Used large-format Canon printers are going to lose their ink, ja?

I'm still kicking the tires of used large-hiney printers (larger-hiney than my Pro-1000).

For example, there's a Pro-4000 that sounds very good. The owner says he took good care of it and explained how, he's only used real Canon ink, it has a new printhead... and ink cartridges that are "60-90% full."

But if you transport it, it's going to throw all the ink in its tanks into the maintenance cartridge first, i'nit?

So it may as well come with no ink, right?

Or do I have the wrong end of the stick...

Of course, there are also different sizes of ink cartridges and I don't know which this has.

But the point remains - it's going to lose half of the ink in a normal cartridge, right?

nickbatz said:

I'm still kicking the tires of used large-hiney printers (larger-hiney than my Pro-1000).

For example, there's a Pro-4000 that sounds very good. The owner says he took good care of it and explained how, he's only used real Canon ink, it has a new printhead... and ink cartridges that are "60-90% full."

Click to expand...

If the owner is just on the other side of town and you can move the printer slowly (no bumps or rough roads) then I'd just slide the printer into a truck on top of a lot of padding to absorb vibrations, etc., and move the printer at a snails pace at 2am... across town to your location. If the printer is in another county or state, well, you have to decide whether prepping the printer is worth it depending on what equipment and how much time you have to work with.

nickbatz said:

But if you transport it, it's going to throw all the ink in its tanks into the maintenance cartridge first, i'nit?

So it may as well come with no ink, right?

Or do I have the wrong end of the stick...

Click to expand...

The first question I'd ask myself is how far and how fast do I need to move the printer.

If I'm moving the printer somewhere in-town and up only 1/2 flight of stairs to get the printer into a studio, I'm not going to "ready the printer for transport". I had to move my Pro-4100, so our crew created a platform, with large industrial wheels for it to sit on and we slowly (literally at-a-crawls pace) wheeled the printer from one building to another, across asphalt, gravel, dirt and grass.

Then using ramps, jacks and cinderblocks .... raised the printer level with the deck, before wheeling it across the ramps onto the deck and into the building.

Trick was keeping the printer pretty much level while raising it, no jostling the printer or damaging vibrations.

--
Teila K. Day
http://teiladay.com

nickbatz said:

But if you transport it, it's going to throw all the ink in its tanks into the maintenance cartridge first, i'nit?

Click to expand...

The Pro-4100 new is delivered with 330ml carts while the Pro-2100 gets the smaller 160ml. You will have to check with Canon how much is lost for the reship mode but I doubt its the whole cart. For sure, the amount will be substantial since the lines have to be flushed.

nickbatz said:

I'm still kicking the tires of used large-hiney printers (larger-hiney than my Pro-1000).

For example, there's a Pro-4000 that sounds very good. The owner says he took good care of it and explained how, he's only used real Canon ink, it has a new printhead... and ink cartridges that are "60-90% full."

But if you transport it, it's going to throw all the ink in its tanks into the maintenance cartridge first, i'nit?

So it may as well come with no ink, right?

Or do I have the wrong end of the stick...

Click to expand...

As was already mentioned, call the Canon large printer division and ask them. When I moved my 8400 I put it in the back of my Honda CRV. It went partly over the folded back seats and I couldn't shut the rear door all the way so I tied it shut with a rope. It sat at a 20-30 degree angle for 2.5 hours of rush hour traffic. It's 7 feet long and weighs 350 pounds! Got home, put it back on the stand and went through whatever startup procedure it needed. It was also put into transport mode before loading. The print head goes to center and you lock it down. In don't remember it using any substantial ink at startup? Good luck

John

Ask for a head check print out. Should have the date the second head was installed and the date of the first ....also the number of prints made since the changes.

Ask Canon how many heads that machine can have , might only be two within its lifecycle ... think you know where I am heading .

kciuk aka Ken60 said:

Ask for a head check print out. Should have the date the second head was installed and the date of the first ....also the number of prints made since the changes.

Ask Canon how many heads that machine can have , might only be two within its lifecycle ... think you know where I am heading .

Click to expand...

As I said, I'm just kicking the tires, toe in the water, looking before I leap...

That is a good point about how many heads a machine can have. I didn't know about that. Thanks.

Teila Day said:

The first question I'd ask myself is how far and how fast do I need to move the printer.

If I'm moving the printer somewhere in-town and up only 1/2 flight of stairs

Click to expand...

