Liquid for cleaning the heads of canon inkjet printers. Do-it-yourself cleaning of the printer print head. If the print head is severely clogged

In modern printers, pigment ink is increasingly being used, and this is a completely justified decision, since ink of this type is very similar in properties to paint that is used in the interior. This type of ink has one feature - liquid paint can be dissolved in water or washed off immediately after application, but it is enough to let the paint dry to make it impossible to remove it from the surface with water.

It is logical that this property helps to extend the service life of such paint. Let's say this is necessary for a printer for the following reasons: letters and images printed with such inks will not be washed off with water, and will also fade much more slowly in the sun.

The advantages are obvious, but not everything is perfect. After all, ink can dry out not only on the paper, but also in the print head. How to remove it in this case? This is why Epson printer cleaning fluid is used.

Cleaning an Epson inkjet printer – what do you need to know?

When washing and refilling the cartridge, make sure that the washing liquid and ink do not come into contact with the contact group! This may cause contact corrosion, short circuits, and printer failure! Always, before inserting a cartridge into the printer, make sure that there is no ink, moisture, or other foreign substances on the contact group!

Fluid selection

If you need a professional cleaning liquid for washing cartridges, then pay attention to an option such as inktec washing liquid. This tool can help you get your inkjet printer back to normal working condition. It is usually used when a Canon or Epson printing device has been idle for a long time, in the case when one of the colors begins to print poorly. It should be added that the shelf life of flushing fluid for an inktek printer is up to two years. Cleaning agents from companies such as Contour and OCP are also somewhat popular and are recommended for cleaning the print heads of inkjet office equipment. The shelf life of their products is about two years, and they are usually produced in 100 ml containers.

In general, the easiest way to clean cartridges is ordinary distilled water. But depending on the composition of the print head cleaning liquid, it can be:

• neutral;
• alkaline;
• acidic.

The first option is universal, i.e. suitable for all models of printing office equipment and it consists of 80% distilled water, 10% alcohol and 10% glycerin.

The second option, i.e. alkaline is suitable for printers from Canon and Epson - in addition to the three components described in the previous version, it also contains ammonia.

As for the acid solution, it is the optimal choice for HP color devices. It contains distilled water, alcohol and essence of acetic acid.

Flushing for Epson printer

We take a small clean container and fill it with 2-3 millimeters of cleaning liquid heated to 40-50°C. Then place the print head in the liquid with the nozzles facing down. To reduce liquid evaporation, cover the container with a bag.

The print head sits for a day. If it is heavily contaminated, it takes up to three days. The cleaning liquid evaporates. And that’s why it needs to be topped up sometimes. When the deadline expires, the cartridge with the soaked print head is inserted into the printer. The quality of the printed page will indicate whether the nozzle cleaning still needs to be done.

How to make cleaning fluid for Epson printers?

If the cartridge has been standing without printing for 2-3 months, then it is first recommended to restore it with ordinary distilled water.

If the printer has been idle for a short period of time, then distilled water will dissolve all the dried dye.

If the period without operation is longer, or if the printer was kept in a room with a high temperature (drying occurs faster), then you need to use a different liquid.

The liquid recipe itself:

1. To make it, we need water and a regular glass cleaner. Mister Proper, Mister Muscle, HELP, and basically any remedy will do.
2. In order to make a washing liquid from distilled water and the taken product, first take a syringe and draw 9 parts of water. We take only one part of the windshield wiper.

In cases where increasing the percentage of glass cleaner to water does not help, you can increase the washing time to several days.

In cases where this does not help, the cartridge can be thrown away.

Using a concentrated glass cleaner, i.e. 100% can cause “the mastic contained in the head to be dissolved by the concentrated liquid.

In this case, ink may flow from one part of the head to another, i.e. colors will mix, or the nozzles will start to squint, i.e. hit the paper unevenly.

This article is dedicated to everyone who decided to save on cartridges, and save so much that they searched the market for a long time and persistently for the most free refillable cartridges and the corresponding ink. Congratulations - the printhead (print head) is clogged and its further use only aggravates the situation. The background to our article was the situation with the purchase of excellent ink from the German company OCP, filled into new RPC (Refillable Cartridge) category “just a mower and will be right now” produced by NoName (yes, that’s exactly what they are listed in the seller’s price list).

