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Ink Absorber Pads - Cleaning them How To
Hello,
Things you will need.
Needle nose pliers.
Paper towels
97% rubbing alcohol
Plastic gloves.
Flashlight
Disposable waste container, lined with plastic.
Disposable plastic tray about 6x9 or thereabouts.
Plenty of ventilation, outside if need be.
a. With the printer on, open this lid as if to change cartridges.
b. Turn Printer off. Unplug the printer. Unattach the communication cable. You will be moving it to a work area with excellent ventilation, such as outside.
c. At the far right where the the cartridges normally park themselves when not printing you will see a platform with rectangular compartments. When the cartridges park, this platform rises, seals off the nozzle area and captures any leaking ink, which till happens today.
d. Examine the platform with your flashlight and you will see what looks like sponges in the compartments. This material with holes in it, like a sponge, is plastic.Put on your gloves.
e. Place a paper towel folded over on itself underneath this platform as best you can to catch any spilling ink.
f. Use paper towels soaked in alcohol slightly and your needle nose pliers to push
the paper towel into each compartment, gently at first, until the majority of ink is
removed.
g. This will take quite a long time and plenty of paper towels and patience. So be
patient and ready for the long haul. Avoid smoking and the fumes.
h. At some point the sponge material, itself, may become dislodged and loose.
When you witness this, go ahead and remove it carefully using your needle nose
pliers and place it on some paper towels placed inside your disposable plastic tray.
i When you have one or both, if needed or more sponges removed and in the tray,
pour alcohol over these until the ink runs pretty thin. Leave to everything to dry.
i. Use a paper towel damp with alcohol and your pliers to clean out the compartment and its sides as best you can.
j. When you have completed these tasks allow the compartments and sponges to dry.
k. You are ready to reassemble the sponges into the compartments. Do so now.
l. Nearly done; take a towel wet with alcohol and hold it very gently against the bottom of the ink cartridge until ink flows freely onto the paper towel. If its stubborn, knock
the cartridge gently but sharply against a hard surface with the alcohol soaked towel held against the nozzle area.
k. Re insert the cartridges now.
l. Return the printer to its working location, attach power, attache the comm cable and with the lid closed apply power.
m. Run your printer through its normal setup routine, deep clean the print heads, run a nozzle check and finally do a print head alignment.
m. Your Printer is now ready to be used again.
Thank you,
Worldvet
Things you will need.
Needle nose pliers.
Paper towels
97% rubbing alcohol
Plastic gloves.
Flashlight
Disposable waste container, lined with plastic.
Disposable plastic tray about 6x9 or thereabouts.
Plenty of ventilation, outside if need be.
a. With the printer on, open this lid as if to change cartridges.
b. Turn Printer off. Unplug the printer. Unattach the communication cable. You will be moving it to a work area with excellent ventilation, such as outside.
c. At the far right where the the cartridges normally park themselves when not printing you will see a platform with rectangular compartments. When the cartridges park, this platform rises, seals off the nozzle area and captures any leaking ink, which till happens today.
d. Examine the platform with your flashlight and you will see what looks like sponges in the compartments. This material with holes in it, like a sponge, is plastic.Put on your gloves.
e. Place a paper towel folded over on itself underneath this platform as best you can to catch any spilling ink.
f. Use paper towels soaked in alcohol slightly and your needle nose pliers to push
the paper towel into each compartment, gently at first, until the majority of ink is
removed.
g. This will take quite a long time and plenty of paper towels and patience. So be
patient and ready for the long haul. Avoid smoking and the fumes.
h. At some point the sponge material, itself, may become dislodged and loose.
