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Canon Printer Error Message-"more than one ink installed"

July 3, 2008 by debbie T | Printers

I have a Canon Pixma MP500 all-in-one printer, and I have been receiving sporadic error messages. Either an ink is missing or “Error Number : 1681 More than one ink tank of the following color is installed. Magenta [8] Use only one ink tank per color at a time.” – both errors point to the Magenta ink tank.

It is temporarily repaired by removing the magenta ink, and seating it back into place. The printer works again, and a few days later, the error appears.

Today, it was particularly stubborn. I reseated the magenta ink tank several times, and when it wouldn’t work, I turned to google. It appears that a lot of others are having the same issue with Canon printers.

I decided to call the Canon technical support. sigh. A lot of good that did. Because the printer was almost two years old (purchased in Aug 2006), they would have to charge me $10 to troubleshoot the problem. Oh but the good news is, he wouldn’t charge me if he couldn’t fix it. Well, of course it would probably be TEMPORARILY fixed, but that wouldn’t help in the long term.

I hung up with tech support and opened the ink compartment again. This time, I reseated all the ink cartridges, and that seemed to fix it for now.

After reading some of the other problems others were having, it appears a lot were using refilled or 3rd party ink. I learned my lesson with the Epson, and will only buy official Canon ink.

I think it just may be time for a new printer. Shameful really. I guess 2 years is long enough for printers to last. sigh. Oh well, those new Kodak printers with cheap ink look tempting. I will look into them!

Epson Class Action Suite Payment

May 29, 2007 by debbie T | Printers

For those interested parties, the class action suite against Epson has finally been settled and benefits have been sent.

There were many comments posted on the prior article I wrote, and lots of frustrated Epson users were waiting for results.

Today, I finally received my settlement benefit document, which included a check payment for $25 and a $20 store credit code to be used at http://www.Epsonstore.com.

For those that opted for just the store credit, you should be receiving a full credit of $45. For those that opted for a check and credit, don’t throw away the check stub, it also includes the store credit code.

I just briefly browsed the Epsonstore web site, and nothing jumps out at me; I will probably choose the bright white paper and some photo stickers. I don’t think the credit will affect the shipping charge, only the merchandise charges.

Important to note: The store credit is not active until June 20th.

Related web resources:

Epson Class Action Settlement

April 15, 2006 by debbie T | Printers

The class action suit against Epson America has been settled and here are the details.

If you purchased a qualifying Epson printer between April 8, 1999 and May 8, 2006, you are eligible to receive a $45 settlement. If your printer has been registered with Epson, you will automatically be sent a $45 e-credit to use at the Epson Store.

An alternative, is to fill out the claim form, and you can choose to receive a $25 check along with a $20 e-credit to the store.

If you do not want to register your printer with Epson, it is also possible to receive the settlement by filling out the claim form.

The whole gist of the lawsuit was due to Epson’s sneaky way of forcing you to change the ink cartridge even though there was still plenty of ink inside the cartridge. The lawsuit doesn’t require Epson to change their printer technology, but they will change their software and packaging to reflect a statement that an undetermined amount of ink is remaining in the cartridge even when the printer claims it is empty.

As of this morning, when I checked the official settlement web site, it was down due to high bandwidth usage. (snicker) When the web site does come back, you can find details at http://www.epsonsettlement.com.

Additional details can be found:

* Yahoo News
* digg.com

Personally, I am disappointed in my Epson CX5400 printer, and I doubt I will be purchasing another Epson printer again. As for this class action lawsuit, I have opted for the $25 check/$20 e-check alternative settlement and will be mailing my claim form next week.

UPDATE (May 6, 2007): I just received an email concerning the Epson settlement.

Claims Administrator
c/o Rust Consulting, Inc.
PO Box 1308
Minneapolis, MN 55440-1308

Per your request, this is to inform you about the Settlement
Discount Code activation date for the Epson Ink Cartridge Cases.
Codes will be active as of June 20, 2007 and valid for 12
months. This code will be redeemable at www.epsonstore.com.

If you have any further questions about the Epson Ink
Cartridge matter, please visit www.epsonsettlement.com.

The direct link to the update on the settlement: http://www.epsonsettlement.com/Notice.htm

Epson Stylus CX5400 Printing Problems

December 2, 2005 by debbie T | Printers

The other night I was having a major problem with my Epson Stylus
CX5400 Printer. The print was very faint (almost invisible) and smudgy, even after several attempts to clean the nozzles.

