When not printing, should I leave the printer on (sleep mode) or off to conserve ink and avoid clogs?
See also the FAQ on Ink Used for Cleaning Update 5/2/09: The latest recommendations from Canon support techs and impressions from knowledgeable individuals: • 10/1/08: The latest consensus according to the tech I spoke to is to keep it plugged in, but powered off. Then, once a week turn it on and let it do its thing and then turn it off again. If left on, every 72 hours it will do a deep cleaning that uses a lot of ink. Every time you turn it on it will do a head check and if anything is starting to clog it will do a light cleaning. Thus, by turning it on once a week you can help avoid serious clogging issues, but also avoid big time ink usage from automatic, but probably not needed, major cleanings. • 9/2/08: According to Scott Martin, “Even with the latest firmware updates these printers use a whole bunch of ink when left in sleep mode. A Canon tech told me that in a temperature/humidity controlled environment it should be fine to turn it off when not used in more than 48 hours. So f