When you witness this, go ahead and remove it carefully using your needle nose
pliers and place it on some paper towels placed inside your disposable plastic tray.
i When you have one or both, if needed or more sponges removed and in the tray,
pour alcohol over these until the ink runs pretty thin. Leave to everything to dry.
i. Use a paper towel damp with alcohol and your pliers to clean out the compartment and its sides as best you can.
j. When you have completed these tasks allow the compartments and sponges to dry.
k. You are ready to reassemble the sponges into the compartments. Do so now.
l. Nearly done; take a towel wet with alcohol and hold it very gently against the bottom of the ink cartridge until ink flows freely onto the paper towel. If its stubborn, knock
the cartridge gently but sharply against a hard surface with the alcohol soaked towel held against the nozzle area.
k. Re insert the cartridges now.
l. Return the printer to its working location, attach power, attache the comm cable and with the lid closed apply power.
m. Run your printer through its normal setup routine, deep clean the print heads, run a nozzle check and finally do a print head alignment.
m. Your Printer is now ready to be used again.
Thank you,
Worldvet
Comment by worldvet, posted on Aug 31, 2008
When removing the ink cartridges it is advisable to rest the in the same position as you find them in the printer, like storing books in a book shelf.
Do not leave these out longer than is necessary and after you reinsert them DO run the print head cleaning and nozzle check utility as advised.
Comment by worldvet, posted on Sep 15, 2008
In response to the question on how best to store your ink cartridges so they do not dry up on you: Place these in a zip lock style bag to keep as much air from getting to them as possible.
Even after storing in this manner or leaving them out in the open while you clean your printer. It is advisable to gently press an alcohol soaked paper towel against the ink jet surface. Just please do this as gently as you can until ink is flowing freely from the holes.
Once your printer is assembled again, as stated in the Tip itself, run the deep head cleaning routine several times. Your printer may or may not use the same terms to infer a deep head cleaning, this is typical from one model series to another. The point is to run the head cleaning utility several times to ensure your heads are not clogged up at all.
Any questions or problems, you can find my profile page here don't hesitate to Ask Me with a request. I'll get back to you as soon as I'm logged in again.
Comment by worldvet, posted on Nov 09, 2008
AToe,
Some Canon Printer Models are extremely difficult to remove the cover plates fo the printer simply to access the waste pads.
Anyone with a Complex Canon Printer with difficult to access waste pads so you can clean them should visit Neil Slade's web site. Mr Slade's web site will give you thorough and accurate step by step instructions to safely disassemble your Canon printer so you can access the print heads and the waste pads.
Remember, this is for those few complicated Canon printers that will not allow you to reach and grab the pads as I instructed in my How To.
Neil Slade's non commercial web site for Canon Printers can be found by clicking on this entire sentence.
AToe - Your instructions leave a whole lot to be desired when compared to Neil's work at his web site. I encourage any Canon Printer owner to visit and bookmark Neil's web site.
Yes
No
Comment #1
posted on Apr 15, 2009
i am having canon pixma ip1300 inkjet printer.
it worked properly till 13th april 09
i got refilled both cartridge and fix it in my printer
but the cartridge was not recognized.
i had tried installing the cartridge many times and also tried switch off and on it again many times but the printer shows the same error that
"An error occurred.Some ink cartridges cannot be recognized."
and a message box is opened and it shows that
"An ink cartridge is not installed properly.Open the printer's cover, make sure the ink cartridge is installed properly, and close the cover."
help me to recover from this problem i can't afford to buy new cartridges.
suggest me some ideas and procedures to make my printer work again.
give me the remedy as quickly as possible
Thank you
it worked properly till 13th april 09
i got refilled both cartridge and fix it in my printer
but the cartridge was not recognized.
i had tried installing the cartridge many times and also tried switch off and on it again many times but the printer shows the same error that
"An error occurred.Some ink cartridges cannot be recognized."
and a message box is opened and it shows that
"An ink cartridge is not installed properly.Open the printer's cover, make sure the ink cartridge is installed properly, and close the cover."
help me to recover from this problem i can't afford to buy new cartridges.
suggest me some ideas and procedures to make my printer work again.
give me the remedy as quickly as possible
Thank you
Comment #2
posted on Feb 16, 2009
Mr. Worldvet - Your Tip "Ink Absorber Pads - Cleaning them How To", for an HP OfficeJet D135 All-In-One InkJet Printer (http://www.fixya.com/support/r883355-ink_absorber_pads_cleaning) is SUPERB. But, I have a few questions before I proceed further:
In my HP d135, in the well at right, against the right wall of the well, I see three sponge pads, lined up from from right to left. It was (and still is) so amazingly gunky in there, it's hard to say which color is which. BUT SHOULDN'T I SEE FOUR PADS, NOT THREE?
