Canon Pro9000 Problem

So, i'm getting a little worried about not buying the extended warrenty on my new Canon Pro9000.

I bought the printer in Jan '07. I've done about 5-8 prints on it so far. I figured this summer I'd get a lot of use on it. Its been sitting in a vacant room in the house for the last 3 months or so.

This weekend, I pull it out, to make some prints for my aunt who just came into town for the weekend. Plug it in, and volia, I get a error code (power light/alarm light flashing alternatively). I check the user guide, which states that is the ONLY error code requiring me to contact canon service. Of course its sunday, and they are close.

Yesterday at work, I call them up, the rep who I spoke with wouldn't listen to me and understand that the issue I was calling about was the ONLY one that needed to be taken in. He still wanted to know my serial # and also how many flashes. So today, I wake up early and call them (they close at 5pm PST) and another rep says to take it in, and that he doesn't need to know the serial # or how many flashes . He did give me the option that they could send me a refurbished unit.

Ahhh no. I just spent $700 on a printer, I damn want it to work, and don't need a refurbished unit. It had 5 prints on it. Only one being a 8x10 the rest 4x6.

So we'll see what happens. I hope its nothing serious. I did quite a bit of research before I bought this printer, but I never read anything like this. However on further research now, I find some other similar problems with other users on Cnet.

My question is, has anyone else suffered any problems like this with their Pro9000?

Here's an update. I took it to the local canon service center today. The tech looked at it, and told me the mainboard is fried.

The red light under the ink cart doesn't come on. The whole carriage doesn't move. He removed all the ink, and the print head, and stuff the motor doesn't turn. He said that my best option is to get canon to send me a 'refurbished' unit. He said waiting to get this fixed (ordering a new mainboard) could take weeks.

So I left with my printer in hand, and called Canon on the way home. Spoke to a nice gentleman on the phone, and explained the whole issue to him again. I told him I have at the very most 10 images printed on the printer, and that it is literally brand new. He brought up the refurb factor, but I told him that I don't feel comfortable with that seeing that I just bought their most expensive printer, and i'm having this problem.

I also explained this isin't the only canon product I have, and that I their cameras, etc etc. He said he would send my issue over to his supervisor and have them decide what to do. So hopefully tomorrow I'll get a 'good' phone call.

I had a problem with my Pro9000. It was less than a week old. Canon sent me another one the next day. They also sent a UPS shipping label, so I could send tha broken one back. No problems so far and i've printed about 100 photos, including some 13"x19"s.

What problem did you have? Was it Canon Canada you dealt with or USA? Did they send you a 'new' unit or refurbished?

Sounds like the same problem you had. Blinking lights. I dealt with Canon USA. The unit they sent me looked to be new. They also told me to keep the print head, cables, trays, ink and all accessories from the old unit, so I have spares for the new one. I think they had a bad run on some of thier Pro9000's.

Well I got a call two days ago from a manager. He was extremely nice. He mentioned that he when I get the 'refurb' unit that I keep my printhead/ink from my current printer, and use it in the refurb one. He said if it is not 'cosmetically' mint like mine, then to return the refurb, and they'll send another one out. He did say, its rare for these to come in, so there is a 'chance' that I may get a new one.

So that was on wed. I faxed my receipt in to them, and today a printer showed up by purolator. I gotta give Canon props for the quick shipment. I'll take a look at the printer over the weekend, and see if the issue is fixed. Fingers crossed!

Help needed with printing b&w images.Printer, (canon pixma pro 9000) produces images much darker then they appear on screen. Have tried calibration with no success. Any advice greatfully recieved

More info needed.
How are you printing: What software, OS and settings?
Is your screen calibrated? To what brightness level?
Post an image.

Sounds like things are working out for you. I can understand your not wanting a refurb as replacement but that seems like standard policy for a great many business. If I was in your position I'd want new too but the refurb's I've seen and heard about look new out of box.

Sometimes I don't use my printer as much as I should. I get busy with daily chores and dont get a chance to do post processing. Worries me about printheads getting clogged. Then there are times I crank out a bunch of prints. I'd hate for my printer to poop out.

theduck wrote in post #8267063
Help needed with printing b&w images.Printer, (canon pixma pro 9000) produces images much darker then they appear on screen. Have tried calibration with no success. Any advice greatfully recieved

What software are you using to edit your photos? I ask, because if it is Photoshop, there may be an easy solution. (There may be a similar process in DPP or other programs as well, but I wouldn't know.)

I have a 27" Dell monitor, calibrated, that shows colors that are essentially identical to those I get on my Epson R1800. This is great. However, my prints are always darker than what I see on the screen. This is apparently not a unique issue, as Photoshop User magazine has published a hint to deal with this:

Once you have your image looking on screen the way you want it on paper, flatten the image (after saving it!), and press CTRL-J (Windows) or CMD-J (Mac) to copy the image on a new layer. Click that new layer and change the blend mode from "Normal" to "Screen." The image will look totally washed out. Now, reduce the Opacity of the new layer down to around 30-40%. You want it to look brighter than what you are shooting for in your final print, since your printer is giving you results that are too dark.

Print a small test print, and compare it to the image with the new layer turned off (i.e., the way you originally wanted the print to come out). If it is too light, you will need to reduce the opacity of the new layer even more. It it is too dark, you will need to increase the opacity a bit.

Some trial and error will show you what opacity setting is necessary for most properly exposed prints.

I hope this helps.

That's not a solution, it's a (rather silly IMO) workaround.

If your prints are too dark (when viewed under correct lighting) then your screen is too bright, or something else is wrong.

René Damkot wrote in post #8278909
That's not a solution, it's a (rather silly IMO) workaround.

If your prints are too dark (when viewed under correct lighting) then your screen is too bright, or something else is wrong.

OK. The screen is too bright. No question. I am happy with the accurate colors and can't pour tons of money into a higher-end screen that would actually get dark enough to match the printout. As such, this workaround is anything but silly, as it reliably gives me better prints.

I'm not saying it won't work, but it's attacking the symptom instead of the problem.

But hey, if it works for you, and you don't run into problems elsewhere (when posing images, or sending them out to print) that's fine

I agree with you 100%, Rene, but the real problem is not enough $$$ to get the monitor I would really like. Better to have brightness problems than color problems, which would be much more difficult to work around.

There are undoubtedly many consumer monitors out there with the same limitations as mine, and until they start giving away those nice Ezios, this is better than nothing.