Canon Pixma MX870 - 'ink absorber pad almost full'

[PeterBJ]

I searched for a parts catalog for the MX870 to see if there was a special power supply for Japanese printers, but I found no parts catalog. The Canon printers I have seen all have a 2 pin power input, so no pin for ground/protective earth.

Here is a list of mains voltages and plugs worldwide. Notice Japan seems to have two standards.

According to the parts catalog for the MX860 this model handles AC voltages from 100 to 240 V. It uses the same power supply for all voltages. There are photos in this catalog showing the same connection of the ground wire on Japanese and other models as for the MX870.

 

[dalmatinodog]

where to find parts catalog for MX860 or any other printer (if publicly available)?
p.s. thanks again for helpful information! I will leave my ground wires connected.

 

[PeterBJ]

If the manual or catalog is publicly available, a Google search will likely find it. Beware of scam sites! Here is a Russian site with a download of the service manual and parts catalog for the MX860 in one PDF file. The download is clean. Click the button marked "скачать" to download. Beware of sites distributing malware and always scan the download before opening.

 

[ColourKid]

Here is the instruction:

The MX870 is of the PGI-x20/CLI-x21 cartridge generation, so Service Tool v3400 is suitable. It is found as a .rar archive in this post by @CakeHole . If you cannot unpack a .rar archive, the same file can be downloaded as a .zip archive from this Russian site. Scroll down to post #13 by "Sir Sava". Both downloads are safe. I have tested them with AVG Internet Security and Malwarebytes Antimalware, free version.

According to the service manual for the MX870 the procedure to enter service mode is the one with pressing the Stop/resume button five times, so this instruction is suitable the MX870.

Thanks, just performed this to my old MX870, according to the linked instruction post.

Now I just need to clean the absorber pads sometime. Any idea how long they can still go after resetting the absorber counter in software? Anyone know how much margin is there before it becomes really filled up? I saw this video:

Not sure if mine is already so bad... we 'll see I guess?

 

[PeterBJ]

Some say that you can reset the absorber counter and continue printing without replacing or cleaning the absorbers just once, others say you risk a nasty ink spill if the absorbers overflow. I suggest to place a shallow tray under the printer to catch a possible ink spill and to be careful not to tilt the printer if you need to move it.

 

[ColourKid]

Thanks, since I have this printer for more than ten years, I guess I don't need to worry for now if I can continue probably even until the next time the absorber counter hits "full". And I don't print much (I have a Megatank and a Maxify, so this is just for the occasional photo).

It's probably completely proprietary how Canon has implemented the ink absorber counter. It could be that it just counts the amount of cleaning cycles (which is what causes most ink to end up in the absorber pads I presume).

But more likely it is a bit more sophisticated. If you print a lot of borderless photographs the absorber pads fill up more quickly too. However, that is maybe at a different pad, namely under the print area? Then again, these pads cover the whole bottom of the printer, so it gets absorbed throughout. Anyone know something more about this?

Anyway, the service manual explains what to disassemble to get to the pads. Seems like a lot of work. You have to continue all the way from page 24 through to page 34 if I'm not mistaken. Here is an excerpt of page 34:

The photos are quite low resolution, but the absorption pads are the large white swaths in the last photo (I assume the photographs show a brand-new printer, which makes sense for an official service manual). In the Youtube video I linked before you can see more close-up how the pads look like when they are used (definitely not white any more ).

Has anyone tried to get to the pads and successfully clean them? I think that if you take them out and then soak them in lukewarm water for a while and squeeze them, they could absorb lots more ink again and be ready for another round or two.

 

[PeterBJ]

I have washed the absorbers for an iP4000 and an iP5200. The printer only models are much easier to dismantle as there is no scanner to remove first.

To avoid shrinkage of the pads use only lukewarm water. You will need a good quality rubber or PVC gloves as this job is extremely messy. Be careful not to spill the inky water where it could cause stains that cannot be removed.

If you can find new absorbers as a spare part then replacing the old absorbers is preferable to washing them.