Storing carts with printheads - Canon PG-40 and CL-41?

[alexandereci]

I just got hold of a few "used" PG-40 (black) and CL-41 (color) carts for use with my Canon IP1200 from a federal office with clerks who don't know any better , and one or two of the carts are useable. This means I can have one in the printer and one or more carts "in reserve." In line with this, is there a good way to "keep" these cartridges so that they can stay topped up but not develop a clog/clot on the printhead? I'm thinking keeping them in the plastic container they come with, then sealing the top with clear scotch tape.

I'm currently "testing" the faulty carts by immersing the printhead in hot water. I'm curious, how "hot" is too hot for these carts? Should it be "warm" (can dip a fingertip in it)? Or about the temperature used when making coffee (about enough to scald your tongue if you're not careful)? I'm concerned about putting the cart in a very hot soak of water that might damage the plastic or the electronic contacts or even the printhead itself?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestion!

 

[headphonesman]

I'm currently "testing" the faulty carts by immersing the printhead in hot water. I'm curious, how "hot" is too hot for these carts? Should it be "warm" (can dip a fingertip in it)? Or about the temperature used when making coffee (about enough to scald your tongue if you're not careful)? I'm concerned about putting the cart in a very hot soak of water that might damage the plastic or the electronic contacts or even the printhead itself?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestion!

I have a total of 4 sets of these carts, 3 were purchased secondhand off the web. These 3 all had 1 or more nozzles blocked (or were empty of ink).

I applied 1-4 deep cleans via the maintenance program, then when the ink was flowing ok had a few normal cleans plus a couple of nozzle checks. There were no failures in re-establishing these carts.

I would avoid using water or any liquid (externally) where these carts are concerned, because of the open nature of the electronics. Use only as a last resort when all else fails.

Use of a proprietary ink flush within the sponge chambers is ok (if the deep/normal maintenance cleans don't work).

To seal the carts for storage I have cut small squares of acetate from the protective acetate disc that covers the contents of a dvd/cd cake box, placing over the nozzle area and securing to the cart with an elastic band. Or you could use sandwich "shrinkwrap" around the cart.

I am now on my second set after a year of heavy use. The first were retired recently because the nozzle check test showed the magenta bar as slightly streaky (and there was some evidence of banding in the photo prints).

In my experience these carts, (if treated responsibly) are very robust. The source you are getting them from should pay dividends. At my local supermarket these carts are priced at 17 and 24 respectively. I look at them each week and walk away feeling happy.

I would be very surprised if some of your "faulty" carts could not be resurrected , please let us know if you are successful, good luck!

 

[alexandereci]

Hello again, headphonesman! I'm glad to see these carts are still serving you well.

I am successful in "resurrecting" these carts. I've had great success with a color cart with streaks in magenta and yellow, and did not clean itself after 2 cleans and 3 deep cleans, but worked PERFECT after a hot-water soak.

I'd rather not use the "deep clean" method since I'm worried about the Canon "waste tank full" problem. Seeing as you've used this method for a year now, have you had this problem?

Also, I think the cleaning method is good for "maintenance work" and I use it to "flush" the printheads, but when I got a clot that 6-8 deep cleans didn't work, hot water cleaned it out good. So now I skip the "deep clean" method for this reason as well.

Sadly, there are no "ink flush" products here, and what passes for glass-cleaner-with-ammonia here is more effective in giving me headaches than clearing out a clot. Hence the use of the hot water method.

Can you give me a picture of what you are talking about when you seal the carts? I think I know what you're saying, but I'm not 100% sure we're on the right page here.

I am now on my second set after a year of heavy use.

Does this mean you do not "rotate" your carts, meaning you use one set exclusively and just change sets when the current set is damaged/faulty?

 

[headphonesman]

Can you give me a picture of what you are talking about when you seal the carts? I think I know what you're saying, but I'm not 100% sure we're on the right page here.

I am now on my second set after a year of heavy use.

Does this mean you do not "rotate" your carts, meaning you use one set exclusively and just change sets when the current set is damaged/faulty?

Congrats on your success, I note that your hot water method is also successful and will keep the option in reserve.

The protective clear "acetate/plastic" disc is the one which is at the bottom of the cake box of a 25/50/100 cd or dvd recordable blanks. The "thin" ones can be cut easily with scissors , you will need a square about the size of a postage stamp. (bicycle inner tubes cut across make nice elastic bands ideal for keeping bits in place on carts !)

No , I do not rotate , I am amazed how much service you can get out of these carts, it far exceeds what I imagined. the ones I have retired I am still keeping as back up because they are still too good to throw away.