A few minutes ago, I pulled out an enormous blob of black gunk ink that was immediately to the left of these three pads. IS IT POSSIBLE I INADVERTENTLY PULLED OUT THE FOURTH PAD AND ITS HOUSING? I prodded it a bit and it seemed to be just gunk ink hairball with nothing inside it. Seems unlikely I pulled out an entire fourth pad and its housing, but why only three pads?
Against the left wall of the well - very hard to see - maybe there is a fourth pad? IF THERE ARE FOUR PADS, WHERE IS THE FOURTH PAD USUALLY LOCATED?
Do you have a web link to a technical manual that shows this area in greater detail? It is so very hard to see in there. Thanks!!
glnz
In my HP d135, in the well at right, against the right wall of the well, I see three sponge pads, lined up from from right to left. It was (and still is) so amazingly gunky in there, it's hard to say which color is which. BUT SHOULDN'T I SEE FOUR PADS, NOT THREE?
A few minutes ago, I pulled out an enormous blob of black gunk ink that was immediately to the left of these three pads. IS IT POSSIBLE I INADVERTENTLY PULLED OUT THE FOURTH PAD AND ITS HOUSING? I prodded it a bit and it seemed to be just gunk ink hairball with nothing inside it. Seems unlikely I pulled out an entire fourth pad and its housing, but why only three pads?
Against the left wall of the well - very hard to see - maybe there is a fourth pad? IF THERE ARE FOUR PADS, WHERE IS THE FOURTH PAD USUALLY LOCATED?
Do you have a web link to a technical manual that shows this area in greater detail? It is so very hard to see in there. Thanks!!
glnz
Comment by glnz, posted on Feb 17, 2009
Sorry - my earlier comment is wrong. There was so much muck in that well area that I couldn't see the sponges clearly. To the right - what looked like three small sponges - was actually one 1-inch wide sponge handling the black, magenta and yellow cartridges. Later, after clearing away some of the gunk, I found a 1/2-inch wide sponge at the left side of the well that handles the blue cartridge. Cleaned them both, together with the cartridges and printheads. Now a bit better, but still have other print problems, especially black lines suddenly printing on top of each other. Time for a new machine, but I don't like the new HP J6480, L7680 or L7780. Too many negative reviews, and they look and feel flimsy in the store, whereas the d135 was pretty solid. WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS A REPLACEMENT FOR OUR D135? Doesn't have to be HP. Need same functions. Thanks. glnz
Comment #3
posted on Dec 23, 2008
For ink tanks such has Canon Bci 3, 6 & CLI 8, PG-5. Re-install orange sealing clips using rubber bands, or cover exit holes with sellotape. Seal in zip top bag, place on low shelf in refrigerator.
The cool slows the evaporation of volatile ingrediants.The plastic bag prevents the air flow in frost free frigs in particular from carrying moisture from the ink into evaporator coils, prior to defrosting.
Composite cartridges ie; Ink tank with print head attached use same treatment, do not use any sticky tape on print head. Solvents in ink can soften adhesive on tape and clog the tiny injet holes
The cool slows the evaporation of volatile ingrediants.The plastic bag prevents the air flow in frost free frigs in particular from carrying moisture from the ink into evaporator coils, prior to defrosting.
Composite cartridges ie; Ink tank with print head attached use same treatment, do not use any sticky tape on print head. Solvents in ink can soften adhesive on tape and clog the tiny injet holes
Comment #5
posted on Aug 31, 2008
Hello worldvet,
the cleaning of the waste ink absorber in the W7200 from Canon is a mess.
