Fax/Printer Tip Archives
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Canon BJC-4000, BJC-4100, BJC-4200, BJC-4300 and Apple Stylewriter 2400
Problem: Power up printer and the carriage cycles back and forth making the usual noises, but then all lights stay on with the error light blinking. Changing cartridges makes no difference.
Reason: Two small beveled gears laying in the bottom of the purge unit with the shaft broken off one of them. If the rubber cap that covers the nozzles comes loose, then the purge unit will bind up trying to cap the cartridge and break the gears.
Solution: Replace purge unit with part number QG5-0290-120. This also applies to the Apple color stylewriter 2400.  It takes the same part as the Canon.  

ALL CANON INK JETS

OUT OF INK
Plain water or Spit are safer cleaners for ink cartridges and detector circuit arrays. Alcohol will eat away the adhesives and also some of the metal. Also, if clogged cartridge is a refill, replace cartridge. Don't waste your time, you'll be back shortly. (Large sheets of old ink settle at nozzle.)

FALSE MESSAGES
False "replace cartridge" or "dark paper used" messages are usually caused by the following: the machine detects the ink level by printing a black block at the bottom of the page and then reading it's density as the paper exits. If anything inhibits the paper from completely exiting smoothly or if the over-anxious user pulls the paper out before it completely exits, the black block will not be in the right postion under the ink detect sensor when it comes on. The machine will not see the black block and will either assume the cartridge is empty or the user has put dark paper in to receive on.

Fax B60/B70

FALSE MESSAGE
Check Paper message does not go away. Remove side covers,four screws that hold down the BJ ass'y. Remove two screws that hold recording paper holder frame, tilt all the ass'y towards the front,remove screw that holds microswitch on recording paper holder frame and disarm and clean or replace as needed. Part # is WC4-5052-000.

FAXPHONE B70

CARTRIDGE SENSOR PROBLEMS
If the cartridge cleaning assembly is clogged the B-70 and other models give
off false alarms.  Remove top cover. Remove enteire ink cleaning gear assembly.  Rinse
assembly in HOT tap water.  I put parts in a kitchen stainer for safety.  Dry
all parts and the wick.  Make sure all parts move freely and are not
gummed-up with ink. Also, reverse large collector wick till you can replace it.

INTERMITENT FALSE PAPER JAMS DURING RECEIVING OR COPING
CAUSED BY BAD PAPER SENSOR IN PRINTER ASSY. CAN'T BE REPAIRED, MUST BE REPLACED

FAXPHONE B70/75 also FAX B200

DARK PAPER USED MESSAGE
This message usually happens when the person transmitting to the FP70 has a logo which is in the same place as the ink check square on the printout the originator should reverse there document top to bottom.

OUT OF INK MESSAGE
Remove the right side cover and there is a small circuit board with a control on it this adjusts the sensor sensitivity. Be sure to mark the place where it was origionally set to give you a home posistion. Just tweek it to either side of the home point and test to see if you still get the message.

B140/B150

PURGE UNIT
PURGE UNIT PART # IS   HG50072000. ON THE CANON FAX  B140 VINTAGE MODELS I HAVE FOUND THAT THE PURGE UNIT IS A
GREAT SOURCE OF PROBLEMS.  I CARRY CLEAN EXTRA UNITS IN ZIP LOCK BAGS.  I POP THEM INTO THE MACHINE .  TAKE THE DIRTY UNIT BACK TO MY SHOP IN THE BAG AND CLEAN IT WITH HOT WATER AND USE IT AGAIN IF IT IS  IN GOOD  WORKING ORDER.

B140/150/160

CLEANING TIP
THE INK JET CLEANER / VACUUM  ASSEMBLY IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF BREAKDOWNS ON THESE MODELS.  REMOVE AND CLEAN THE ASSEMBLY ON ALL SHOP REPAIRS AND WHEN EVER A MAJOR FIELD REPAIR IS PERFORMED.   PLAIN HOT WATER WORKS BEST CLEAN ALL THE MECHANICAL PARTS AND THE ATTACHED FELT PIECES.  Do not clean the large blotter.  It can be reversed several times before replacement is needed.

