Help with ip4500

[zettk]

Hi, i have a canon ip 4500 and i have a problem: it dosn't print cyan, i have done cleanin a deep cleaning several times, i need to clean the head printer manually? how i do it?

sorry for my bad english im from argentina.

Thanks

 

[mhkkkk]

1.take out the print head and put it into the warm water.
2.just wait 20 or 30 min.
3.make it dry
4.put the head back
5.try again.
6.if no use, buy another head

 

[ghwellsjr]

Please do not attempt to clean your print head by removing it from your printer. You will probably damage it and maybe your printer by getting the electronics wet.

EDIT: You won't damage your print head by getting the electronics wet. However, if it is still wet when you put it back in your printer and you power it on, then it may damage the print head and possibly the printer. The best way to make sure it is thoroughly dry is to let it sit in a warm spot for a couple days before putting it back in the printer and powering it up.

Before you can get a printer to work, you need to make sure the purge system is working. This is a pump that sucks on the bottom of the print head to get ink to initially flow from the cartridges through the print head and out the nozzles. Without this working, your printer will not work. See this link for an ongoing discussion about this topic:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=26346#p26346

 

[leo8088]

Ghwellsjr, yes it is risky any time a print head is taken out of a printer for cleaning or whatever. But the benefit, recovering the print head in this case, exceeds the risky of losing it. I think it is OK to recommend to take the print head out for a 20 minutes warm water soaking. The likelyhood of a success is very high in my opinion.

An additional suggestion is to drip a few drops of water to the top of the purge unit to saturate the white pad. This helps the purge unit to more effectively suck ink through the print head from the ink cartridges. This increases the chance that the clog in the print head to be cleared.

The most important advice on this case is never try to print more and hoping the clog be cleared by printing more. It would only kill the print head rather than saving it.

 

[ghwellsjr]

You are correct, leo8088, you shouldn't ever try to print anything when your print head is not passing ink, but it will never pass ink if the purge unit is not working, so taking the print head out, or even replacing it with a brand new one is pointless.

That is why I provided a link to see if the purge unit is working and how to get it working if it isn't. The print head and cartridges should not be removed during this process.

There is no point in even doing nozzle checks while the purge unit is not working but as soon as it is working you should only do nozzle checks (and print head cleanings) until all of the nozzles are cleared. There is no risk of burning out the print head or any of its nozzles simply by doing nozzle checks but there is a big risk in removing a print head and soaking it in water or any other solvent and then putting it back in the printer while the electronic components are still wet. The problem is that it is almost impossible to tell when the electronics are completely dry since you cannot see them which is also what makes it almost impossible to get them dry.

I'm betting that once you get the purge unit working, the printer will be able to clean the print head, especially if you do as leo8088 suggested, putting water (or Windex) on the purge pads and you can also put it on the screens under the cartridges each time you attempt to do a cleaning cycle.

 

[embguy]

I agree with ghwellsjr's recommendation of not taking the print head out for unclogging. This forum is open to all inkjet printer users with and without electronics background. It is dangerous to the health of the printhead if one does not know what is involved in drying electronics.

The following post is from my local recycle forum on giving away a digital cable box. You may be surprised that lots of people do not know water and electronics do not mix...

I had a plant on top of this & over watered the plant, causing the Digital Box to short out. It may be useful for parts? The remote still works.

 

[leo8088]

What would you do if you are unable to unclog it without removing the print head? I agree that you have to handle the print head with care. Don't invent anything not recommended anywhere. Most print head clogging needs a bit of effort to unclog. Without some soaking (print head out of the printer of course) there is really little hope to unclog a print head.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Here is the order to unclog a print head:

1. Do not remove the print head or ink cartridges from the printer during this step. Make sure the purge unit is working. If it is not, you need to get it working because the print head needs it working to get ink to flow through the print head. If you cannot get it working, it doesn't matter if the print head is clogged or not. See the link in post #3 for more information on the purge unit. After you get the purge unit working, you can proceed to step 2.

2. Do not remove the print head or ink cartridges from the printer during this step. Do print head cleanings and nozzle checks to see if there is any improvement in the getting clogged nozzles unclogged. Use Windex or water on the purge pads and the inlet screens on the print head during this process. If there is a regular pattern to the clogged nozzles, like the top or right half of the nozzles don't work or several rows don't work, then the problem is probably electrical and cannot be fixed. Be aware that an electrically damaged print head can damage the printer which in turn can damage working print heads. If there is no improvement in unclogging the print head while it is still in the printer, you can proceed to step 3.

