PRINTER PROBLEM - Flashing Orange Light (Canon Pixma iP4300)

[looneytune]

I have a Canon Pixma iP4300 printer and all of a sudden it stopped working :-( The orange light is flashing and I get the following message:

Operator error. Press the printer's RESUME button. If this doesn't clear the error, cancel printing and turn the printer off and then on again.

I've done as it says several times but it makes no difference - any idea what the problem may be?

TIA

my old one did similar just before the print head died but it was several years old and yours sounds fairly new.

Yeah, less than a year old I need to find the paperwork so I can contact canon if needed but thought i'd try here first

When you turned it off, did you just turn off the power switch, or did you turn off/unplug at the wall socket. If it needs to clear its memory, on some printers the power switch just puts it into standby & you need to turn it right off, leave it a few minutes & turn it on again.

Tried everything Forgot to say when it went all of a sudden, it wasn't yesterday, I'd just got round to posting about it (got 6 weeks old baby who keeps me busy ). Had all plugs out and it's made no difference.

Any other idea's?

Is there something jammed or stuck in it which would cause an error? Are the ink tanks in correctly/full?

I've tried looking and without taking it apart, it doesn't look like anything is jammed. The ink cartridges are all showing red lights and full so I'm stick with what the problem is. The orange light flashes 5 times, pauses then does the same over and over.

I'm gutted as only just past a year old and if I'll have to pay for it to be looked at, I may as well buy a new printer!

if you go into the Canon website or the User Guide you would have downloaded from the printer installation cd there is a Troubleshooting section. 5 flashes on our old one (i560) indicated a printer head problem not sur eif yorus would be same. You can also email them either via the website or [email protected]. New printer heads aren't chepa but someone did post recently about reviving theirs in Fairy liquid !

Thanks for that, been looking through but no luck yet but once the kids are asleep I'll try again

Thanks for that but afraid I've left it more than a day with it unplugged and then tried again so there's that theory out the window

I'm actually pretty good with IT usually and yes, it has paper LOL

men eh!! Well thanks anyway

Got it from the manual on disc, mine was doing the same. 5 flashes = "Print head error", Solution install printhead or remove and check connections. Well I removed it after I found out what it was (The plastic carriage that the ink sits in that just lifted out after you take out all the inks) I wiped wiggled poked and got totaly frustrated with it and guess what, it still flashes, well its in the bin now, pitty realy but a new head is about the same as a new printer.....Good luck.

If it is blinking 5 times, that signifies a printhead problem.
Try this---
I have tried EVERY solution I could find on the internet - NONE worked.
This DID work:
Remove printhead - get large plastic cup or tupperware bowl that is wide enough to
hold the printhead - Fill cup or bowl to top with HOT water. Place printhead in to cup or bowl so that the water covers the top of the silver circles for each color on the printhead - The ink in the water will go into the water. After 2-3 minutes empty the water and repeat - repeat until water is close to being clear - place printhead on wadded up toilet paper (bottom of printhead on paper) - press slightly down for 30 seconds or so - paper should have no colors or just a smidgen of a color on it - Gently use toilet paper to remove EXCESS water - DO NOT try to dry every part completely - let printhead sit on wadded up toilet paper overnight - place in printer - add ink cartridges- go to printer - properties - maintenance and run nozzle check until it looks good (2 or 3 times) - do a print alignment and VOILA!!! - You just saved $100.00 or so. It worked for me

Worked for me too! I am posting this now just to show that a couple of years on from the last post this problem still occurs and this solution works.
When I got the print head out of the printer it was thick with old ink - never been cleaned in 5 years or so.
I put the print head into a soup bowl and poured water from the kettle (hot but not boiling) over it to cover the metal gauze bits the print ink tanks sit on.
I rinsed this out several times (5 or 6?) pressing the printer head lightly onto kitchen towel paper each time to soak off more of the ink.
I just kept following the previous poster's advice and next day - all was working fine. I just hope it lasts!

Spoke too soon! The 5 flashes indicated a print head problem. Fixed that and it began to print.
Now I get 8 flashes - which means this:
"The ink absorber is becoming full.
The printer has a built-in ink absorber to hold the ink used during Print Head Cleaning.
Press the RESUME/CANCEL button on the printer to cancel the error so you can continue printing. Before the ink absorber becomes completely full, contact a Canon service representative. (You will need to replace a particular part of the printer.)"
I think it's time for a new printer as that will probably be cheaper than a repair!
If anyone needs the flashes de-coded I found this page which explains them.
kbsupport.cusa.canon.com/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1011&PARTITION_ID=1&secureFlag=false&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=54077

The solution by 'papapoops' above (March 2012) worked for me!

I had to drain/refill the cup with HOT water more than 10 times, moving the print-head up and down gently in the hot water to encourage the removal of years worth of built-up ink. But the process he described worked perfectly.

This worked for me: removing the print head and flushing it with hot water:

I bought MX 925 last week and it printed one copy and now seems to have died. I was on the phone for two hours last night to Canon support; they did not resolve the problem. Said they would phone back today, but did not. I will of course take it back to the shop. A damned nuisance.
.