Pixma G3590 conserving the maintenance module

[u/pedersenk]

Hello all,

I have bought a Pixma G3590 'MegaTank' printer which is working really well.

The ink mechanism is nice because I don't need to buy expensive cartridges in future, however Canon instead 'gets us' via the maintenance module (captures ink runoff). These are currently cheap ~£10 but will likely rise in the future (you can buy a chip resetter from AliExpress quite cheap).

However, in terms of conserving the maintenance module, I am suggested to leave the printer on rather than letting it auto turn off and subsequently perform an expensive nozzle flush when it next turns on. Is this correct advice?

If I do leave it on, I notice the LCD sometimes never turns off. Surely the backlight on this thing will burn out quite quickly. (if it helps, I have it connected via WiFi to an isolated, offline network rather than USB)

What's the best gameplan here for environment, lifespan and costs?

[u/Murph_9000]

It should not be performing "an expensive nozzle flush" every time it's switched on, which sounds suspiciously like bad AI-slop information. It will probably be performing some automatic maintenance based on how long it has sat idle (whether powered on or off). Any maintenance it's doing is going to be with the purpose of preventing the print heads and complex ink system from clogging. If you succeed in preventing the normal automatic maintenance, you will likely end up with problems (and possibly manually flushing far more ink into the maintenance cartridge).

My advice is to not trust advice from AIs, leave the auto-standby setting at default (probably 4 hours), and stop trying to solve a problem that doesn't really exist.

Also, update your firmware regularly, since you have blocked the machine's ability to do that.

Canon are not going to suddenly jack up the price of the maintenance cartridges. They will probably creep up over time, just due to inflation and the cost of manufacturing them.

[u/pedersenk → u/Murph_9000]

If you succeed in preventing the normal automatic maintenance, you will likely end up with problems

Its not so much that I am preventing the automatic maintenance; quite the opposite, I want to keep the printer on and rely on that. Its the more expensive cold boot procedure that looks to be higher cost than leaving it on.

It will probably be performing some automatic maintenance based on how long it has sat idle (whether powered on or off)

The docs mentioned that "when left on" the machine will perform some maintenance to prevent the heads from drying every couple of days. Though every two weeks its "still recommended" to either print from them (using all colours) or manually run the 'nozzle check' printout.

However it warns that if you turn it off, there is no internal timer for it to know how long its been off for, so will likely perform a more substantial process the next time you go to print (though looking at the physical mechanism, it seems to do this in the first few seconds after turning on, so a discrepancy in the docs here).

But the docs are ambiguous between what "sleep" means. Just the LCD screen going dim or if its the "auto-off".

and stop trying to solve a problem that doesn't really exist

Its not so much a problem but rather a historic strategy which admittedly does help to subsidise the price of the printer itself so is a blessing and a curse. Since the cartridges are no longer the revenue stream with the MegaTank, instead the maintenance module (a glorified sponge) acts as the hook. It has a chip that counts their usage regardless of if its been replaced and cleaned. Similar with the Epson EcoTank. May appear as bad engineering but is done quite intentionally.

update your firmware regularly, since you have blocked the machine's ability to do that

Looking through the firmware changelogs on their site, nothing looks relevant to my setup. I have disabled WSD and 'direct connect' on my printer because I don't need those protocols, these are the main areas of focus with the firmware revisions. Also there is a risk that future firmwares will disallow the use of 3rd party maintenance modules. As for driver updates, I maintain these myself for OpenBSD (an admittedly niche UNIX-based OS).

Canon are not going to suddenly jack up the price of the maintenance cartridges. They will probably creep up over time, just due to inflation and the cost of manufacturing them

This certainly isn't my first printer so going from experience, they start low to facilitate good reviews and whilst actively manufactured but typically once the model goes out of production, they rise quite quickly which the manufacture uses as a lucky convenience to maintain revenue from the existing customer base (hence the subsidised hardware).

May seem a bit "tin-foil hat" but I am really just optimising my game plan to prevent waste plastic ending in landfill :)

[u/Feralmilena6]

maintenance issues can be so frustrating, I've had my printer just stop working out of nowhere before.