iPF5000+Known+Limitations

Major Issues for iPF5000 Only
Note: These problems have been fixed on the iPF5100.


 * **Roll Feed Unit has a design defect that makes it likely that two of the plastic pulleys will come loose and fail to function.** Estimated that 10% or more of the units may fail. If your roll feed stops functioning, a service call from Canon's contracted service bureau will be required to replace the pulleys with re-designed parts. However, this is covered by the one year warranty (provided you haven't tampered with the unit--don't even remove the screws holding the end panel to check), so the primary problem will be one of time/inconvenience for you if you encounter the problem. **Canon management has also promised that roll feed issues due to this design defect will be covered outside the one year warranty (and have made good on this promise in the only case reported to date).** There is also a much less common problem where tabs are broken off during shipping. Of course, this is also covered by the warranty. Unfortunately, Canon has not provided a mechanism to cross-ship the defective roll feed units with units which have had the new parts installed. **Update 11/30/07:** One report of new roll feed unit shipped to replace defective roll feed unit instead of requiring a service call.
 * **Media Types are Locked out for some paper paths** //Background:// Canon has programmed the firmware/software so that it is optimal for those using Canon paper exclusively. For example, you aren't allowed to select roll paper as a source when the Media Type is set to Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss (PPP-SG), because Canon doesn't make that paper in rolls. Scott Martin has tested using Special 5 Media Type with the profile made for PPP-SG Media type and writes, " Although the differences are minor, these media settings are different and require different profiles." **Note:** This probably isn't a practical problem for matte papers, since testing has found that Premium Matte is the optimal Media Type  for  most matte papers . Thus for third party matte papers you will generally have all paper paths available and Monochrome Photo Mode. It is the glossy/luster type papers that have the problem
 * **Manual feed will not work with 17X25 inch sheets.** 24 inches is longest sheet that can be fed. For longer prints, must use roll paper. No resolution or workaround found by Wiki posters. **Note:** This problem has been fixed for the iPF5100 and iPF6100, which have maximum length of 62 inches for top manual feed.

If you need more information about old iPF5000 printers and roll feed problems, see this page. Note that these problems are NOT applicable to any other iPF printers.