Unclogging Canon Printheads

[The Hat]

inkoholic My plan: is it possible to fill cartridges with windex and print a couple of pages? I'm hoping that will solve the clog.

Just empty out the reservoir on each cartridge and then fill with Windex + a few drops of alcohol and try that.
The mixture of ink and your cleaning solution should shift most clogs and it will also help to clean your cartridges into the bargain.
I wish you success with the cleaning method and hope you get your problem sorted out and save your print head..

 

[JimDandy]

You might be in the same boat I was in. I had to clean/replace the purge unit. I tried in vain forever to clean my printhead(s), and that wasn't the problem at all. Just a thought. It was crazy that time and $ spent pretty much exceeded the original cost of the printer, but I hate waste and like the printer, so it worked out well in the end.

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.

 

[inkoholic]

@the hat, thanks for the info

@JimDandy, a PURGE UNIT? I've never heard of that and don't know what it has to do with print quality. So if the purge unit is broken, a new printhead won't solve the problem? Cyan prints are always showing white lines, which are also clearly showing up on the nozzle check print. When I turn the printhead upside down and inspect the nozzles on the bottom, some of the nozzles in the cyan part seem a little different than the rest. So I was guessing those are clogged and the printhead must be the culprit.

So what I'm going to try is
-printing with Windex/alcohol
-if that fails, I'm checking the purge unit. No idea how to do that, any tips would be welcome

 

[Trigger 37]

inkoholic,...before you do something you may regret,..why don't you post a picture of your nozzle test print. this will provide us information that we need to direct you. If your head is really only clogged,...there have been many posts to this web site with detailed instructions on how to clean the printhead. Doing what you suggest may in fact burn out the head if it is really clogged bad. I would not print anything more than a nozzle test print until you begin to that your head is getting better. Since I don't see an email address for you you need to sned me an email. I will respond and send you specific instructions on how to clean your head.

 

[JimDandy]

And I was just throwing out my own experience. The fact is, a new printhead costs almost as much as a new printer, so I burned through a lot of money before coming to the realization that the printhead wasn't my problem. It may be your problem, though.

 

[inkoholic]

inkoholic,...before you do something you may regret,..why don't you post a picture of your nozzle test print. this will provide us information that we need to direct you. If your head is really only clogged,...there have been many posts to this web site with detailed instructions on how to clean the printhead. Doing what you suggest may in fact burn out the head if it is really clogged bad. I would not print anything more than a nozzle test print until you begin to that your head is getting better. Since I don't see an email address for you you need to sned me an email. I will respond and send you specific instructions on how to clean your head.

Thanks for offering help . I have the pics of the nozzle check prints (large images).

http://i.imgur.com/1POcH.jpg (overview. PG-BK was affected first but went to normal after several standard cleaning cycles. M and Y seem OK.)

http://i.imgur.com/LgavU.jpg (cyan close up, I think the C is really messed up. The lowest bar in light blue has always been showing a thick white stripe. Cyan deteriorated quickly after I started using compatible inks 3 years ago. But after that things always stayed this way and never got any worse. I must have printed 3000 pages in the past 3 years I guess)

http://i.imgur.com/LVIuN.jpg (photo black close up, dye CLI-BK. This BK has improved somewhat after several standard cleaning cycles. The lines aren't properly connected, this defect is unique to the BK somehow )

 

[inkoholic]

And I was just throwing out my own experience. The fact is, a new printhead costs almost as much as a new printer, so I burned through a lot of money before coming to the realization that the printhead wasn't my problem. It may be your problem, though.

I know, I appreciate that. What is the function of the purge unit, does it do something with the ink or printhead? I have the service manual of my MP610 so I guess I can disassemble it. Is it very difficult taking a Pixma apart, this is my first time I'm doing "surgery" on my printer

 

[JimDandy]

Search on this forum and you'll find information about it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I posted about it in this thread. The purge unit sucks ink into the waste pads, so without it working, it's kind of difficult to get things moving again through the printhead. It's actually a pump (or pumps) with several tubes to transport the ink. In my case, the tubes were all clogged shut with black ink.

Removing it wasn't easy, and I thought I misplaced a part or two along the way (in fact, I just missed where it was they came from, and one or two were still in place in the printer). The service manual helps, but not as much as it should. Getting the purge unit itself in and out is a pain, and a lot of wiring has to be disconnected to get to it.

Anyway, I'd exhaust all other options before thinking about replacing it, even buying a new printhead. To make it worthwhile, you'd better be ready to spend more than the printer cost to begin with. Canon did sell me a purge unit for only about $20 or $25, but that one turned out to be faulty, and I ended up reusing my old one, which I'd done my best to clean. I think it was that in combination with a new printhead that actually did the trick.

I know, I appreciate that. What is the function of the purge unit, does it do something with the ink or printhead? I have the service manual of my MP610 so I guess I can disassemble it. Is it very difficult taking a Pixma apart, this is my first time I'm doing "surgery" on my printer

 

[inkoholic]

Thanks for the input

I've changed my plan a bit. A family member happens to have the exact same printer as me, so what I'm going to do is swap the printheads. If my head is giving funny prints in his printer, the culprit has to be the printhead right?

Search on this forum and you'll find information about it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I posted about it in this thread. The purge unit sucks ink into the waste pads, so without it working, it's kind of difficult to get things moving again through the printhead. It's actually a pump (or pumps) with several tubes to transport the ink. In my case, the tubes were all clogged shut with black ink.

Removing it wasn't easy, and I thought I misplaced a part or two along the way (in fact, I just missed where it was they came from, and one or two were still in place in the printer). The service manual helps, but not as much as it should. Getting the purge unit itself in and out is a pain, and a lot of wiring has to be disconnected to get to it.

Anyway, I'd exhaust all other options before thinking about replacing it, even buying a new printhead. To make it worthwhile, you'd better be ready to spend more than the printer cost to begin with. Canon did sell me a purge unit for only about $20 or $25, but that one turned out to be faulty, and I ended up reusing my old one, which I'd done my best to clean. I think it was that in combination with a new printhead that actually did the trick.

I know, I appreciate that. What is the function of the purge unit, does it do something with the ink or printhead? I have the service manual of my MP610 so I guess I can disassemble it. Is it very difficult taking a Pixma apart, this is my first time I'm doing "surgery" on my printer

 

[Redbrickman]

Yes that would be correct.

The only risk is if your printhead has an electrical fault it could damage the other printer