Tom Hock
Getting Fingers Dirty
Cleaning a Canon Printhead using a shop vacuum cleaner.
Some months ago I mentioned, in another post, using a shop vacuum cleaner to clean a printhead, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, and since printhead cleaning is such a frequently requested subject I thought another posting, with pictures, may be helpful.
I was recently given an i850 printer that reportedly had a bad printhead. Although the printhead looked very clean, and had been washed of all residual ink, I could not get Windex or alcohol to move through the printhead, even using the shop vacuum method discussed below. I soaked the printhead in about an inch of Windex over night, and then when it was placed on the inlet of the shop vacuum hose drops of Windex were immediately sucked through the printhead nozzles.
Had I placed the printhead into the printer and ran a cleaning cycle it may have also cleared the printhead, but my objective in using my shop vacuum is I suspect the vacuum on the nozzle plate is greater than that created by the printer purge pump, but not damagingly high, and an unlimited amount of Windex, or other cleaning fluid, can be run through the printhead without dumping it into the waste ink tank pads, which just hastens its end of life. I can also quickly identify any channels that are blocked or restricted.
One picture shows Windex being dropped onto the head inlet screens with the vacuum running. If the ink channel is not completely plugged the drops are immediately sucked through as fast as they can be delivered. The other picture shows a Canon ink tank that has been filled with Windex using the German method. When this ink tank is held in place on one of the inlet screens, without restricting the top vent, the vacuum will suck all the Windex through that channel within a few minutes. This has to be a very effective cleaning/flushing of the printhead without loading up the waste ink tank pads.
I must admit that I have not tried this printhead in the i850 yet, and it may in fact be defective, but I know it was plugged when I got it and it is really cleaned out now without adding to the waste ink tank count.
Some months ago I mentioned, in another post, using a shop vacuum cleaner to clean a printhead, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, and since printhead cleaning is such a frequently requested subject I thought another posting, with pictures, may be helpful.
I was recently given an i850 printer that reportedly had a bad printhead. Although the printhead looked very clean, and had been washed of all residual ink, I could not get Windex or alcohol to move through the printhead, even using the shop vacuum method discussed below. I soaked the printhead in about an inch of Windex over night, and then when it was placed on the inlet of the shop vacuum hose drops of Windex were immediately sucked through the printhead nozzles.
Had I placed the printhead into the printer and ran a cleaning cycle it may have also cleared the printhead, but my objective in using my shop vacuum is I suspect the vacuum on the nozzle plate is greater than that created by the printer purge pump, but not damagingly high, and an unlimited amount of Windex, or other cleaning fluid, can be run through the printhead without dumping it into the waste ink tank pads, which just hastens its end of life. I can also quickly identify any channels that are blocked or restricted.
One picture shows Windex being dropped onto the head inlet screens with the vacuum running. If the ink channel is not completely plugged the drops are immediately sucked through as fast as they can be delivered. The other picture shows a Canon ink tank that has been filled with Windex using the German method. When this ink tank is held in place on one of the inlet screens, without restricting the top vent, the vacuum will suck all the Windex through that channel within a few minutes. This has to be a very effective cleaning/flushing of the printhead without loading up the waste ink tank pads.
I must admit that I have not tried this printhead in the i850 yet, and it may in fact be defective, but I know it was plugged when I got it and it is really cleaned out now without adding to the waste ink tank count.
