Printer dilemma

jerry12953

jerry12953

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Jeremy Moore
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Sadly my Canon MG6250 all-in-one printer has suffered a 5100 error code failure. I have tried all the remedies I can find to get it moving again with no success. The print head stays resolutely inside its casing.

The one thing I haven't tried is to replace all the ink cartridges. I have been running it with five empty cartridges and a new black cartridge for a while because I haven't had any colour printing to do. I have five unopened pristine Canon colour cartridges which, if I installed them, would instantly become worthless, whereas at the moment they might have some value. They fit a large number of more elderly Canon printers and all-in-ones.

Ideally i'd get the MG6250 going again, and use the unopened cartridges. If I went for a new printer it would be probably be the Epson et8500.

What would you do?
 
Get the Epson - you know you want to. ;)

People with older printers may be prepared to pay a small premium for those cartridges. If not, you've got a back up system in the attic.

The Epson would be a LOT cheaper to run. I would buy one for myself, but as I don't print that much any longer it would really be wasted on me . . .
 
I have no experience with that model, but have a little with other Canon printers.

I wouldn't expect replacing the cartridges will fix the problem. However it is possible that not replacing them might prevent other actions from working. In saying that, I assume that model does keep a track on ink levels? So, I would fit new cartridges, although I would probably fit non-OEM cartridges. I have been impressed with the Octo-ink products, if they cover your printer.

I would turn the power off overnight. Then, I would open the printer so I could see the printhead before restoring the power. After turning on the power, as soon as the printhead moves (assuming it does), I would turn the power off again.

You should now find that you can slide the printhead back and forth quite easily. I would then clean it all up with Isopropyl, cotton buds and kitchen paper. Everything you can see, including the insides of the printhead parking garage. Also under the printhead, with a folded up piece of kitchen paper soaked with Isopropyl.

When you are all done. Push the printhead back into the garage, close it up and turn on the power. Keep your fingers crossed.

If it comes back to life, print a nozzle check.

Good luck!
 
Boots said:
I have no experience with that model, but have a little with other Canon printers.

I wouldn't expect replacing the cartridges will fix the problem. However it is possible that not replacing them might prevent other actions from working. In saying that, I assume that model does keep a track on ink levels? So, I would fit new cartridges, although I would probably fit non-OEM cartridges. I have been impressed with the Octo-ink products, if they cover your printer.

I would turn the power off overnight. Then, I would open the printer so I could see the printhead before restoring the power. After turning on the power, as soon as the printhead moves (assuming it does), I would turn the power off again.

You should now find that you can slide the printhead back and forth quite easily. I would then clean it all up with Isopropyl, cotton buds and kitchen paper. Everything you can see, including the insides of the printhead parking garage. Also under the printhead, with a folded up piece of kitchen paper soaked with Isopropyl.

When you are all done. Push the printhead back into the garage, close it up and turn on the power. Keep your fingers crossed.

If it comes back to life, print a nozzle check.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
The print head does move but it retreats back in its housing. I then get the error message.

I've cleaned the transparent ribbon with a soft cloth with no success. I could go a bit further cleaning wise as you suggest. And look for some cheapo cartridges .

Thanks very much for the suggestions!
 
jerry12953 said:
The print head does move but it retreats back in its housing. I then get the error message.

I've cleaned the transparent ribbon with a soft cloth with no success. I could go a bit further cleaning wise as you suggest. And look for some cheapo cartridges .

Thanks very much for the suggestions!
Click to expand...

What's the error message?
 
jerry12953 said:
Sadly my Canon MG6250 all-in-one printer has suffered a 5100 error code failure. I have tried all the remedies I can find to get it moving again with no success. The print head stays resolutely inside its casing.

The one thing I haven't tried is to replace all the ink cartridges. I have been running it with five empty cartridges and a new black cartridge for a while because I haven't had any colour printing to do. I have five unopened pristine Canon colour cartridges which, if I installed them, would instantly become worthless, whereas at the moment they might have some value. They fit a large number of more elderly Canon printers and all-in-ones.

Ideally i'd get the MG6250 going again, and use the unopened cartridges. If I went for a new printer it would be probably be the Epson et8500.

What would you do?
Click to expand...
I had a MG5250 for 12 years, an excellent printer, but not particularly good for black and white! I never tried running it with only the black cartridges; since it complained bitterly if any cartridge became low I'd have expected that not to work.

If you want to try putting in cartridges, best try a compatible set. Usually you can get the whole set for less than the price of one Canon cartridge.

I couldn't find anyone to buy my unused Canon cartridges, and eventually put them in the cartridge recycling bin run by a local school.

I replaced my MG5250 with an ET-8550, which I do like. I've not yet printed an A3 sheet, so maybe I wasted a lot of money there, but at least I can. It seems to be an excellent printer. I have got ICC profiles for nearly every paper I have (as opposed to none at all for the old Canon). Colours looks good, and black and white also looks good when printed from Epson Print Layout using ABW (finally worked out how to call EPL from C1Pro!). Couple of annoying things, like having to poke the display back to life to persuade it to close the print drawer. But I'm really pleased with it.
 
I gave up on printing photos at home years ago. For the small quantity I need, I go with lab prints - the quality's built in if you prep the files right. For admin documents, I run an Epson mono ecotank (as alternative to a laser), & it's worked out pretty well - issues eg to do with clogging after disuse have lessened with firmware / software updates. Cheap to run! I wouldn't try to use it for photo prints. But good for the office.
 
droj said:
I gave up on printing photos at home years ago. For the small quantity I need, I go with lab prints - the quality's built in if you prep the files right. For admin documents, I run an Epson mono ecotank (as alternative to a laser), & it's worked out pretty well - issues eg to do with clogging after disuse have lessened with firmware / software updates. Cheap to run! I wouldn't try to use it for photo prints. But good for the office.
Click to expand...