CFX - B380 IF

CARTRIDGE REPLACEMENT
On the Canon B380 fax machines if the fax says install cartridge when one is already there Canon says replace E-prom with newest E-prom. If fax says replace cartridge and cartridge is fairly new possible cause is the suction tube is plugged at end on top of absorption pad Canon says to clean out tube and cut pad deep notch out of pad so ink can fall freely into pad and be absorbed and not drying at top of pad and plugging up the tube.

FALSE REPLACE CARTRIDGE MESSAGE
False replace cartridge message after installing new cartridge on Canon's color printer/B&W fax may be caused by lack of seal in cap/suction mechanism. The cap should be resealed (I have not found any official sealant listed anywhere in the manual I am trying silicone) and the sponge replaced (part number QB1-1002-000). I have just run into this problem on two machines and I am waiting to see how they perform in the long run.

CANON MPC/CFX INKJET CARTRIDGE MESSAGES
The purge unit is usually clogged:
1. Apply a couple drops of Windex to purge unit pad, this will temporarily get machine running to print out any docs in memory.
2. Follow clear tube along rear of carriage assy to the left side. Here you will see that it is routed down through the frame with a small stripe marking this spot on the tube. Carefully pull the tube up out of the frame and you will find the last inch or so is clogged with dried ink. either sqeeze clear or use Windex to soak, then add small amount of Windex through frame hole,( this will soften dried ink on main blotter and allow the absorbsion process to resume).
3. Carefully re-insert tube back through hole in frame until mark on tube is aligned with top of hole in frame. Double check that tube is properly seated all along rear of     carriage assy. This is a long term fix, usually good for another year or so. I usually cut 1/4" off the end of the purge tube before re-inserting into hole in frame. This does the same thing as notching the blotter, but my proceedure is done without completely disassembling the machine to get to the blotter, and I can usually complete this job onsite without the customer losing incoming faxes. I go through gallons of Windex a month, I keep a micro tip sqirt bottle for getting a couple drops onto purge pads, and I pre-spray cabinets before running them under warm water during complete rebuild cleanings. I have also successfully used Windex to flush corrosive ink off of surface mount boards. I know I sound like a commercial, but give it a try, Nothing softens and dissolves ink better than Windex and it's got to beat spitting in front of your customers :-)

L700 FAX

CHECK PRINTER MESSAGE
Problem: Check Printer Message being displayed on screen
Solution: Replace laser scanner.

PAPER FEED
I have encountered several Canon L700 faxes that have paper feed problems. Several things have helped but be aware that not one of these will fix this problem all the time, it may take one of the other fixes. First, thoroughly clean the paper pickup rollers and the feed rollers. The feed rollers may even need to be roughed up with sand paper or replaced at last resort. Another cause may be that the paper cassette tray is worn and may need attention to areas where the paper catches and sometimes the tray needs to be replaced

Laser Class 5000, 5500, 7000 & 7500

The side cassette which hold about 100 papers are known to make a loud noise when paper feeds. This is caused by the black seperation pad. Canon has come up with a gray sep pad that takes care of that loud noise. The part # is HB1-0542-020.

LASER CLASS 7000

NOISE
Loud popping noise coming from front of the machine could be caused by the metal plate that holds the gear assembly being slightly warped in the area where the main motor contacts the gear assembly.  Loosen the screws that hold the gear assembly and pull it out a bit to check if this is the problem.

MPC 2500

Problem: Premature Failure of Cartridge ( Blank Pages / White Streaks )

On most MPC-2500 units, they had a problem from the factory due to a
necessary modification that will require the machine to obtain service. This
problem is due to the Ink Absorber Pads ( A & B ) located underneath the
Capping Assembly
Ink Drain Tube. These absorbers need to be cut about 1/4" to 1/2" lower than
the drain tubing. You will also need to clean/flush the drain tube with 99%
alcohol.
What happens is when the machine is trying to purge fresh ink upon
printing, the obstructed tubing from the capping assembly retains old/dry ink
in that assembly, and therefore won't print after running only a few pages or
as many as 70 pages depending upon the amount of print on each page.
Major complaints from customers are that they may have purchased
several new cartridges in hopes of fixing this problem, just to find out that
they only get a few pages before the problem appears again.
In closure, after performing the aforementioned repair, you should
initiate a head cleaning of the ink cartridge for optimum print quality.

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