I asked myself and the answers I got: it's in town (I wouldn't get one from out of town), as far as I know there are no steep hills other than possible freeway onramps... hm, guess I'd have to take surface streets, but no big deal.

Our house is 1-story and there are two steps outside the front door. Well, plus a third one to get onto the path leading to the door.

Whether it can fit through the door is another question. It would have to live in the garage if not, in fact that wouldn't be a bad location anyway.

Oh. Duh. There are three steep steps down to my office/studio, which before 1950 was the other half of the garage. Yes, it would have to be the garage.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This just happens to be a more tempting one than most, because it was maintained properly. Most of them say things like "worked when we stopped using it and put it in storage," or "no ink," or "needs a new printhead because we haven't used it since WWII..."

Anyway, thanks.

kciuk aka Ken60 said:

Ask Canon how many heads that machine can have , might only be two within its lifecycle ... think you know where I am heading .

Click to expand...

I think I know where you're heading but is this even a real thing? I've never heard of this before? I can't imaging it matters?!

John

Interesting thread to read , gives an idea of how long a head lasts on the big things.

I know that the head check printout will give you the head info one the bottom of the printout with my Pro 1000. What I was saying is read above , look at the head data on the unit your interested in , might give you an idea of the wear. Some guys can do a head in a year with silly commercial usage.

And here you go, straight from the horse's mouth. If you can avoid tilting it more than 30˚, you don't need to run the routine that drains all the ink.

They say you should if you're putting it in a vehicle, but I would work hard to avoid that at all costs.

nickbatz said:

Teila Day said:

The first question I'd ask myself is how far and how fast do I need to move the printer.

If I'm moving the printer somewhere in-town and up only 1/2 flight of stairs

Click to expand...

I asked myself and the answers I got: it's in town (I wouldn't get one from out of town), as far as I know there are no steep hills other than possible freeway onramps... hm, guess I'd have to take surface streets, but no big deal.

Click to expand...

That shouldn't be an issue. Just go slow and have padding under the well-secured printer so there's minimum vibration. Beach towels and blankets can suffice.

nickbatz said:

Our house is 1-story and there are two steps outside the front door. Well, plus a third one to get onto the path leading to the door.

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That's an incline that can be easily negotiated. If you have strong enough help, the printer can be lifted by hand up the steps while keeping it level. However I strongly recommend ramps! Why run the risk of someone tripping? I like to keep the variables to a minimum.

nickbatz said:

Whether it can fit through the door is another question.

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I fit the Pro-4100 through a 35.4 inch door frame (the actual door had to be removed through). I really dislike small door frames.

nickbatz said:

It would have to live in the garage if not, in fact that wouldn't be a bad location anyway.

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Careful with the garage/warehouse location(s)... because if it gets too cold or hot that could be an issue. I had the printer in an outbuilding for a year, but during the winter I kept an electric blank and comforter draped over it so it remained cozy.

nickbatz said:

Oh. Duh. There are three steep steps down to my office/studio, which before 1950 was the other half of the garage. Yes, it would have to be the garage.

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if you'd rather it be in the studio, don't discount putting it there. You just have to find a way to raise/lower the printer which may be easier (as in my case) if it's on a platform where you can use large eye screws, D-rings, rope and chains to raise/lower/pull the platform. Often things can be done with a bit of ingenuity.

nickbatz said:

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This just happens to be a more tempting one than most, because it was maintained properly. Most of them say things like "worked when we stopped using it and put it in storage," or "no ink," or "needs a new printhead because we haven't used it since WWII..."

Anyway, thanks.

Click to expand...

** Remember that the printer comes with orange tabs, and such that you remove before first operating the printer - one of those orange doo-hicky thing-a-ma-bobs is too keep the print head from moving. I suggest REINSERTING that as added safety if you have it. Can't be too careful right?

Yours truly didn't bother with it, however I was very, very careful when moving my printer.

Best of luck with your purchase decision

--
Teila K. Day
http://teiladay.com

Thanks Teila.

I'm probably not going to get this one unless it's still available in a few weeks, but there really isn't any way to get it into my studio/office without tilting it back.

The garage is on the other side of the wall, so it's not a big deal. I've had my computers in there behind a trap door for 20+ years.

Oh, and furniture blankets from Harbor Freight Tools are the answer to many things. The rule is not to buy anything over $30 there (because it's junk), but these are maybe $5 each and no one cares about the quality.