Freitag, 3. Juni 2011

canon selphy paper/foil jam

I had a serious problem with my Canon Selphy photo printer. I inserted a new color cartridge and when I was printing the first photo, the color foil got glued to the paper and this resulted in a paper/foil jam. I had to tear the foil apart to get the mess cut off the printer. The printer reported the following erro message on the display:

"... Error with the color cartridge. Contact canon service if you can not remove the cartridge. ..."

I was not able to remove the cartridge, it was stuck. The tail of the foil looked out from the printer's back. Normally the foil stays inside the printer between the two cylinders of the cartridge. I did not find any information about this type of issues in the whole internet (in google:-) That's why I am writing this problem report.

Because the guarantee was expired, I went to the dealer and asked him if he know how to solve this issue. He had no idea, but he said sending the printer to the service center and get it repaired would cost a minimum of 40-50 EUR. He had a brand new CP800 for 68 EUR (which is one of the best prices yet).

I went home and got an idea (knowing a repair would cost more than 20 EUR). I removed all the foil from the cartridge by pulling it out of the printer. Then I switched on the printer. The printer started to unwire the foil then stopped. Then I was able to unlock and eject the cartridge.

I inserted a new cartridge, ensured to tighten the foil by spinning the right cylinder of the cartridge, and printing worked fine.

Concluson:

  • always ensure to tighten the foil by spinning the right cylinder of the cartridge before inserting it. This is described somewhere, but not on the cartridge's box.
  • If you get the foil jam, you have to sacrify this cartridge as described above.