but the problem seems to come back within weeks now, instead of months. I think CDan's head cleaning procedure lies in my future.

I don't think I've ever seen a completely 100% good nozzle-check on the #3 black, I suspect the ink is just too goey. Same with my IP-3000. I use Formulabs bulk ink, maybe the Canon ink is less troublesome. But I rarely see the starving described above. I did once reverse some pigment and dye inks in the 2 black tanks - that didn't work out too well.