Unclogging Canon Printheads

[aaronthink]

please could you tell me precise in which way you put the syringe on the print head where the carbrige sits? do you use an special tool for the top of the syringe?

 

[Trigger 37]

aaronthink,....After looking at your nozzle test print I thing that it is not that bad. Of course it is not good enough either to print a photo, but I think you are going way OVERBOARD in your efforts to clean the head. Somehow a lot of ink has dried up inside the printhead and you have been successful in getting most of it out. However, the difficult clogs are still there, and I don't think all the other things you are doing are going to help. The Cleaning ink carts my help but it is dangerous to print a lot with them because the solution you use in not correct for keeping the printhead cool. The head depends on the Alcohol based DYE ink to keep the head temperature down, but once you change the solution over to mostly water, windex, amonia, etc. you run the risk of burning out one of the clogged nozzles.

Yes the solution will pass through the clean nozzles but at the clogged ones, there is no WET ink next to the heating coil of the nozzle and therefore it is DRY and Clogged. When you print you are putting very high PULSE heat on the nozzle to force the ink inside to expand and once it gets large enough it is forced to eject a INKJET BUBBLE. It does this 1000's of time. If the nozzle has no WET ink inside because it is dry and clogged, the heat will built up as you attempt to print and sooner or later you will burn out the nozzle.

Stop what you are doing. Remove the ink, Remove the head and take it to a laundry room sink. Flush hot water (as hot as you can stand on you hands) over the filter input screens and then turn the head over and focus the stream on the nozzles. This new printhead has 3 banks of nozzles for the Cyan and Magenta. They are the 1, 2, and 5 picoliter nozzles. Keep the water running and every now and then turn the head over and look at the filter screens. If you see evidence of colored ink coming out of the filter screens then there is still more ink inside the head. Turn it back over and continue focusing the stream on the nozzles.

Once you thing you have all the nozzles clean, fill a plastic dish with the same hot water about 1/2" deep and set the head in the dish. Let it soak over night and repeat the process the next day. Keep changing the water in the dish so it is hot or warm.

If you think you have done enough, then re-install the head. Check the ink carts to make sure they have a good flow of ink. Install the ink and then do a deep cleaning cycle in the printer to PRIME the head with new ink and then print ONLY a nozzle check. The next thing you could do would be to print a "Service Test Print" but for the iP4700 you can no longer do this from the control panel. Can has eliminated all the function for the newer printers and you have to have the reset software to print a SERVICe test pattern.

Do not give up on this. If you want to use you cleaning carts, then use them only like this;

Install the cleaning carts. Run a DEEP Cleaning cycle. Print a nozzle check only. If it is not good, repeat the cleaning cycle and the nozzle check. Don't print anything else unit you feel you have the nozzles clean. Then you could print a Cyan, Magenta color bar chart for the size of a 4x6 picture on a full sheet of plain paper as a larger test.

 

[aaronthink]

Many thanks to your advises an explanations, trigger 37. You are like a doctor in printers!!!

I did it before like you said, putting the print head down the tap with hot water. I had an impovement but still there are some clogs there. So Im going to do exactly as you are saying, with patience, and I will tell you my improvements.

many thanks for your time!

 

[aaronthink]

I forgot one thing, the tap water from my city is not recomended for drink because it has Lime ("had water", thats the direct translation in spanish) so i think I have to rinse after with hot distiled water.

 

[Trigger 37]

aaronthnk,...I think that is a good idea, but you can still use you water to get the head clean and once you have it clean then you can rinse it with water or alcohol, just so that before you print anything you do a deep cleaning cycle to purge everything out and insure you have PRIMED the head with new good ink.

You know that all of this depends on your printer having a GOOD purge unit. This is why it is so important to monitor your printer everyday, to print a nozzle check at least once a week, to never let any ink cart "Reservoir" run dry, and most of all,...do not turn your printer off. Once you really learn how to take care of your printer and refill your own ink you can rest assured that your printer will last for a VERY long time.

As far as the German Refill method,..I am totally against it. In previous posts I have explained in length why I am against this method and I'm too old to take the time to repeat it again. It alters the basic airflow and ink flow of the entire Canon system and with the advent of resetter units I can see not advantage and plenty of problems. I use the tried and true method of removing the original refill ball and refilling through that hole. Then I install a stainless steel screw to seal the hole. That is all and it is very simple. For those of you that would love to post a rebuttle,...don't waste your time,... I will not respond.

 

[mikling]

Trigger the newest Canon carts with the totally opaque sides now mean that using the german method could also be risky in that now you cannot even see where the ink is now being injected. So the old method might now resurface as being the safer method and only practical method of ensuring that the tank side gets refilled and not the sponge side.

Also I know many are not resealing the small hole. This means that the elaborate labyrinth is all for nothing , since that open hole bypasses the air labyrinth.

 

[aaronthink]

Hi! I tried what you said, trigger. No better results. I've also unscrewed the screws of the printer head , to clean it from inside.

I'm going to do the process another time, only with hot water, and we will see what happen. what do you think about the ultrasonic cleaning process?. maybe i can ask in an optician shop to borrow me for a minute the ultrasonic cleaner.

Do you know how much cost a new print head for canon pixma ip4500?

thanks!

 

[Trigger 37]

AAronthink,... The LAST THING I WOULD EVER DO would be to take the print head apart. Of all the people that have attempte this, less than 10% get it right

As far as I know a new head from Canon should cost somewhere between $50 and $75. I've never seen any results from the Ultrasonic cleaning process that were any good at all. I think it is a waste of time and money.

 

[aaronthink]

hello trigger,

finaly i have purchased a second hand print head for my canon. That one has defect because it doesn't print from the black text cart, but for me it doesnt matter because i use the printer only for photography with heavy glossy paper and with the highest printing quality.

The new one is working well, I restarted to print my photos another time, but there is something that worry me a little. Doing a nozzle check with the new print head it seems ALMOST perfect. I say "almost" because the photos that i have just printed are wonderful, but if you observe the nozzle check carefuly it appears any real tiny clogging. The worry is because I dont want that really small clogging became a big clogging like the last print head.

What should i do? I'm thinking about using the HOT SOLUTION (ditiled watter) method inside a home-made refilled carbridge, and runing a deep cleaning cicle, to prevent more clogging on my new print head.

Trigger, sorry, one of your advises that you give me before was not to turn off the printer. what do you mean with this?

many thanks in andvance for your time!

 

[ghwellsjr]

Your second hand print head probably had a few clogged nozzles for a long time which may have burnt those nozzles out. If this is the case, you will not be able to get them working again but you don't have to worry about the problem spreading to other nozzles. Even if they are not electrically defective but merely clogged with dry ink or debris, the problem won't spread to other nozzles.

The suggestion to not turn your printer off means simply that: leave it on all the time. If it has an auto shut off feature, disable it if possible. The reason for this is that a printer that is left idle for days at a time will do automatic cleaning cycles to keep the nozzles clear. If you turn it off and leave it off for weeks on end, it will probably develop clogs. At the very least, you should do a nozzle check at least once a week and look for new clogs.

The bottom line is if your replacement print head is printing good photos for you, just continue to use it.