Cleaned printer's ink absorber, but can't get the counter to reset.

[Blue House Computer Help]

On a Canon MG4250 printer, I was getting a message that the ink absorber was almost full.

This was fairly new territory to me, but with a little YouTube and ChatGPT help I took out the ink absorber pads, cleaned them, dried them, and put them back in. All good so far.

But trying to figure out how to get the printer to reset its counter proved much more difficult.

I followed the printer-button-gymnastics here, but it didn't work:

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/electronics/d5zzd-change-ink-absorber-canon-mg4250.html

And in fact, after a few attempts,when I tried to repeat the same sequence exactly, it started just going into regular mode as I released the power button halfway through the process.

He can still print with it, but eventually it will come up with an error about the ink absorber being completely full and refuse to print. It feels like planned obsolescence by the back door.

So what can I do?

Is there some way to just reset the firmware/memory to factory defaults?

 

[phaZed]

Kinda snarky answer and tongue-in-cheek: Throw that thing away and get a Brother.

 

[britechguy]

I love my Canon printers, but some of these reset procedures are made very deliberately opaque.

All I can suggest is taking a look at this Perplexity result: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/canon-mg4250-reset-waste-ink-is7v9qNDSm60cZCPW.KL8Q#0

A number of options (including variants on the one you've tried) are presented.

 

[JoelM]

I had a Brother printer I worked on and could not get the reset to work until I waited for the Ink Absorber Pad Full message. Once I got the Full message the exact same steps I was trying worked the first time.

 

[Markverhyden]

The printer should have a web portal with lots of options. Obliviously need to be on the network. Just a general observation. Back when I was doing lots of printer repairs I've found consumer level printers to be lacking in functionality even though they are advertised. One thing I might try would be to rest the printer to factory defaults as well as install/re-install the latest firmware.

 

[DRPCNZ]

I took out the ink absorber pads, cleaned them, dried them, and put them back in. All good so far.

Just curious as to why you spent the time cleaning them. 2 months ago did that same printer cost me about 4 pounds to replace with new ones. Reset counter took me about 5 goes before I finally got it to work

 

[fincoder]

But trying to figure out how to get the printer to reset its counter proved much more difficult.

Usually that's all that you need to do (if you can figure out the sequence to do so). The ink absorber is rarely actually full, that would only occur if a large amount of printing was done in a relatively short period. Otherwise after many years of achieving that same amount of printing, the ink absorber will be evaporating faster than filling. The warning/error is just triggered by a certain amount of ink flowing through the machine, doesn't take into account any evaporation or elapsed time.

Can't help with the counter reset problem, sorry. Just pointing out that you should, in future, start with the counter reset and then worry about whether the ink absorber is actually full (usually not).

 

[HCHTech]

This is just another way the company is disincentivizing repair vs. replace.

 

[DRPCNZ]

Can't help with the counter reset problem, sorry. Just pointing out that you should, in future, start with the counter reset and then worry about whether the ink absorber is actually full (usually not).

Yes one I did for client, ink was dripping out printer was 5 years old. My thoughts if you have to remove them just replace them, they are cheap enough and saves a heap of time over cleaning them

 

[fincoder]

ink was dripping out printer was 5 years old

The OP's printer model is perhaps 12 years old, so in that case it's likely just the counter ticking over and the waste ink is mostly dried up over that period.

 

[britechguy]

I had one of my own (now long gone) inkjet printers do a "slow leak" from the waste ink sponge even prior to the alert triggering. It's the only one that ever did that, but boy was it a shock when I found a huge, indelible dark spot in the wood beneath where the printer sat.

I agree that cleaning these sponges is just not worth the mess and effort, and I've done that in the past, too. They're cheap replacement parts, and it seems one of the few cheap replacement parts when it comes to printers.

 

[Blue House Computer Help]

Just curious as to why you spent the time cleaning them. 2 months ago did that same printer cost me about 4 pounds to replace with new ones. Reset counter took me about 5 goes before I finally got it to work

In this case it was because the I had been called out to the customers house which was a ways away from me, and I was actually there to fix a different problem. I didn't really feel like coming back, so I just cleaned them out in a disposable plastic dish with soapy water and dried them thoroughly with paper towels, and they came out dry to the touch and just about white. He uses his printer quite regularly or I would have just brought it back here, though now I'm kind of regretting that I didn't because I'm going to have to go back in order to try anything.

It was all going along just swimmingly until I tried to reset the counter. I think it may have got wise to me during the repetitions because after two or three tries, it started switching on in normal mode about halfway through the sequence (see above). Most likely, I will just talk to him about buying a new printer at this point, but I hate to let the bastards win, ya know?

 

[britechguy]

I hate to let the bastards win, ya know?

All too well. And it's a razor's edge I walk between that and having an intense dislike of throwing good effort after bad.