Bugger, my printer's died!

[Wombat]

My trusty old Canon Pixma IP 4500 printer has just died.  Printed a couple of pages, I went to print another one, and Hey, why isn't the little green light on?  Changed to a known good mains lead and good socket, still dead.  Found it has a removable (but onboard) mains unit module.  Removed that, and assorted voltages are present at its various terminals, but I can't get a combination of pins that will provide the stated 24v or 32v.  Obviously I have no idea which pin is which.  It was a bloody good printer, but considering it must be well over 5yrs old, methinks its curtains for it.  All the reviews of the printer that came after mine, said it was crap, and not a patch on my one, but I did like the photo print quality of mine, the fact that it does print on CD's, and had proper duplex printing (why does anyone sell printers without that, unless its purely a photo printer?).

I've just got to grit my teeth and buy one, haven't I?

[Feanor]

Sounds like it, yes.

Unless you have someone local to you who can wield meters and soldering irons, and fancies a go at the PSU.

Switch-mode PSUs can be odd things to fix.
You're almost always working blind with no schematic, and reverse-engineering it as you go.
Sometimes, they are OK.
Often, it's just input rectifiers or reservoir caps.
Othertimes, you get them working and they pop again within a few minutes, because there's something else wrong you can't find.
Otherimes again, they are so complex you have no reasonable hope of reverse-engineering, so if it's anything more than a diode bridge or cap, you're stuffed.

[Biggsy]

You could at least first have a look for bulging capacitors and blown internal fuses.

I'm pleased with my more recent cheapy Canon desktop, but it doesn't do duplexing.  I only use it for colour, though, as I've also got a mono reconditioned HP laser printer (with duplexing).  That's a combination I recommend.

[Gattopardo]

It is buggered.  Quite a common issue, and guess how I know.   Nothing looks untoward on the board.

It went to the bin.

Reminds me I have two more canon printers that should be looked at.

Will see if the are still dead and then bin those too.

[epa611]

We just replaced out Epson WP4545 with a Canon Pixma MX925.

The Canon has the requisite duplex printing and scanning and is a lot smaller on the desk than the Epson.  Seems to go through ink quite fast though - need to look at using non-branded cartridges and see how we go.

It makes a lot of noise for the initial print to warm up, but once going is very quiet and print quality is good so far.  Its great value for £99 with 2yr warranty from John Lewis.

[Wombat]

I don't need the multi-function aspect as I already have a decent (Canon) scanner, so I've ordered a iP7250.  The reviews generally seem to reckons its OK, but not as good as the iP4500 which has just died.  Its only £50, so we'll see how it goes.  A set of long life genuine inks seems to be £56 best price, and for now, I'll stay with genuine ones to be sure of photo printing quality. 

My other printer is an HP, but no chance of commonality in cartridges, as that one is a "trifle larger", its a Designjet 110 roll feed one.  My last experiment with an HP A4 size printer was an unmitigated disaster, it totally failed to meet its specs, and was sent back under the old Sale of Goods act thing about "goods not fit for purpose" for full refund.  HP denied selling it to me, until I sent them a copy of the invoice from HP direct sales.  Their customer service dept didn't know they actually sold printers direct to the public!

[Biggsy]

Canon inkjets (or genuine Canon cartridges at least) are also good at staying clog free, even when disused for a few weeks, unlike the Epson and HPs I had before.

The big old HP mono lasers still provide amazing economy, though.  A reconditioned 4100N cost me only £75 and prints many many reams per ~£20 toner cartridge.

[andyoxon]

After two made of cheese Epson all-in-ones, now trying a basic HP all-in-one.  Seems OK so far, perhaps it's more parmesan than mozzarella.  3rd party cartridges are more expensive.