PIXMA G4280 Three-to-five minute noise/delay before printing?

[theboyk]

I have a Canon PIXMA G4280 that goes through some sort of three-to-give minute "warm up" process every time I try and print to it. The printer is up-to-date with firmware, and is connected (solid connection) via WiFi. Printing is done via AirPrint. I've also tested with a USB connection and printing wired. Print tests have been done via macOS, Windows and iOS. I've also factory reset the print multiple times.

This is not a heavy use printer. Just for misc home printing and school work. Maybe 5-10 pages (across 3-4 sessions) a week. Waiting three-to-give minutes before a print is very frustrating. This morning I tested before posting this. A two page print, with a single word "TEST" on both sides. It took over three minutes before it actually printed.

The printing receives the data immediately, so that's not the issue. It's the process the printer grinds through before actually printing that takes so long. I have over 25 years of technology support. I've worked in various print shops (presses, large format Epsons, etc.), so I know my way around troubleshooting. But nothing I've done makes a difference and I have no idea why it has to go through this grinding process every time we want to print even the most basic of pages? I'm at the point where I want to go Office Space on this thing and just replace it with an Epson. But, figured I'd post here first and see if anyone has a clue as to what's going on?

After a minute of it grinding away before my test this morning, I started to shoot a video. Results can be viewed here. Anyone have a clue what's going on, or is this thing just a piece a junk?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfikwGI1HJ4

Any insights would be appreciated.

[DerrickL]

The long delay is before it starts printing the first page but no delay for any additional pages in a print job? Let me ask this: How long is the printer powered up before you send the first print command to it? I don't turn my printer off.  if I do then power it up just before I want to print, it makes almost the same noise and takes a lot of time before it prints. 

[shadowsports]

DerrickL brought up a great point/question.

If the printer is not left on, the sounds it's making could be calibration and charging.

If it's normally left on, the sound (to me) would indicate a problem with the print head (alignment) or an issue with the paper pick up / transport mechanism.  

[theboyk]

The printer is "always on"; I initially had it set to go to sleep and "auto wake" as needed, but it rendered AirPrint useless, as well as scanning, unless whoever needed to use the service walked over and physically pushed a button on the printer to "wake" it. So, it's always on, waiting for action, wasting power.

This delay/noise only happens before a print job; once it decides to print, it'll print all pages without issue. If I need to print again, even if immediately after the first print job...90% of the time, it'll happen again.

[Stephen]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing that video. I watched the whole thing, and I want to validate right off the bat: you are definitely not exaggerating. That is a significant delay, and I can see why it’s frustrating.

To the ear, it honestly sounds like the paper rollers are struggling to grab a sheet. However, the specific timing you recorded (3+ minutes) and the fact that it eventually prints without throwing a "No Paper" or "Paper Jam" (1003) error tells a different story.

From what I'm hearing, that rhythmic grinding noise matches the acoustic profile of the Purge Unit (the ink pump) running a "Deep Cleaning" cycle. The printer normally does this occasionally to keep the tubes primed, but your unit behaves as if it's forcing this full safety cycle before every single print job. It’s likely misreading an internal sensor status and running that marathon clean to "save" the print head, even when it doesn't need to.

Since you've already done the heavy lifting with the Factory Reset and Firmware Update, this points to an internal situation rather than a setting we can tweak here on the forum.

Please give our support team a call at 1-800-OK-CANON (800-652-2666). Let the agent know about the continuous cycling; they can document it and go over your available options to get you back to printing without the wait.

Official Canon Sources https://usa.canon.com/support