Whats going on with the Large format printer ( IPF605 )

Discussion
21

Have the directors figured out the ink costs for members yet?

22

Thank you! :slight_smile:

23

It could definitely use a cover, thick dust covering it when I came to use it last, maybe any one proficient with a sewing machine would be willing to knock something up?

24

Iā€™d love to print a high resolution map image I have, but Iā€™ve never used a printer like this before. It prints A1 size sheets, correct? If I buy and bring a few sheets to the space, itā€™s fairly easy to use? Iā€™m happy to contribute some cash for ink costs.

Off topic, Iā€™m hoping to drop into the space tomorrow ā€“ is the shutter likely to be up on a Monday morning?

25

Sorry to be performing what amounts to techno-necromancy on an old thread but what is up with the printer at the moment?

Thereā€™s very little on the tools page and I wondered if it was usable to print out some intermediate negatives and if we were paying for ink usage. Could anyone whoā€™s used it give me a quick guide as to how to set things up to print on it?

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26

Should be in working order I believe. Happy to show you what is what at some point, but other than that doesnā€™t need an induction and there are rolls of paper in the space, so go wild!

27

I also believe it is networked, but that is a memory from times past. If so, install the driver from the canon website and it will find itself. If not usb a to b is what you need

28

I tried to use it today, it is networked and you can connect to it once you install the drivers (tested on a Mac, not sure how it works on Windows).

We have some paper roll (plain paper, nothing fancy) as well as plastic transparent roll.

Some inks will need replacing soon:

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Some cyan nozzles in the print cartridge appear to be blocked. I ran the cleaning & testing programme exactly as specified in the manual, but it doesnā€™t appear to have helped. This means itā€™s not exactly perfect for printing photos/large areas of colour, as youā€™ll get streaks. But it should be fine for B&W or any printing where youā€™re not too worried about quality :wink:

Given that the printhead seems to cost Ā£200-300 to replace, Iā€™m not sure if thereā€™s a way we can try to clean it ourselves (without making things worse)?

29

Update, itā€™s now out of Cyan ink - mainly due to my inability to convince it to print a black & white poster using black ink only :frowning:

I havenā€™t found a way to convince it to get going without a Cyan ink, even if all you want to print is B&W :angry: [if someone knows the admin password to the web interface, maybe thereā€™s a way to override this?]

Happy to contribute to a pledge towards ink replacement - whatā€™s the process to get this going?

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30

@peter_hellyer is probably the one to ask on this

31

Ahh, that rather nixes my desire to come and give it a test print. If itā€™s anything like smaller printers Iā€™ve used in the past you can sometimes gently squirt a dilute detergent mix through it with a syringe and rubber hose, not sure if this one would behave in the same way. These things just need regular use though, long periods of inactivity with ink in nozzles is a sure fire way to ruin them.

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32

this would probably be worth a try, but I would warrent that a new set of heads is probably needed.

Edit: Iā€™ll come and give it some attention next week and see if I can get it behavingā€¦

33

I have a kit for doing some nozzle squirting Iā€™m happy to bring in if you want to give it a go.

34

In the meanwhile, Iā€™ve updated the Wiki page with what Iā€™ve learnt about the printer so far, including a link to the manual:

https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/large-format-printer-canon-ipf605/2402

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35

Unfortunately this seems to be the case in recent years. I wonder if thereā€™s a way to flush them before leaving for long periods? And/or cleaning the head, especially if itā€™s removeable.

They actually use a small amount of ink to clean the heads every time itā€™s used. Which is why it refuses to print with any colour being empty. Inks can even run out if you donā€™t use them at all. You can sometimes trick it into ā€˜thinkingā€™/detecting that all tanks are full. Depending on how it does this.

Iā€™ve got a super old printer which just works however long itā€™s left, although I havenā€™t tried it recently.

36

Excellent, thank you.

37

Thatā€™s weird I used it last week to print in black and white and it was showing half full.

Also, happy to contribute to ink.

38

Might be that the cleaning cycle I tried ended up using a lot of ink :frowning:

39

Ahh ok.

40

Sorry, Iā€™m not clear on the outcome of this thread. I tried to print some items for screen printing and you canā€™t overide the no ink issue. Is this on order?

Also for the small Lexmark printer is paper on order, is this something that we (members) need to purchase ourselves?

Iā€™m using acetate but noted there is no normal paper.

Cheers

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