Carts repeatedly lost to mold (?). What to do?

[elenhil]

Hi there! I had the misfortune of switching out my trusty refillable carts for the equally trusty iP4200 back to Canon originals, and now two colours (yellow and, possibly, blue) repeatedly turn dark. Repeatedly because I replaced like three CLI-8Ys. In-printer clearing the colours works, that is, the head isn't clogged. But each new cart is a dead cart walking, so to speak. Granted, they aren't new. (Are there still new CLI-8s being produced? I don't know.) But, presumably, the infection (?) is coming up from the printer head itself, not the carts. Is there something I could do? Like, partially soak the problematic colours with something that will kill the infection without damaging the head?

 

[The Hat]

(?) is coming up from the printer head itself,

Try giving the purge unit a good clean and flood it with window cleaner to finish..

 

[elenhil]

Try giving the purge unit a good clean and flood it with window cleaner to finish..

Oh. I'm afraid I've never done that. Is 'purge unit' the thing that soaks up the ink from all the maintenance cleaning operations? So there's some disassembly required to clean it?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

So there's some disassembly required to clean it?

Not really - you just need to move the printhead carriage a bit out of the way - just power up the printer and pull the power cord as soon as the carriage starts moving. This moves the carriage out of the way and you can easily move it around.
And please do a nozzle check after the purge - scan it and post it here with the 'Attach files' function.

 

[elenhil]

Could you post a detailed instruction (I'm new to the idea of cleaning the purge unit)?

 

[The Hat]

So there's some disassembly required to clean it?

The purge unit is where the print head sits when the printer is idle, there is no disassembly needed, just move the print head over to the left side of the carriageway and use a squeezy bottle to spray the whole area, then turn the printer back power on..

It will clean the unit and clear all the waste ink that has accumulated there, if need be do it several times, it won’t cause any harm to the print head, and the cross contamination of your carts will be less likely..

 

[elenhil]

The purge unit is where the print head sits when the printer is idle, there is no disassembly needed, just move the print head over to the left side of the carriageway and use a squeezy bottle to spray the whole area, then turn the printer back power on..

It will clean the unit and clear all the waste ink that has accumulated there, if need be do it several times, it won’t cause any harm to the print head, and the cross contamination of your carts will be less likely..

But where will all this liquid go? What amount is safe to use (it will have to go somewhere, won't it)? And what liquid should I use? (Suppose you mean it should be an ammonia-based one, and I unwittingly use an ammonia-free window washing liquid)

 

[The Hat]

But where will all this liquid go?

Your over thinking the whole process..

The amount used is minuscule and you can use window cleaner with vinegar instead of ammonia, this has been the go-to method for years, I use Lidl “W5”