I will admit that as I have a plentiful supply of cheap ink I do not worry about deep cleans wasting ink. Also because I have a second (new) machine in storage I am not worried about "filling the waste tank" . I think the waste tank message is more likely to appear if the printer is switched on and off , (it goes thru a cleaniing cycle each time its switched on). Both the MP 150 and the 4000 have always been left switched on, the 4000 has been like that for 4 years with no message (but the MP 150 is the main printer in use, I only use the 4000 for printing discs). I have not had a waste tank full message in a year of heavy use and several "cleans" deep and normal. Perhaps the Waste Tank Full message is switched off when you overide the ink monitor (as a punishment ?) , perhaps someone else can confirm?

regards Headphonesman

 

[alexandereci]

My hot-water bath method is like this:
1. Put the cart in a saucer, let it "sit" normally --- meaning it (the printhead and the cart itself) is at an angle.
2. Heat water hot enough that you can only put your finger in it for 2-3 seconds before it is uncomfortable. I like to describe this as the temperature I drink coffee at... of course YOUR actual temp may vary.
3. Pour water on the saucer just enough that it reaches the edge of the printhead, this is until the water "touches" the plastic guides at the bottom of the cart.
4. Leave it this way overnight. I usually do this late in the afternoon, so I can replace the water at least once before I go to sleep, then twice again the next day for a total of 4 "baths."

What is surprising about this method is that it seems to only "suck out" the ink at the printhead, it does not appear to use up whatever ink is INSIDE the cart. I noticed this because when "rescuing" one PG-40 cart, the ink "flowed" for the first 3 baths and stopped at the 4th bath. I poured the still-clear water thinking I must've drained out all the ink in it, and proceeded to open the cart to refill it. To my surprise, the sponge was still wet and only 2cc of ink was needed to "let the ink show below the surface of the sponge." When I ran a cleaning cycle and a test print, the cart now printed perfectly --- when I tested this cart before, it only showed faint black streaks, so I thought it must've been nearly empty. I'm surprised to find out that it had so much ink in it, but just couldn't get out due to obstruction.

The protective clear "acetate/plastic" disc is the one which is at the bottom of the cake box of a 25/50/100 cd or dvd recordable blanks. The "thin" ones can be cut easily with scissors , you will need a square about the size of a postage stamp. (bicycle inner tubes cut across make nice elastic bands ideal for keeping bits in place on carts !)

You're talking about those clear plastic CDs on the top/bottom of cd-stacks, right? Can you tell me why you use this? When I look at the "container" the original cartridges come in, I see there are small bits of plastic which hold the printhead off the bottom of the container, but you are advising me to actually slap on a bit of hard plastic on to the printhead? Won't that damage the printhead?

I remember an article on this site that even advised against wiping the printhead with tissue paper as this will cause microscopic scratches that could or will damage the microscopic nozzles...

 

[headphonesman]

You're talking about those clear plastic CDs on the top/bottom of cd-stacks, right? Can you tell me why you use this? When I look at the "container" the original cartridges come in, I see there are small bits of plastic which hold the printhead off the bottom of the container, but you are advising me to actually slap on a bit of hard plastic on to the printhead? Won't that damage the printhead?

I remember an article on this site that even advised against wiping the printhead with tissue paper as this will cause microscopic scratches that could or will damage the microscopic nozzles...

Thank you for describing your hot water method in detail, will employ it if I get a stubborn clog.

Yes those are the discs i am talking about. The plastic is not that hard but is softened anyway by the addition of protective tape as used by Canon. *(which I omitted to mention in the previous post)

The correct protection for the nozzles in storage is the green or blue tape (non-adhesive) supplied by Canon. If you save and re-apply such tape by itself , it does not stay put as much as it did before. I apply the tape to the acetate square and then apply the square over the nozzles with the tape side against the nozzles, then secure
with a rubber band. The nozzles are then subject to the same material as they were from Canon. I have no evidence that the extra pressure that is now present has been detrimental to the head.
If no "proper" tape use Sellotape , do not stick adhesive tape directly to the head, stick it on the acetate square.

Regarding the use of tissues , I use them regularly to wipe excess ink from around the bottom of the cart, on the nozzle area itself I just place the tissue on the area with fingertip pressure to confirm that ink is present and ready to flow, no "scrubbing action" is used. Any fibres of tissue that remain in the nozzle area should be expelled when the ink is jetted out. I have used tissues for some time in this way with no apparent detriment to my heads.(If in doubt, then dont use them).

regards Headphonesman

 

[alexandereci]

Thank you for describing your hot water method in detail, will employ it if I get a stubborn clog.

You're welcome! That was also for me not to forget what I'm doing, so that when (it's no longer an "if") I get a clot down the road, I can "retrace" my steps and do "my" method all over again.

The plastic is not that hard but is softened anyway by the addition of protective tape as used by Canon.

Are there any "substitutes" for this? I didn't save my tapes when I found out they didn't stick back on. What "sticky" tape are you talking about? Regular scotch tape? And I assume you are suggesting I put the sticky-side on the plastic...

 

[headphonesman]

Yes regular scotch tape , sticky side to the plastic square , topside against the nozzle area. The idea is to provide a soft airtight gasket between the plastic square and the nozzle area. Instead of scotch tape you could use "cling-film" (sandwich wrap) stuck to the square , it should work just as well.

This is worth taking the trouble over because , hopefully , it may be some time before you have to resort to your back -up carts . I would not store carts "dry", but always charged with ink.

regards Headphonesman

 

[alexandereci]

Isn't the sandwich film (Gladwrap??) much, much thinner than scotch tape? I think I'll go for scotch tape here, if we're after an airtight seal.

I got one set in the printer now, and one set backup, however, I've decided not to use the black cart yet since I don't have a ready supply of black Canon ink. I'll try your tape-and-plastic method, thanks!