For exhibition or sale I have always gone with lab prints. But for dummies/mock-ups I found it very useful to be able to print at home. I could foresee (eg) printing up Christmas cards etc at home if the cost of the ink was minimal - as it would be with an ink tank printer. I'm not sure whether a slightly cheaper all-in-one like the et4850 would satisfy my need for photo printing quality while I'm sure it would do for office duties - the reviews say for that photo quality printing the et4850 is slightly lacking.
 
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ChrisR said:
I had a MG5250 for 12 years, an excellent printer, but not particularly good for black and white! I never tried running it with only the black cartridges; since it complained bitterly if any cartridge became low I'd have expected that not to work.

If you want to try putting in cartridges, best try a compatible set. Usually you can get the whole set for less than the price of one Canon cartridge.

I couldn't find anyone to buy my unused Canon cartridges, and eventually put them in the cartridge recycling bin run by a local school.

I replaced my MG5250 with an ET-8550, which I do like. I've not yet printed an A3 sheet, so maybe I wasted a lot of money there, but at least I can. It seems to be an excellent printer. I have got ICC profiles for nearly every paper I have (as opposed to none at all for the old Canon). Colours looks good, and black and white also looks good when printed from Epson Print Layout using ABW (finally worked out how to call EPL from C1Pro!). Couple of annoying things, like having to poke the display back to life to persuade it to close the print drawer. But I'm really pleased with it.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've seen some of your posts about your printer dilemmas and the et8550 on other threads. With my 6250 I just ignored all the warning messages about low ink as i suspected they were mainly a ruse to get you to buy more ink than you needed! But maybe that plan has bitten me on the bum in the end..... . Good to hear about your experience with the et8550, I believe the et8500 is identical apart from the smaller max. paper size. Maybe its wishful thinking on my part to think I could sell the unused Canon cartridges.
 
I recently bought an Epson ET8550 to replace a Canon which had reached the end of its good but expensive-on-inks life. Nothing but praise for it. Even my wife notices the improvement in print quality, and it's dirt cheap to run. If you want reviews, check out Keith Cooper (Northlight Images) on YouTube.
 
Stephen L said:
I recently bought an Epson ET8550 to replace a Canon which had reached the end of its good but expensive-on-inks life. Nothing but praise for it. Even my wife notices the improvement in print quality, and it's dirt cheap to run. If you want reviews, check out Keith Cooper (Northlight Images) on YouTube.
Click to expand...
Further to this, I've managed to make a couple of panoramic prints through this by cutting roll paper (difficult to get in 13" width) to the appropriate length and swearing at it whilst trying to feed the paper and support it whilst pressing the print button. Once it feeds, it's superb.
 
When the head makes its way out grab hold of it and drag it out manually.
My old Pro10 needed that fix every now and then, then worked fine for a fair while.
 
Mmm Canon Pro 1000 , I love it :) :canon:
 
Sky said:
Get the Epson - you know you want to. ;)

People with older printers may be prepared to pay a small premium for those cartridges. If not, you've got a back up system in the attic.

The Epson would be a LOT cheaper to run. I would buy one for myself, but as I don't print that much any longer it would really be wasted on me . . .
Click to expand...
I wouldn't purchase or recommend a piece of Epson s***. In fact in my opinion, they should be in court for the magenta blockage issue across their range.
 
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Another ET8550 owner here and I too have nothing but praise for it.
It's been left unused for a few weeks and hasn't needed any maintenance of any sort, and as has already been said, is ridiculously cheap to run.
It isn't the fastest printer is about the worst thing I can say about it, but it isn't awfully slow either.
As for print quality, I've done pretty well in camera club competitions including winning 'Best Print'
 
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dcash29 said:
I wouldn't purchase or recommend a piece of Epson s***. In fact in my opinion, they should be in court for the magenta blockage issue across their range.
Click to expand...
I would agree with you - up till I got a couple of the Ecotank printers. No more blockages!
 
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Stephen L said:
I would agree with you - up till I got a couple of the Ecotank printers. No more blockages!
Click to expand...
We have an ET-3850 as the 'family' colour printer, it replaced an older Canon model (MG series, can't remember which), and I've been pleased with it, certainly very economical, we've had it a couple of years at least, and have only had to buy one replacement ink bottle so far - I'm certain that it's been cheaper (original purchase + ink) than the equivalent cartridge based printer would have been, and its both fast and decent quality.
 
I've had an Epson sc p800 for aboutt 8 years now and never had a problem unlike the sp3880 which developed quite serious clogging. Often left the 800 for up to 6 or 7 weeks when we've been away and fires up and prints straight away with no problems.
 
My pro100 works flawlessly even when it hasn't been used for months. As for an office printer, I've purchase a hp tank unit and it's excellent.
 
Keith Cooper agrees with you Glynn - it has some limitations, but it's best for colour prints on glossy paper. Unfortunately, not so for B&W.

I could well be tempted away from my lust for the 8550 . . .

View: https://youtu.be/I9_ZklV-RW4
 
Sky said:
Keith Cooper agrees with you Glynn - it has some limitations, but it's best for colour prints on glossy paper. Unfortunately, not so for B&W.

I could well be tempted away from my lust for the 8550 . . .

View: https://youtu.be/I9_ZklV-RW4
Click to expand...
The b&w performance depends a lot on the paper. As with many printers, some sort of rag is superior to gloss or lustre. I can and have had decent mono prints out of mine, although naturally not as great as those with multiple grey carts.
 
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