After searching on Google.com, I learned this was a fairly common problem with certain Epson printers. It appears the ink purge tube becomes disconnected from the cap assembly.

Here are the web sites that I found helpful:

* http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/printer/28050 – discussions of others having the same problem.
* http://inkjetprinterhelp.us/duraink.html – details on how to re-connect the hose.
* http://inkjetprinterhelp.us/cx52003.html – instructions on disassembly of the printer.

Notes:

* Be warned, dis-assembly (and re-assembly) of the printer is not easy. The instructions are good, but a little confusing sometimes. The photos are a little fuzzy and it can be hard to decipher what’s what.
* You should be mechanically inclined if you are attempting this. There are lots of screws and little parts that you have to put back correctly. I don’t know how my husband remembered where every part went, but he impressed me!
* It does get messy. Ink will get on your fingers. They suggest to use gloves, but my husband couldn’t work with gloves.
* You need two needle-nose pliers to re-attach the hose, because you are working in a very small (hard to reach) area. It also helps if someone else can hold open the spring-loaded part and hold a flashlight. (That was my job!)
* Just take your time, work slowly, and it is possible to fix this printer without a service call. Well, unless your printer is still covered under warranty, in which case, have a service tech fix it.
* Fixing the first time might not do the trick. The tube fell off soon afterward, when 2 pages were printed. My husband then had to dis-assemble the printer again. It was quicker the 2nd time around. He removed the little hose clamp from where the hose was attached in the front, and attached it to the part that kept falling off. Then he added a wire tie to the front hose attachment. I don’t understand why the back hose attachment didn’t have some sort of clamp to begin with!
* Printer alignment might need to be adjusted after the repair is completed.

UPDATE (01-28-06): I kept forgetting to update the printer situation. Unfortunately, my alignment is off, and no matter how many times I run the tests to fix the alignment, it is still off. It appears to be just the black print that is off; scanned copies print fine, and color seems to be alright as well.

I am very disappointed, because I really like this printer, and I don’t want to be forced to purchase a new one.

Update on my Epson CX5400

November 30, 2003 by debbie T | Computers • Printers

Update: I still love my new printer! The print options are great. I used to have to manually print 2 sided pages, but now there is an option. After the first side(s) has printed, a popup box tells you to turn the paper over to print the other side(s).

I also like the borderless print, the ink level indicators, watermarks, multipage print, reduce/enlarge/rotate settings, and print preview. Of course there are Quality settings, along with Paper options.

I haven’t had a real chance to check how fast the ink will run out, but the quality of print is outstanding. And I love that there are 4 separate inks. Black, Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta. Easy to refill when only one color ink is out! And the colored inks were much less than the HP All-in-One that I checked out earlier.

I haven’t had the opportunity to scan anything yet, but the copier is wonderful. Fast and very good copies. There is an option for a black/white or color copy.

I love my Epson CX5400! But I suppose next to my 6+ year old ancient Epson Stylus 600, anything built in this century would be acceptable! *smile*

Epson Stylus cx5400

November 23, 2003 by debbie T | Computers • Printers

Well my new printer, the Epson Stylus CX5400 is awesome. Finally took the time to set it up tonight. It is quiet as a mouse. Oh my! What a difference from my old Stylus 600! The print seems to be excellent and I love that it has a separate ink cartridge for each color. I am very satisfied so far.

Print Pal Ink Cartridges

November 18, 2003 by debbie T | Computers • Printers

I own an older Epson Sylus Color 600 printer. It has been a workhorse for at least 6 years. I recently decided to order some cheaper ink cartridges from PrintPal and at first, all seemed okay. The only thing I noticed was after it was printed, the page had a strong alcohol smell. And I had to run a cleaning cycle a lot more frequently or the color print would be messy.

Then I noticed my “yellow” ink seemed to be perminantly clogged and would not print correctly. I figured it was probably out of ink since the cleaning cycle wouldn’t repair it. I changed the ink cartridge to a new one from “Print Pal”. Still no fix. All my color prints developed blueish hues to them. And now, the blue seems to be clogged and everything is pinkish. UGH!

I realize that my printer was old, but there was never a problem with printing until I started to use cheaper inks. And mind you, this was only after ONE cartridge. It wasn’t an ongoing situation. In the end, I had to purchase a new printer. Granted, I would have eventually liked to have upgraded, but not just yet.

I have read elsewhere that specifically the Epson printers do not do well with cheap ink. The other printer manufacturers might do better, but I do not think I will ever purchase cheap ink again.