At first, the print quality was no different from the original cartridges, since the originals were replaced with SPDs one by one as their service life expired. After installing the last two shut-off valves, it turned out that it would be better to kill myself against the wall. Suddenly everything was filled with yellow, and after cleaning, checking the nozzles showed a significant absence of all colors and a slight lack of pigment.

Our article is based on the page, which describes the whole process quite well. The difference between our article and the original one lies in the description of a specific case without the use of generalizing points. Also, our process does not use the method of “pressure pumping”, “shower”, etc., and Mister Muscle (which is recommended to be used on every forum) was replaced with a flushing fluid from the same manufacturer, whose ink was poured into the SCP, i.e. OCP RSL, and was purchased Kill Bill from Robik - a composition for crushing blockages against the wall. By the way, the refusal of Mister Muscle was also justified by the fact that it was not originally intended for this kind of work, its manufacturer has every right to change the composition, and in general - pouring an incomprehensible solution into an expensive Japanese head is obviously doomed.

First, take out the cartridges and remove the head.

Now we carefully place the head in a wide, shallow saucer, placing a napkin folded several times under the nozzles (moistened with washing liquid, 1-2 cubes of the syringe) and rinse the ink intakes, two or three drops into each channel. We look carefully at the filters - on clogged channels, flushing goes much slower than on washed ones, and where the filter is empty, we drip again. We continue until the napkin (change it regularly every time it is filled with ink) stops staining. We check the uniformity of absorption of rinsing by the filters - we see that some channels pass rinsing well, while others pass poorly or do not pass at all. Using a cotton swab, carefully touch the filter of the clogged channel to pump out the rinse from the filter grid and (be sure to change the napkin under the nozzles) drop KillBill into the filter according to its instructions (2-4 drops per channel) and wait no more than 10 minutes. Then we intensively rinse all the channels (it is recommended to rinse the KillBill non-stop for 30 minutes, but 30 drops per channel was enough for us). If at the end of the process the clogged channel has not improved the permeability of the flushing liquid, then we repeat the KillBill instillation again. Then again.

Attention!

It is not permissible to instill KillBill into the pigment black canal!

Below is a video instruction on how to wash a head similar to ours. True, in the video the recommendations for washing are somewhat different, but this does not change the essence.

The time for the washing liquid to be absorbed by the filter in a clean channel and a moistened cloth is about 2 seconds, otherwise the channel is still clogged.

So, three approaches with KillBill, and the result is not so great. We change the napkin, generously fill the new napkin with washing, put our PG on it and leave it to soak for several hours (at least for a day, if we are not in a hurry). Then we dig in again with KillBill and rinse again with drops of RSL. Now we change the napkin to a new one, once again generously moisten it with RSL, place the head on it and gently and quickly press and release our PG: on ideal channels, the flushing liquid from the napkin, when pressing on the PG, will self-propelled to the filters, and when releasing the PG, it will instantly fall back onto the napkin. The head is washed.

Now we inspect the surface of the parking lot near the house, and in the absence of neighbors there, we throw out the entire set of our PZKs from the premises, take out the previously discarded original cartridges from the bucket, refill them with OCP ink, run two deep cleaning passes from the computer and enjoy the printing of our sickly little animal. If not all of the nozzles eventually break through, then:

• in the print properties, set the quality to “High” - the PG will print in two passes and the quality will increase significantly;
• OCP ink contains a certain percentage of flushing fluid, and over time, uncleaned nozzles will clean themselves.

Well, or again we remove the PG, soak it for another day, then three passes with KillBill for 10-15 minutes (no more than 20 otherwise NAND IS KIRDYK!!!) with mandatory washing.

What is the most common cause of inkjet printer failure? As a rule, clogging of nozzles and printing elements. This occurs due to drying and subsequent sticking of the ink to the cartridge head. You can resist this process by periodically cleaning these elements with a special cleaning fluid for inkjet printers. You can not only buy it in a specialized store, but also make it yourself.

Why do you need to use flushing fluid?

Let's decide in what cases this tool can be useful to us:

• Cleaning a cartridge that you need to refill. This is necessary to prevent a reaction between inks from different manufacturers. Its consequences can be very sad: a sediment forms that blocks the nozzles on the nozzle plate. Liquid excludes this option.
• Printhead clogging. Flushing fluid for inkjet printers is the second stage here. It is used when standard cleaning did not produce results. The solution is designed to help restore the functions of the print head by freeing it from dried ink.
• Cleaning other elements of the printer or MFP from splashed ink.

