Clogged Canon print head

[drc023]

Letters like that are solid evidence to the worth of this forum. That user said it as well as anyone possibly could.

 

[hpnetserver]

Grandad is right again. The blockage is in the ink passage which supplies ink to the printhead. However using brutal force of pressure and vacuum are very risky to the printhead. Your post again reminded me how I unclogged an old i560 by using a special tool given to me by Dave from Hobbicolors. By using the tool attached to a syringe I could alternatively applying small amount of pressure and vacuum by pushing and pulling the plunger of the syringe filled with clean water inside. Just a few rounds of pushing and pulling the clog was loosened and I saw a cloud of Cyan ink sucked out from the ink entrance suddenly. It appeared to me the ink dried inside the ink chamber for some reason. The only explaination why it happened is problems in the cartridge. I believe it was the ink that did not flow smoothly downward. once ink flow was reduced it meant air was increased. The air caused the ink to dry eventually. I would toss the remaining ink in the bottle if I were you.

 

[Nifty]

hpnetserver, can you take a picture of the tool for us and/or descibe it as well as you can? The majority of us Canon printer owners have a printhead that could someday take advantage of a tool like this.

 

[hpnetserver]

Sure. But I have to find it first. I should still have it somehere in the house. I just looked up www.hobbicolors.com web site but did not find anything about it there. Checked the listings on Ebay of this company and found nothing about it either. In fact I do not have any info about it except I got one to use. I may have been wrong by saying it is sold by the company. Sorry. I will try to find it and post a picture of it tonight.

 

[hpnetserver]

I finally found the tool! Fortunately it was still attached the the syringe or it probably would have been lost. Now how do I post an iamge of it on this forum? I see that I should use img tag. But it seems I need to have a web site to put the file there. I don't have a web site. How did everyone do it? Help!!!

 

[Nifty]

Here are very specific instruction on where to upload images and how to post. Good luck!
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36

 

[hpnetserver]

Thanks for the info. Here comes the picture of the tool I have been talking about.

 

[hpnetserver]

Hum... Let me try it again.

 

[hpnetserver]

Cool! It worked. OK, more about the tool. The tool is really just a tube with one smaller end that fits a syringe and the other biigger end that will fit the ink intake. Its diameter is slightly bigger than the ink intake so that by pressing down the tool you can actually press against the round washer without putting any pressure against the inktake. So you will not risk breaking the intake off. With the tube pressing against the washer you can push and pull the syringe plunger, which is filled with water, and will very effectively unclogs the dried ink inside the ink intake. The syringe has a tip off from the center of the cylinger. This makes it easier to work on the ink intakes on both end of the printhead. I guess it is probably not a bad idea that you never force the plunger with excessive force.

 

[Nifty]

hpnetserver, thanks for finding the tool and posting the pic! I hope to never need to use something like this, but if I get a really plugged nozzle on a printhead I know that this will be in my line of resolutions.

Thanks!