Replacement of absortion material.

[Ger Janssen]

I have a Canon Pima 5550 and want to replace the absortion foam for the inkt.
Has Some one an idea where I can buy that foam?

 

[The Hat]

Has Some one an idea where I can buy that foam?

The best thing to do is use a pair of latex gloves and wash the waste inks pad out in warm soapy water, then put in between some newspapers to dry most of the water off.

There’re best refitted damp because if they get too dry the will shrink.. You won’t get them completely white again..

 

[turbguy]

Yu can also dry them with a microwave oven (lower power level)to speed the drying process.

 

[PeterBJ]

I removed the case from a MG6853 to get access to the timing strip for cleaning. I noticed the absorbers were almost full of ink, click to enlarge:



I would also like to know a possible replacement material to cut new absorbers from. In the MG55x0 and the mechanically similar MG68xy the absorbers are rectangular or the shape of a small rectangle attached to a larger rectangle. So these shapes are easy to cut with a sharp chef's knife or similar.

I washed the absorber felt (?) sheets with warm, not hot water <40C/104F. I gently squeezed some of them to remove some of the water. They shrunk in thickness. Using an inexpensive salad spinner from IKEA bought for this purpose and for priming combined sponge/printhead cartridges, I spin dried the rest of them. They also shrunk.

After letting them dry almost completely on newspapers, I reinstalled them in the printer and filled the gaps between the three shapes of absorbers with folded sheets of paper towel/kitchen paper.

I thought that kitchen sponges would be suitable for replacement absorbers, but they are hydrophobic when dry. Paper coffee filters seem a better material to cut new absorbers from, but are there other suggestions? Does anybody have a part number for the absorbers ? The same absorbers are used in the MG55x0 printers.

I have ordered Service Tool v5204 from Ebay for trying to reset the printer, and is now waiting for delivery via Email. Delivery is estimated between December 11th and 23rd ??

 

[PeterBJ]

It only took half an hour before I had the service tool as a .rar file by email. I unpacked it and ran an initial setup of the tool to get the activation code. I had that within maybe a quarter of an hour and the service tool seems to be fully functional. But the MG6853 and a TS6150 which I had entered service mode on earlier to test a free version 5103 both refuses to enter service mode. The stop/resume button doesn't work. It could be a bad switch or locked service mode. But on an MG5550 with locked service mode the stop/resume button works.

The service tool works perfectly with an iP7250. I guess it is perfectly functional with the models listed by the seller. Sadly I cannot test that, but at least the service tool was only 5$.

I might take the MG6853 and TS6150 apart to check if the stop resume switches are ok.

 

[stratman]

I washed the absorber felt (?) sheets with warm, not hot water <40C/104F. I gently squeezed some of them to remove some of the water. They shrunk in thickness.

What caused the shrinkage - just the warm water washing, just the squeezing, or only after being dried?

It has been reported on the forum long ago that the pads do shrink, presumably during the drying process. Because of the shrinkage, it was recommended to not let the pads dry completely so that a still wet-ish pad can be stretched to conform to the space it once occupied. Maybe the pad material has changed over the years.

Were your pads stretchable at all?

 

[PeterBJ]

Some shrunk when squeezed, Some shrunk in my improvised spin drier and some collapsed under their own weight when lifted out of the water and placed onto a newspaper. Before washing the felt material didn't look and feel like it would behave like that when it became wet with water.

 

[stratman]

To our resident conspiracy theorists, Canon used materials to do just that if we tinkered with the pads.

 

[PeterBJ]

Maybe some felt mats for hydroculture could be used? I also remember a suggestion of using water absorbent paper mats for car/automobile workshop use in an Epson ink absorber box.

 

[websnail]

I would also like to know a possible replacement material to cut new absorbers from. In the MG55x0 and the mechanically similar MG68xy the absorbers are rectangular or the shape of a small rectangle attached to a larger rectangle. So these shapes are easy to cut with a sharp chef's knife or similar.

We're purchasing similar material as part of the PrinterPads product line we've been selling this past year or so, so the material from that should do the trick. If you can PM me the thickness(s?) and overall area(s?) that you need, I can enquire as to cost of getting some bits as uncut sheet for you.