iP4000 - GF printed on upside-down photo paper

[WhatAPredicament]

Arg... I've had this Canon ip4000 for about 4 years and it has been a FANTASTIC printer. A few weeks ago my girlfriend went to print out a photo and put the paper in upside down. As a result it bled/smeared all over the paper.

It still seems to print ok, although text has a tiny bit of 'fringe' around it that is barely noticeable. Also it is definitely a lot louder after this accident - not really grinding our squeeking, just a lot louder.


Any recommendations? I'm going to clean the print head with windex, and I guess try to clean the little sponge as well. I'm curious if it's worth disassembling and lightly lubing the gears'n'such. I'm not new to repairing electronics, I just don't want to waste my time I guess


Suggestions?

 

[Grandad35]

What a...,

The bottom side of most printer papers don't absorb ink, so wet ink just lays on the paper as it travels through the printer. It's my guess that you now have ink on some rollers and probably also on the bottom of the print head. If you are up for removing the cover, you might want to clean the paper feed mechanism with cotton swabs dampened with Windex.

 

[WhatAPredicament]

Absolutely - I've found plenty of disassembly guides on the net - I'll follow one and wipe everything down with windex.

I've read that there is a very specific type of 'printer grease' sometimes required for these plastic gears - is this true, or will white lithium or general medium weight oil work?