Professional cleaning fluids

Solutions that you can purchase in the store (or make yourself) can also be used as a preservative element. The composition of washing fluid for inkjet printers is close to the composition of paint. Therefore, it does not accelerate the precipitation of pigment. But such a phenomenon is inevitable by its nature. Remember that the shelf life of the paint is only a year. If you try to dilute it, this will only speed up the process of formation of pigment sediment.

The most common professional products on the market are:

• Inktec. Flushing fluid for inkjet and Canon. It is used when a certain color has become poorly printed or the device has not been used for a long time. The shelf life of the solution is 2 years.
• OCP tools. Packaged in 100 ml bottles. Also good for two years. Used for effective cleaning of print heads of printers and MFPs.

The easiest way

The simplest option for washing fluid for inkjet printers - It is important to note that ordinary chilled boiling water is not a full replacement. In order for distilled water to cope with its task most effectively, it should be heated to 50-60 degrees before washing.

This method is good if the printer has been “resting” for no more than 2-3 months. In the case when the period is longer than this, or the device has been in a room with consistently high temperatures all this time, you need to use one of the methods described below.

Three wash solution compositions

To make cleaning fluid for inkjet printers with your own hands, just go to the nearest pharmacy or just look for the necessary components at home.

We will present you with recipes for three effective compositions that help wash the printer’s printing elements:

1. Neutral solution. Suitable for all types of printers and MFPs. The composition is prepared from the following elements:

• 80% - distilled water.
• 10% - medical alcohol.
• 10% - glycerin.

2. Alkaline solution. Suitable for Canon and Epson printers. To prepare, you need to mix four components:

• 70% - distilled water.
• 10% - glycerin.
• 10% - medical alcohol.
• 10% - aqueous ammonia solution.

3. Acid solution. This is a cleaning fluid for HP inkjet printers (color). You need to mix three ingredients:

• 80% - distilled water.
• 10% - acetic acid.
• 10% - medical alcohol.

Glass cleaning solution

1. Place the print head in warm (40-50 degrees) water for 5 minutes.
2. Pour cleaning fluid into another container.
3. Immerse the cartridge head in this solution for 10 minutes, lowering it approximately 1 cm into the solution.
4. Remove the element and use a syringe and refill station to extract about 1 ml of ink.
5. Use a tissue to remove dirt and ink from the print head.
6. Install it in the printer and run routine cleaning.
7. If the procedure does not lead to a satisfactory result, it is repeated 2-3 times.

Using an ultrasound bath:

1. Pour the washing solution into the container.
2. Immerse the cartridge head in it for 2-3 minutes, lowering it 1 cm into the liquid.
3. Fill the ultrasonic bath with water and place the element in it for only 5 seconds!
4. After you have taken out the cartridge, use a syringe to extract 1 ml of paint from it.
5. Clean any dirt from the print head.
6. Return the cartridge to the printer and run normal cleaning.
7. If the result is unsatisfactory, repeat the procedure 2-3 more times.

Flushing liquid is a solution that helps to effectively clean the printer’s print head after the device has been idle for a long time, when replacing the ink in the cartridge. You can not only buy it, but also make it yourself.

Canon head cleaning. Part 5 14

Canon head cleaning. Part 4 12

Canon head cleaning. Part 3 9

Canon head cleaning. Part 2 5

Canon head cleaning. Part 1 2

Article 8

Article 7

Introduce into the Federal Law of March 31, 1999 No. 69-FZ “On Gas Supply in the Russian Federation” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1999, No. 14, Art. 1667; 2009, No. 1, Art. 21; 2011, No. 30, Art. 4596; 2012, No. 50 (Part 5), Article 6964, 2012, No. 53 (Part 1), Article 7648) amendment, adding

Article 25, paragraph two as follows:

“Unless otherwise provided for in the gas supply agreement, the consumer, including the utility service provider, who has not timely and (or) not fully paid the cost of the supplied gas, is obliged to pay the supplier a penalty in the amount of one hundred and seventieth of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in effect at the time of payment , from the amount not paid on time for each day of delay, starting from the next day after the due date for payment and up to and including the day of actual payment.”

