Canon Pixma 4300

Canon Pixma ip4300 - black ink cartridge not printing - Tech ...

1) I recently swapped the printer on my old laptop, Windows XP, a new, using Windows Vista and have downloaded and installed the appropriate driver software on the Canon website, so do not think that it may be present. Before that, I did not use the printer (for a few months) and I read that if the printer is not used for a while, there may be problems. 2) I briefly tried to use an ink cartridge replacement cheaper, so-called "ink compatible" for the tank PGI-5BK.I found it did not work, and was informed by the company that I would need to replace all the cartridges at a time (as to be compatible!). This would mean the waste of ink too expensive so I quickly returned to the Canon ink. Hopefully this will be successful and to prevent this from happening again advise you to print half a page of something that uses all the ink colors a couple times a week. I made a Word document containing a half-page of five vertical strips side by side (a strip of each color), with bold text on the top of the pigmented black ink. I print this out once every week and never get any blockages. Thanks for your reply and your suggestions. I forgot to mention that I have tried cleaning the nozzle (and 'deep cleaning' them) several times. On a test print, all the other colours seem to be working fine, including the small black cartridge - it's only the big one which isn't working at all, not even badly. From what I have read on other forums, the cheap inks can cause a lot more trouble than they are worth, so I shan't be using them again. I guess I have to decide whether it's worth buying another black cartridge to try at £16.99 a throw, or whether I should just get a new printer which isn't so costly to run. In future, I shall certainly be sure to check out how much the replacement ink cartridges cost before buying what seems to be a good quality printer at a very reasonable price.

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