Washing printhead of ip4500 under the tap?!

[DomtheMon]

I'm not saying I would recommend this but thought I'd share. I vaguelly think I may have read it here.

I have an ip4500 and ip4600 (plus two brand new ip4500's in boxes waiting their turn and an old ip2000 gathering dust). I do a lot of printing (well a run of 500 full colour A4 photo sheets every month)

In the past I have had problems, mostly cyan, not printing properly, changed ink tank, ran cleaning cycles, tried all sorts of things including soaking in printhead cleaner but used to do that and wipe the printhead over which I later learnt was a nono so when my ip5200 did this I dumped it (which is when the ip4600 was reluctantly bought)

Anyway last night, part way thru this print job first the ip4500 magenta started to cause problems then later (when I had got fed up trying to sort the ip4500 so left it off and carried on with just the ip4600) the 4600 had problems with cyan. Cleaning cycles, changed cartridge, more cleaning but no, it wouldn't have it.

Having used these two for a good 12 months I was despondent about the thought of binning them both and using both my reserves in one move, but didn't see I had a choice. But thought I'd try one last desparate throw of the dice. I took the ink carts out of the ip4600 and took the printhead and rinsed it under the cold tap for some minutes!! I then carefully placed it on some kitchen paper towel on top of another towel on the radiator.

This afternoon (some 18 hours later) it all seemed dry so put it back in the printer and then took the plug out of the cyan cart and let the ink drip thru into the bottle for a while just in case there were air bubbles or anything in the sponge. Refilled and put stopper back in and put the ink carts back.

I ran a test page and all was perfect, and this evening have completed the print job without incident on the ip4600!!! I am repeating this with the ip4500 head tonight (It is sitting on the radiator now!)

I am sure I read this suggestion here last year? Or did I make it up myself?!

I think the not rubbing paper towel over the head probably made a difference (well you live and you learn!!) and also making sure it dried properly (I used to use hairdryer on them when I soaked them in printhead cleaner..... and they weren't usually properly dry when I retried them! Well it may have been a bit of luck or maybe you will all tell me what I did was what you
all do?!?!?

I've been away from here for a while but see you can get chip resetters now for the ip4600 carts? I'm assuming that ip4600 is therefore discontinued and they've bought out yet more different cartridges for another new printer range?! Just need to find some cheap ip4600's then. The ip4500's I got from a shop in South Wales (UK) last year for a bargain 49 ($75) plus a free pack of Canon very high quality A4 photo paper free with each!

 

[ghwellsjr]

You can use warm water to clean your print heads. Hot water can mess up the barriers between the different colors internal to the print head.

I would leave the print head in a warm spot for two days before putting it back in the printer. There are tiny places where the water can go and cause problems.

I don't worry about wiping or rubbing the bottom of the print head with a paper towel. It is made out of a hard epoxy. But you shouldn't have to rub it too much, it won't accomplish much. I think it is better to use cotton swab on the bottom of the print head to clean specific areas.

What kind of cartridges are you refilling? Are they Canon originals? How do you refill--the traditional method where you refill from the top of the reservoir or the German method where you refill through a hole near the bottom of the sponge?

It's possible that your cartridges have been refilled so many times that they are clogging. You may need to clean them if the problem comes back.

 

[DomtheMon]

I refill with syringes from the top, and seal with a rubber plug. No more than a quarter full (in the actual reservoir) when I fill them, I wear plastic gloves, hold them with thumb under the outlet hole to stop the ink running out, remove plug with other hand, syringe in (Canon spec) ink until full then replace bung. They have never been allowed to run out. They are Canon originals but have been refilled er well hundreds of times but have swapped the magenta one but still no better hence I think it is printhead and not cartridge. I do have a large supply of spare cartridges which are sealed with sellotape tightly wrapped round to help keep them airtight.

Tonight I have put it back in and run clean cycle as it printed test page appaulingly. Its better but still not right so although I will try cleaning it again (I don't have much faith it will work though) I have nothing to lose. Oh well it is at the age the other similar printers gave up the ghost, as is the ip4600, I have to say apart from smaller carts the ip4600 has been a great printer too.

 

[msmart]

No more than a quarter full (in the actual reservoir) when I fill them,

Why is that? I've been filling them right up to the top. So far no problems.

 

[DomtheMon]

Sorry that was meant to say no less than a quarter empty when I fill them, but if you read my post I do state that I fill them up when I discuss the process I follow when filling them:

".....syringe in (Canon spec) ink until full then replace bung."

 

[d1hamby]

DomtheMom

I have never had a problem rinsing a print head with water. Been doing it over a decade. Just have to be careful when using other things than water. Alcohol destroys the foam rubber seals. When using a paper towel it's better to just lightly hold the paper towel to the printhead and let the liquid wick out until dry. Using any heat can cause problems inside the printhead. All this only applies to removable separate ink cartridges. If you try to rinse a cartridge with the sponges on the printhead water is wicked into the sponge and can coagulate the ink, this depends on the ink and water pH.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Just make sure after you have washed your print head to dry it with a paper towel and then leave it in a warm spot (not hot) for two days before putting it back in your printer. I know from experience that violating this rule can result in a damaged printer and print head.

 

[DomtheMon]

Well I am pleased to report that I left the ip4500 for a few weeks and just used the ip4600 for my occasional printing, and yesterday when I came to do this months print run of 500 full colour passes I was delighted to find the ip4500 had recovered and now works perfectly. I am so so pleased. I left the ip4500 with full ink carts in and just left it switched on for a few weeks and it is solved, so I guess it needed time for the ink to seep through and settle.

Looking back I left both for just 18 hours (rinsed out at night then left stand on paper towel till the following afternoon) and I was lucky.... I will take the advice of you guys and if I do this again will leave them at least twice as long.

Thanks to everyone here for their support and advice. I have to say this is a fantastic forum, it is nice to see how patient you guys are with newbies too even when we ask dumb questions and do dumb things!!