This Federal Law comes into force on the date of its official publication.

The president

Russian Federation

Canon head cleaning. Part 1.

Many printer users, faced with the problem of printer banding, are forced to turn to specialists to restore normal operation.

The reason for light stripes and printing omissions usually lies in clogging of nozzles or nozzles, as well as their airiness. Of course, if the heating element in the printer nozzle fails or the channel partitions are destroyed, there are no resuscitation options, but you can deal with the trapped air and blockage yourself.

Fig. 1 Electron microscope image of a nozzle with deposits

Most often, blockage of nozzles and nozzles occurs as a result of thickening of the paint during the natural process of drying, including evaporation of the paint solvent, sometimes reaching the point of complete drying of the paint. But cases of airing of the nozzles and supply channels supplying paint to the nozzle are not uncommon. Also, with a long term or intensive use of the printer, accumulation of metal salts and deposition of lime from the solvent (water) on the walls of the nozzle, nozzle and channels occur, leading to a decrease in print quality and the appearance of banding (see Fig. 1).

The print heads of Canon printers tolerate the process of washing them well and in the vast majority of cases long-clogged nozzles begin to work, and washing the nozzles eliminates the so-called slanted jets, which is extremely important for photo printers. The availability of flushing also makes it easy to remove the print head from a Canon printer.

The easiest way to wash is to soak the head in special washing liquids, or, if they are not available, in distilled water. Such liquid can be purchased at consumables sales departments and they can be from any manufacturer, the main thing is that the label indicates the purpose for thermal inkjet printers, as a rule, the brands will be indicated: Canon, Hewlett Packard, Lexmark. Liquid cannot be used for Epson brand printers. Immerse the lower part of the print head with the nozzles down in the heated liquid (approximately 50-60 degrees C) and leave it for several hours, or better yet, overnight. If there is no washing liquid, use heated distillate. The liquid should cover the bottom of the head; of course, there is no need to fill the entire head. And you can install it in a Petri dish, or, to put it more simply, you can, for example, take a plastic lid from a coffee can of a suitable size. In this way, you can eliminate light dirt or slight slanting of the jet.

Attention! Install the head into the printer only dry, with clean contact pads. Otherwise, you can get a short circuit in the electrical circuits of the head and it will be irretrievably lost.

Fig.2 Flushing by syringing Fig.3 Fitting tubes to the receiving fittings

If simple soaking does not help or you are more determined to restore the health of the head, then we can use syringe rinsing of the head.

To do this, it is also necessary to immerse the head by analogy with the previous method and having previously selected PVC tubes of the appropriate diameter, we create a structure in such a way that a medical syringe can be hermetically attached to the end of the tube (see Fig. 2,3).

Next, the syringe piston is pulled out to create a vacuum and the heated flushing liquid begins to be drawn through the nozzles from the container, passing through the internal cavities of the head, entering the syringe body. After taking several cubes of liquid, the piston begins to be slowly pressed, thereby forcing the liquid to flow back out. Here it is necessary to balance the efforts, taking into account that the area of ​​a small 2 cc syringe is 5 times less than 20 cc and, accordingly, with equal efforts, the pressure is the same amount of times higher.

It is advisable to carry out such a cyclic operation several times, and in case of heavy contamination, more. When cleaning the head, you will be able to feel the stabilization of the fluid flow in the forward and reverse directions (it flows easier and more evenly).

At the end, several cubes of liquid are drawn into the syringe, the head is removed from the liquid, holding it with the nozzles down, the piston is pressed, and rows of thin jets flying out of the nozzles are visible. This way you can visually verify the cleanliness of the nozzles; the jets should be without breaks in the rows and parallel; if there are oblique jets, it is advisable to repeat the washing. This way you can achieve deep cleaning of the head.

Heavy pollution

If the previous method of syringing the head does not help and it continues to remain stubbornly silent, then the “heavy artillery” is brought into battle.

The following methods are used:

The “Silit Bang” detergent is dripped onto the nozzle plate and the inlet pipe and left for 15-20 seconds to absorb it into the capillaries, after which it is injected with distillate using a syringe. Possible repetition several times.

Fill a syringe with several cubes of “Mister Muscul” detergent and press it into the head, after rinsing with distylate.

