ImagePROGRAF PRO-1000 Trying to bring a dead friend's printer back to life.

[OldPrinter]

Background: Close friend of mine died of cancer last week, her family gave me her ImagePROGRAF PRO-1000. With her earlier stroke, and then the cancer starting 1 year ago today, she has be forced to let the printer stand idle for more than a year, perhaps several. I am now working to get the printer again functional.

Am I taking the right steps?

On first power-up it automatically goes through cycles of "processing", "agitating the ink", and many more "processing" for about 50 minutes, and then gives the message:
“Support Code 5C14
Printer error has occurred.
Follow the steps below.
1 Cancel the printing, then turn the device off.
2 Turn the device on again.
If problem persists,  see the manual and contact the service.”

I turn printer off, and then back on 9 minutes later and get:
“New notice
Ink is running low.
The maintenance cartridge becomes almost full.” [sic]
For the first time I get menu options,
and a row listing of all the cartridges,
each of which have a yellow-encircled expansion mark above them
[which based on my research, means low on ink, but not yet out of ink]

Hopefulness says I just need to order a new maintenance cartridge,
switch it with the nearly full one, power-cycle the printer,
let it quickly finish its cleaning cycles and it will be up and running.

Fearfulness says the cleaning routines are just using up the ink cartridges
in a futile effort to to de-petrify the print head and/or hoses.
That it is a new print head that I need to buy.
Or that maybe the complete set of unopened cartridges that I also received
are end-of-life and/or will be completely used up on this resuscitation attempt.

There is not much risk in buying and installing the new maintenance cartridge.
The menus tell me the print head was installed May 2018,
I believe the printer got light use.

Do I need to be concerned about the shelf life of PRO-1000 ink cartridges?
How do those of you experienced the PRO-1000 suggest that I should proceed?

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

[rsilber]

So sorry about your friend.

You don't mention how many pages has been printed in the life of this printer. This will help in decision making: was the printer used heavily or lightly. Sitting as long as you estimate, it would be common to experience a LOT of ink used by the machine after turning it on and going through the steps you described.

At this point, I would not turn off the printer or unplug it; those actions consume a lot of ink. The printer seems to be coming to life.

Clearly, the maintenance tank will be filled with all this ink. If you're being cautious financially, grab another maintenance cart and see where you end. You didn't mention any red indicators of empty carts. My experience is I can print a LOT with the yellow caution indicators. Could be enough ink remains to finish the cleaning and get your first nozzle check.

There are no guarantees, but if the printer has seen light use, I wouldn't worry about the head. I don't know about the lines; maybe you can get a feel through visual inspection. 

If you're courageous enough, I would be inclined to get a new set of carts. Now that the 1100 is out, ink prices on the 1000 are dropping. Let us know how it goes.

[OldPrinter]

rsilber—

Thanks so much for your reply.

While looking through the menus in search of a way to determine the total papers
the printer has produced, your words:
“Could be enough ink remains to finish the cleaning and get your first nozzle check.”
made me stop when I saw the Print Nozzle Check Pattern command.

So quickly gave it a try, and hurrah! it printed,
and the basic analyses of it says it is fine,
no need of further cleaning or calibrating.
It looks fine to me also,
though in my ignorance I am a little puzzled
as to why the Chroma Optimizer patch appears to be light gray.

I have ordered a Maintenance Cartridge
(from B&H as Canon says they are out of stock).

Thank you for the reassurances and encouragement.
More news to follow.

[rsilber]

Good for you! This printer has a wonderful reputation for what you just experienced. As to the chroma optimizer, that patch is normal. This is a cart that is used on most prints, to eliminate bronzing, and will go empty sooner than others. Good to have an extra on hand, as well as a maintenance cart (printer will not print once the tank is full). 

B&H is my go-to source for supplies. I like their shipping speed and I don't have to worry about counterfeit products. Once you get stabilized there, you may want to ensure you have an extra tank and chroma cart. Wouldn't hurt to order a full set of inks since all your carts are low.

If you're not familiar with the Pro 1000, here's a link to the online manual.

Cheers!