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?

[marlafaith0203]

I have a canon pixima MG 3022. I have it for three years and finally decided after two years of avoiding spending $40+ on ink I went and got some. I have only printed two things in color and a printed four class syllabi. which is only 5 pages tops each. and my printer is already telling me I am low on black ink! I am a canon camera fan. Love it. But i am seriously considering disowning there printers. becasue I am in college and I can't spend half of financial aid refunds on ink every few months! Either make ink cartirages with more freak'n ink in them or lower your ink prices because otherwise I am taking my buisness elsewhere and telling everyone to not get a canon printer and that its a scam. not worth the investment! because at the rate this thing proclaims to run low on ink I'd be broke with only 25 pages printed out and a few them only halfway done. Yes i have had my printer print something for me with only 50% black ink left and it only printed out half a page and left the others completely blank. Let me just say that I still have the same rim of paper that had when i bought this printer three years ago. so that should say something! had the same rim of paper when I bought the printer three years ago but have had to change the ink out twice should have changed it out three times but I refused to buy more ink because there was no way it should have ran out that fast!  What is the solution for this exact printer! not some other one. What is the solution for the Canon Pixima MG 3022? 

[BillS]

Hi marlafaith0203,

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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[Layla97]

What if you do all of that - and it still runs out fast?  All of the people posting on here cannot be wrong.  The young college student that posted was right.  I believe these printers are a scam.  I don't really print a lot -but when it comes time to get a new printer - I will NOT buy a Canon - and I'll be sure to do my homework in advance to make sure any printer I buy does not consume all of the ink in just a few pages.

[sanzfrancisco]

I do ALL the things that you have suggested, and it is to no avail.  I use plain paper, I print in grayscale, and I choose fast printing, ALWAYS.  So I definitely do not understand why the color ink becomes depleted so quickly.  I don't think that you have given anyone a sufficient answer to this issue, and there are many people who will no longer buy your printers, and they are advising their friends to avoid purchasing Canon printers.  Don't you think you should address this concern, and do something about your equipment.  Honestly, it is incredibly frustrating.  And as you well know, your ink cartridges are expensive.

janice sanz

[tmcraig92]

Do not buy Canon printers. I've never had a printer this horrible in my life and I've used about 10 printers long term. I've had countless of unexpaniable problems besides this ink issue and they can't explain any of them.

I JUST got this printer like not even half a year ago. I've only been printing black ink shipping lablels and ALL of my color is gone. I only printed with color 1 time when I first got it, to test it out, and it was only a quarter of a page print. My printer also isnt in any sunlight, any abnormal heat, and I havent removed the cartridges since original install. Every day when I went to print a black label I coudl see my color levels dropping on a daily basis. 

Besides that, I can print hundreds and hundreds of full pages of black on other brand printers and cartridges yet these cartridges only got me maybe 100. They are 100% scamming everybody and thats enough proof for me. I called them regarding my other issues and they just scratched their head because they coulnd't resolve or make any sense of this brand new printer, leaving me stuck with a broken new printer. Stick with HP or Brother. I've never had a bad printer by them yet and that's real talk because I'm not a fan of fraudulent products. Also, older printers are better than newer for work purposes and reliability. Everything is so cheap and bad quality now days, I don't understand. I'll be getting the sludge hammer out for this printer and replacing with an older used HP printer. Even if I had to refurbish it myself its better than the turnmoil canon will put you through with their printing products.

[Shellybean]

I agree! I've purchased ink twice in the past 4 months and do very little printing.  Yes, Canon, I have printed in grayscale, the printer is not in direct sunlight or near a heat source, I'm printing in standard mode etc. etc.  I have noticed there has not been anyone from Canon on here trying to make this right.  Your company should have to replace these cartridges for free.  After looking at the dates of these complaints, it's clear that you don't care about your customer base because the cartridges have certainly not come down in price! Over $60 for 2 cartridges! I'm going to follow suit and junk my Canon printer.  It's a shame really. Canon used to produce some great products but now only seem to want to overcharge their customers.  I guess it's back to hp for me as well.  

[lexi900]

I am not buying any of this. I literally bought black ink a few weeks ago and have printed about 10 pages and my Canon IX6800 is low on black ink.

not to mention I ONLY PRINT BLACK docs and the colors run low and need replacement all the time.

When I buy ink the cartidge is obviously not full and runs out with an extremely low volume work load (1 to 2 docs a week).

we are all not crazy, either these cartridges, when new, have barely anything in them or these printers dump ink. its not on my paper!

CANON should stop these horrible business practices and GIVE US THE INK WE PAY FOR and patch your printers if they are dumping ink.

its not normal

[Karin]

1. I have done all of the things Canon has recommended: plain paper, fast mode,gray scale, only single sided, printer is kept out of sunlight and away from heat. I replaced black ink and all three colors at the same time a few months ago. I have used the printer 10 times since then, for printing about a total of 10 pages in gray scale on plain paper in fast mode, single sided. Now the printer will not print because the magenta and cyan need to be replaced!
2. Now I only needed to scan one page (no ink needed!) and still the printer said it could not scan unless I replaced the ink. How ridiculous!
Canon - if you are an honest company please answer the Canon community users above and also explain why I am having the same problems. Thank you.

[jadams77]

Had same problem   Bought Canon to replace a worn-out HP.   Hooked it up without to many problems.  Printed less than 50 pages and black ink already out

[gharris]

Canon Pixma TS8020 here; first off, great printing from this thing.  However...

I found this thread by googling "canon printer runs out of ink ripoff", because I am spending 40+ dollars replacing color cartigages and then printing minimally color pages, and then for several weeks no color prints at all, and still the tanks are running out..  Mystery...

I turn the printer off when done each time, using the power button.  I use settings to decrease satuation as well (i like to stretch ink), and I use draft, plain paper, all the tricks..  Still, I get messages that my ink is super low and needs replacing..  This has got to be either 1) a really poor printer, or 2) a clever ploy to force people to pay for ink they don't need to be replacing.  Regardless, I have decided to never purchace a canon product in my life.  I've tried scientifically to monitor and regulate ink usage, and there is no other reason besides the printer just dumps lots of ink or is programmed to lie to the user that there is no more ink.  I'm baffled and quite peeved.