EDIT: I just remembered some more steps before the last one--

3. Do not remove the print head or ink cartridges from the printer during this step. Make or buy some cleaning cartridges and put them in the print head in place of the clogged colors. Repeat the cleaning cycles and nozzle checks like in Step 2 until no improvement is observed.

4. Remove the cartridges and print head from the printer being careful not to turn the print head upside down. Tip the print head towards you so that the contacts are on top and the bottom of the print head is to the side. You do not want excess ink or any other liquid flowing into the area behind the contacts. Use a cotton swab or a tissue saturated with Windex or water to clean off the bottom of the print head. You can also blot the bottom of the print head on a saturated paper towel keeping the print head in its normal vertical orientation. You can also drip water or Windex on the screens where the ink flows from the cartridges into the print head. Be careful, the ink may start dripping out of the nozzles when you do this. Put the print head and cartridges back in the printer and run some more cleaning cycles followed by nozzle checks. If this doesn't remove the clogs, you can proceed to step 5.

5. Remove the cartridges and print head from the printer. Submerge or soak the print head in any solvent you can think of except hot water: warm water, vinegar, bleach, alcohol, Windex, etc. Just don't put the print head back in the printer until you have rinsed it in water and dried it thoroughly. The only way you can be sure that it is dry is to let it sit in a warm place for two days. Chances are, you will get impatient and put it back in the printer before it has dried out and then you may have an electrical problem with your print head and maybe your printer. I have done this and lost two print heads and one printer. I'm trying to help other people avoid making the same mistake.

I have purchased a great many Canon printers on eBay, and every one of them that I was able to unclog, I did so while it was still in the printer. All of the print heads that I could not unclog while in the printer, I also could not unclog outside of the printer. I have never damaged a print head while it was in side the printer. I have damaged two outside the printer.

EDIT: The last Canon printer I recently bought on eBay, I was unable to clear up a clog with the preceding steps, at least not without going through a whole set of dye ink cartridges. Not wanting to continue to dump more ink on the waste ink pad, I decided to try something different. You can read about what I did next at this link:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=27790#p27790

 

[leo8088]

Please do not attempt to clean your print head by removing it from your printer.

I can't understand your logic, ghwellsjr. This was what you advised. But in your last post you are talking about things to do after removing the print head. I believe I clearly stated to remove the print head for cleaning with caution (a lot of caution may I say). When a print head is clogged usually the owner most likely have exhausted all he or she can do with the print head remaining in the printer. The printer is basically useless at that point. What would you lose more if you take the print head out, for a quick soaking and cleaning and put it back into the printer and found that the print head is dead?. If the print head is dead it will be just as dead as a clog that stays. I think the risk is well worth it and it is what experts do anyway. Like I said you have to be very careful in doing it.

I have done it quite a few times myself. Not a single print head was lost because of removing them to do a quick soaking. I did challenge two (or three) print heads that showed uniform sawtooth shape on nozzle check. I did have to give them up but not because they were damaged from the soaking.

By the way, today's electronics modules are all washed and cleaned by water at every computer manufacturer. They used Freon long time ago. Freon has been banned for cleaning electronics modules for more than 20 years. They have been using water instead. They do use treated water. I am not exactly aware what is the process they treat water. But they use water. I saw it with my own eyes in a large manufacturing site in Santa Clara.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Leo8088, you are experienced with electronics but the original poster on this thread was probably a novice. You know that electronics are often cleaned with water and other solvents, but never while the electronics are powered, and you know the importance of making sure the electronics are thoroughly dry before applying power, but a novice is likely to be impatient and only dry the outside of the print head. There are many cases of people on this website reporting how they damaged their print head after washing it. Furthermore, the risk is not just to the print head, it can also damage the printer. I have experienced both these situations.

Also, I'm trying to educate people to the importance of the purge unit. I believe that in almost all clog situations, if the purge unit is working and if Windex or water is applied to the inlet screens on the print head, the printer will be able to unclog the nozzles. It's the safest way to unclog. There is no waiting like there is if you soak the print head. After a reasonable effort trying to unclog this way, then with caution, the external soaking can be used as long as a thorough drying is applied.