How to remove PRO-1 printhead ?

[Anadrol]

Hello,

I didn't use my PRO-1 for 3 years, and now some colors are clogged, the worst being PBK.

I tried to put some wet toilet paper soaked in the "pharmacist" solution (isopropyl alcohol 20%, ammonia 2%, distilled water), and position the printhead on top many hours, but it is still clogged.

I'd like to remove the printhead in order to soak it several hours in the cleaning solution,

but when I tried to follow the manual, it's still impossible to move the release lever.

Is there a way to do it ? Or do I need some service software ?

Thanks to all !

 

[Anadrol]

According to this page in French; it can only normally be made by Canon technicians,

as the head/ink tubes system is under pressure:

http://blog.eparts.fr/tete-impression-canon-qy6-0081/

Alright, but how to do it oneself ?

 

[The Hat]

Hi @Anadol, that’s one hell of a problem you got, I have never known a Pro 1 to get a clogged head ever, and please don’t try and print while you have this issue, question:- are you using OEM inks or compatibles.

Totally disregard that video, the head can be changed without causing any damage, but I’d recommend a system clean first to see if that will unclog the nozzles before attempting the head removal, you’re going to lose some ink with either process.
If you can't resolve the blockage, then PM me and I will give you the correct removal instructions...

 

[jtoolman]

Hat. I already sent him your excellent Instructions on another forum. I hope that helps him as it did me.
Joe

 

[The Hat]

I just hope he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t just dive in.

Thanks Joe...

 

[Anadrol]

Thank you very much to both !
You are the most prominent experts on printers

By the way, one must close where the paper comes in and out on the printer,
or the procedure is without effect.

Before removing the printhead I did run a nozzle check between each deep cleaning in the driver,
hope that nozzle checks didn't damage the nozzles (as printing should be avoided with clogs), because strangely it became better on some places and worse on others.

Thanks to you, now I've put the printhead on a paper towel well soaked with the pharmacist solution, I'll leave it overnight,
rinse it with distilled water and let it dry.

 

[The Hat]

If your nozzle check indicated that the clogs were moving around then a system clean would have been preferable so after you have reinstalled the heads, it would be advisable to run a system flush, because of stagnant ink sediment in the tubing, the printer may do one automatically anyway...

 

[Anadrol]

After leaving the print head overnight in Pharmacist's solution, there was no improvement.

The mistake that I made, is that I should have had filled a SquEasyFill with Pharmacist's solution and injected it through the ink entry holes.
Shaked and removed the liquids, and repeat till there's no ink left inside.

It seems that removing and replacing the print head cost about 70 euros of ink !

Much smarter to buy a new head here at 143 euros, they ship to many countries:
http://www.eparts.fr/eparts/web/shop/details/QY6-0081.aspx

Yes I did run a system flush, with very little improvement.
It's only the photo black that is clogged, I'm lucky as I print only on plain paper So the PRO-1 works fine for me actually.

 

[Anadrol]

Well I managed to unclog it 100% !

I saw that doing nozzle checks every couple days, without doing anything else, showed gradual improvement.

So I soaked a paper towel with the pharmacist solution, and put it under the print head for hours (without removing the print head from the printer).

After removing the paper towel,
Then sometimes doing a small clean was necessary, as some parts of the print head were completely free of ink.

I did the procedure a few times over 3 weeks, and it was successful.
I suspect that there were clots inside the print head that moved around, because some colors became worse, while over improved, and vice versa.

But I maintain that it's much better to just buy a new print head, it costs 143 euros and I spent about 300 euros of ink !!!

 

[Printerfixerguy]

Hi all, I stumbled upon this thread and am hoping that one of you can help me. I have one of these printers on my bench (Pro-1) that belongs to a friend. I service printers for a living, mostly HP laserjets but agreed to help out on this one. He brought me the printer and a new printhead and a new box of ink cartridges and said that it hasn't been run in over a year. I turned it on and inspected it and found that he actually removed all the inks from the printer. I've been searching the internet to find out how to replace the printhead and it seems simple enough but it won't unlock, I press on the blue tab to pull the handle forward but it won't release. (I had to unplug the machine while it was moving the carriage in order to pull the carriage to the middle of the machine) Is there a button press or set of button presses that will cause the printer to move the carriage over to the middle of printer and does the printer need to be on in order to remove the printhead? Any information would be very usefull, thank you in advance.