Unclogging Canon Printheads

[ghwellsjr]

Is the position of the spring that is shown in the photograph your best guess as to where it goes? Could it apply pressure against a cam on the gear just above the spring as it rotates into a certain position?

 

[JimDandy]

Is the position of the spring that is shown in the photograph your best guess as to where it goes? Could it apply pressure against a cam on the gear just above the spring as it rotates into a certain position?

I'm stupid - just didn't look carefully enough through my manual. There are a couple of photos that confirm where I put it is correct. I'm not sure I follow what the function is, but it looks like that's the correct placement:

 

[JimDandy]

And I'm doubly stupid. For two weeks now I've been trying to find that second release arm I thought I'd lost - the one I finally got Canon to send me. As I began putting the printer back together, I realized the missing arm was still in position below the plate that sits under the printhead carriage.

 

[The Hat]

Welcome to the madhouse Brother, its full of forgetful geniuses...

 

[JimDandy]

Welcome to the madhouse Brother, its full of forgetful geniuses...

That's putting it nicely :/

 

[JimDandy]

Looks like my saga may be coming to an end with the printer going in the circular file. I'm now getting an error 6A00. From what I've read, this error could have many causes, but the primary is a problem with the purge unit (which, in my case, is brand new). I've manually cycled it many times, but that hasn't solved anything. This error comes up without the printhead carriage or the purge unit moving at all. If anyone has any further ideas, I'd love to hear them.

 

[JimDandy]

After several different error codes, the only way I could get my printer working again was to put back the old purge unit. Seems I got a faulty purge unit straight from Canon. I'll be asking for my money back. (Edit). However, I guess my cleaning worked okay, because with my replacement/refurbed printhead, I'm actually getting pigment black working.

 

[feedthestinkykitty]

I have often been able to clear clogs by putting 2 paper towels and just enough water to wet them well into a plastic bowl then microwaving this for 1 minute. I then set the print head on top of the paper towel and cover with another to keep heat in. Keep it there for 20 minutes then run a clean cycle and test. Sometimes it takes 3 trys.

 

[JimDandy]

Interesting option. Maybe I'll try that out on my old printhead.

 

[inkoholic]

My MP610's printhead is clogged and I've tried to unclog it several times. Flushing with distilled water, flushing with alcohol ketonatus, flushing with warm water, soaking it overnight, flushing with windex. None seemed to work. I'm about to buy a new printhead, but I want to give it one last shot...

Should I fail, I can still buy the new one. (70 at the Dutch Canon service centre, seems fair enough).My plan: is it possible to fill cartridges with windex and print a couple of pages? I'm hoping that will solve the clog.