I would do it with a different approach:
Why don't you take out the drawer - the waste ink absorber tank itself.
It is a bit of unmounting other things first, but you do not have to remove the ink cartridges and do not fiddle through narrow holes. And you may leave the printer at its standard place.
It helps if you have the service manual of the printer ( e. g. from www.user-service-manual.com).
Here is how I would do it:
a) Open the lid of the ink tanks and disassemble it.
b) Disassemble the right back cover
c) Disassemble the right cover housing the display (remove the connectionto it and set aside)
--- now you see the handle of the waste absorber drawer at the right side of the printer. It is still hidden behide the covering sheet metal. Behind the purge unit there is the air flow fan on the back side that will jam the drawer.
d) Disassemble the air flow fan from the back. Disconnect the electrical connections and get the air flow fan off.
e) Disassemble the sheet metal on the right side of the printer, so that the drawer can be unmounted freely. Be carefull that the screws do not fall into the waste ink absorber - it is a mess.
Draw out the waste ink absorber and take it to outside or a well ventilated place - now you need the plastic gloves to clean the absorbing "sponge".
Best would be to exchange the material - I think.
Assembling is - of course - the reverse way.
But most important at the end of the procedure is that you reset the waste ink counter in the system controller by entering the service mode.
Otherwise the printer will not continue after the "Waste Ink Full"-Error.
To enter Service mode:
press [Paper Source] and [Online] button simultaneously when switching on the printer.
Now toggle through the menues:
Service Mode --> Adjust --> Counter --> Initialize --> W-Ink
Now the Waste-Ink Absorber Tank is able to take up some more ink...
Hope these hints help!
Although the service manual does not describe the exchange of the Waste Ink Absorber it will best you have it at hand when you start disassembling the covers, lids and functional units. It gives you an understanding of all functions and functional groups.
Disassembling and assembling at your own responsibility ! ! !
AToe
the cleaning of the waste ink absorber in the W7200 from Canon is a mess.
I would do it with a different approach:
Why don't you take out the drawer - the waste ink absorber tank itself.
It is a bit of unmounting other things first, but you do not have to remove the ink cartridges and do not fiddle through narrow holes. And you may leave the printer at its standard place.
It helps if you have the service manual of the printer ( e. g. from www.user-service-manual.com).
Here is how I would do it:
a) Open the lid of the ink tanks and disassemble it.
b) Disassemble the right back cover
c) Disassemble the right cover housing the display (remove the connectionto it and set aside)
--- now you see the handle of the waste absorber drawer at the right side of the printer. It is still hidden behide the covering sheet metal. Behind the purge unit there is the air flow fan on the back side that will jam the drawer.
d) Disassemble the air flow fan from the back. Disconnect the electrical connections and get the air flow fan off.
e) Disassemble the sheet metal on the right side of the printer, so that the drawer can be unmounted freely. Be carefull that the screws do not fall into the waste ink absorber - it is a mess.
Draw out the waste ink absorber and take it to outside or a well ventilated place - now you need the plastic gloves to clean the absorbing "sponge".
Best would be to exchange the material - I think.
Assembling is - of course - the reverse way.
But most important at the end of the procedure is that you reset the waste ink counter in the system controller by entering the service mode.
Otherwise the printer will not continue after the "Waste Ink Full"-Error.
To enter Service mode:
press [Paper Source] and [Online] button simultaneously when switching on the printer.
Now toggle through the menues:
Service Mode --> Adjust --> Counter --> Initialize --> W-Ink
Now the Waste-Ink Absorber Tank is able to take up some more ink...
Hope these hints help!
Although the service manual does not describe the exchange of the Waste Ink Absorber it will best you have it at hand when you start disassembling the covers, lids and functional units. It gives you an understanding of all functions and functional groups.
Disassembling and assembling at your own responsibility ! ! !
AToe
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