Printer on the blink - WWYD

[curly13]

I have a Canon ix4000 A3 printer which is flashing an error message that indicates there is a problem with the print head. If I take out the ink cartridges and the print head and then put it all back in again it starts working again (sometimes I have to go through this procedure a few times) but once I have printed a document or if I switch the printer off the error lights start flashing again. I've spoken to Canon's technical support and they say that they can send a replacement print head for approx £65 but that might not solve the problem as it might be a problem with the print head sensor in the printer. A replacement print head would be non-refundable if it didn't solve the problem. Alternatively they said they could send out an engineer for £105 + VAT + the cost of any parts. The printer cost approx £240 about 18 months ago and is out of warranty. I don't want to spend this kind of money when it might end up costing me as much as a new printer but I don't want to just dump a printer which isn't that old and was working perfectly up until a couple of days ago. My local computer servicing company aren't able to help me. So what should I do? I have had a look through online reviews and on the basis of the reviews this is still the printer I would want to buy (and it is about £50 cheaper now too) so should I just buy a new one and hope it was a one-off problem with the current one (I can't find mention online of this being a common fault with this printer). DH thinks I should buy a new print head and if it doesn't work buy another printer the same as I can keep the print head for spare and the nearly full ink cartirdges can be transferred across. WWYD?

If the price of them has come down a shade, and you will know fairly quickly whether it is a sensor problem (IE new print head does not cure situation) my only concern would be whether buying a second one, it may be a design fault and in another 18 months, you could get similar problem on the replacement.

It might be worth seeing if there's a Canon specialist in your area (sorry, maybe the shop I was thinking of only deals with photo-copiers!) ... OK scrub idea of shop in town...

Is it worth talking to Canon about using a courier to send your printer back for them to check, and get a further warranty?

If that is the case, you could

1. buy printhead, see if it cures fault.

If not then
2) buy a new printer. Same model, keep printhead along with ink cartridges. Be 100% sure the replacement printer will be compatible. Would be a pain if they had a Revision B or Revision C model of the ix4000 and had internal changes and some new cartridges etc

whether the new printer takes the ink and print head or not, return ix4000 to Canon for them to check over, on condition they will give you 3 or 6+ months warranty. The cost should be lower (even if sending it each way costs you a total of 30 quid) as they can surely not charge much more than 20 quid an hour (while call-out of 105 covers time driving to/from, fuel, maintenance, insurance, and sending it to them means it just goes into a workshop with lots of other printers).

3. sell refurbished/ checked printer and use warranty against problems as way to ensure it can be sold as working (eg on Ebay). Make copies of any documents from Canon and after buyer has had printer 3-4 weeks, forward original document on. Buyer has had time to check goods, and be using printer so will have no reason to complain about delayed paperwork even if they think it hints of having had some problem(s).

Thanks for your comments. The replacement print head arrived today and, fingers crossed, seems to be working.