Why does my ink run out so quickly?

[AndymAndym]

I have a Pixma MP620.  I bought all new cartriges for it a couple of months ago, have printed only B&W word documents, and far fewer than 100 documents, yet my black is empty, and the magenta and cyan are dangerously low.  The yellow is at half.  I figure I've paid almost $1.00 per B&W page.

WTF?

[Ramona]

Hi AndymAndym,

The amount of ink that the printer will use varies based on what is being printed, what print quality is selected, and what paper type is being used.

As a suggestion,  you can do these things to conserve the amount of ink that is used by the printer:

1.  Ensure that the paper type that you have the printer set to print to is set to PLAIN PAPER instead of a photo or other paper type.  Using another paper type distributes the ink on the page differently, and in some cases uses more ink.

2.  Ensure that the print quality is set to FAST or STANDARD.  The higher the print quality setting, the more ink the printer will use.

3.  If you find that you print more black and white documents than color documents, selecting the GRAYSCALE PRINTING option in the printer driver will use only the larger black ink tank in the unit to print, as long as PLAIN PAPER is sleected as the paper type, and single-sided printing is being performed.  When duplex (double-sided) printing is performed, or if another paper type than plain paper is selected, a combination of the color inks will be used to create the black text on the page, even if the grayscale option is selected.

4.  Keep the printer out of direct sun light and away from heating vents, as this can dry out the ink tanks.  

Hope this helps!

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[jkheydt]

On day the yellow is full. I don't print any yellow. The next day it is almost empty. This is a typical example. Happens with all colors.

[cjss]

I'd like to know how it's possible that my printer ink has, apparently, gone from 3/4 full to empty in six moths even though I haven't used my printer more than one or two times. Are the cartriges on timers? 

[BillS]

Hi cjss,

The ink cartridges are not on timers, but the printer is.  It is programmed to perform periodic cleanings or "purges" to prevent clogs from forming in the nozzles.  These purges do use a small amount of ink, and enough of them will eventually empty the cartridge.

To prevent this, turn the printer off during long periods of disuse (more than a week or two.)  A purge will only be performed when the printer is powered on.

Also, only turn the printer off using the power button.  If you turn the printer by disconnecting the power, either from a wall switch or power strip,  a purge will occur every time you turn it on.

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[Layla97]

I have the same problem with my MX870 - as I just spent a lot of money to replace with Canon ink cartridges more often than I should.  I previously purchased a store brand (probably $10 or so cheaper than your brand) and it ran out quickly.  So, I thought that problem would be solved if I used Canon brand ink - but it runs out just as quickly. I recently bought ink last week more when I saw my blue was almost on empty.  And I don't print very often either.  Also... I don't leave the printer on when I'm not using it - and always turn the power off on the machine.  I'm not near a heating vent or direct sunlight, either.  Which leads me to believe the problem is with either:

1. The printer or

2. The ink

Price for the printer aside, I think it's a shame that the high price cartridges don't last more than a dozen sheets for printing.

[kausD]

I have the MB2320

It HAS to be the printer not reading the ink sensors properly or something.

The specs said this machine would print 5,000 color pages.

I printed 300 and my Cyan was showing empty and prevented me from printing anything else.

I literally just installed they Cyan less than 30 days ago and did one sizable print run and its out.

CANON -- Is it possible the machine is not reading the ink levels properly??? No way any of the people in this thread burned through their ink from sunlight or from a timer on the machine. Please come back with a more reasonable response to this issue with a possible fix. Thanks!

[kausD]

I want to add that after installing a NEW Cyan catridge the ink level still shows 50%.

[Paulo1]

I have the same problem voiced by the others in this thread. The ink useage is really excessive, the printer settings and cartridge placements are correct and compared to other printers I have the Canon ink useage is abnormal. Thus far the responses here from Canon are all of  the flavor that it is a user problem. My considered opinion is that it is a Canon problem and it is not being addressed.

Lacking some effort by Canon at a fix and acknowledging the problem I will be leaving the Canon family of users.

[Layla97]

Well said!