A drop of 10% ammonia solution (ammonia) is applied to the nozzle area and the following drops are applied as it is absorbed. After hot syringing.

Steaming the head with superheated steam from an express coffee maker, in this case it is necessary to build a pipeline with an elastic nozzle. (For precautionary reasons, the author does not describe this method and design).

Fig.4 Electron microscope image of damaged partitions in the central and right nozzle

Such methods are of a shock nature, and the first three, with strong zeal, can shorten the life of the print head, however, they are justified if the printer is in serious condition. And as you know, replacing a head is so expensive that it would be wiser to buy a new printer.

There is another cleaning method - ultrasound; even special ultrasonic baths for cartridges are produced, but the author does not support its use, since the destruction of internal partitions from the resonant effect of ultrasound is possible. That is, the design parts are so miniature and small in mass that they can resonate even under the influence of high frequencies. An example of the destruction of partitions in the central and right nozzle by ultrasound is shown in Fig. 4.

P.S. There must be a reasonable impact in everything - you can even break a tank with a screwdriver.

Canon head cleaning. Part 2.

Continuing the conversation about the procedure for washing the print head, it would not be amiss to consider in more detail the procedure, materials and tools used. This will help users avoid mistakes and improve the quality of their work.

As an example, we took the Canon BC-21e head, which is a close analogue for many brands of Canon printers: BJC 2000, S200-300, i250-i350, i1500. For other more modern printers, the technology and techniques remain the same, only the tube diameters change.

And so, let's continue.

You need to stock up:

washing liquid, tweezers, container (type of Petri dish), paper towels, a pair of 20 ml syringes, PVC tubes with diameters 4, 5, 7 mm. For modern printers of the 3000-5000 series it will be necessary to use large diameter tubes.

Canon BC-21e head Photo 2. Necessary materials and tools

Initially, the gaskets of the cartridge seats are removed (photo 1 shows the removed gasket of the black cartridge). Now you can begin to select the diameter of the tubes for fitting them onto the receiving pipe of the head. The location of the tube attachment to the black pipe is indicated in photo 3 in the upper left corner. For the black pipe, a diameter of 5 mm is used. and a composite structure is assembled from 5.4 mm tubes. and a 20 cc syringe (see photo 3). A piece of 4 mm tube is placed on the nose of the syringe, and then a 5 mm piece is attached to it. tube, which in turn is mounted directly onto the receiving pipe.

Photo 3.Rinsing the black head

(top left - fitting the tube onto the pipe) Photo 4. Installing the tube onto the pipe

Photo 5. Washing yellow nozzles

You can start washing the head. Hot washing or distillate with a height of 4-5 mm is poured into the container. The head with the attached tube and syringe is immersed with the nozzle platform at the bottom into the liquid.

Attention! Flushing begins by evacuating the head by pulling out the syringe plunger. 2-3 ml are taken from the head. liquid and disconnecting the tube from the nozzle, it is removed into another container. The essence of this requirement to begin the washing process comes down to removing clots and deposits in the nozzles, supply channels and filter outward, against the natural direction of ink movement, and not pushing all these abnormal deposits through the nozzles and nozzles of the head.

Photo 6. Checking the condition of the black head (bottom left - jets of distillate from the nozzles)

Photo 7. Re-checking black

Next, the head is evacuated again with a syringe until 2-5 ml is collected. liquid into a syringe. But now the collected liquid is syringed back into the head. This is how the head is washed cyclically several times (photo 3, 5).

Master fluids and materials kit

During these cycles, the nozzle pad of the head must be in the liquid. For severe contamination, the number of injection and vacuum cycles increases. During the washing process, it is necessary to monitor the temperature of the liquid and replace it with hot water as it cools, which significantly increases the quality of washing.

Quality checks are possible during the washing process. It is necessary to remove the head from the container and by pressing the syringe plunger, you can see jets from the nozzles of the head, reminiscent of a shower (photo 6, 7). The jets should be in a harmonious row without breaks and parallel (do not squint in different directions). An enlarged portion of Photo 6 (bottom left) shows a break in a number of jets, indicating the presence of clogged nozzles. In this case, washing is continued until an even row of jets is obtained (photo 7).

This washing method is used for each head color.

Canon heads can withstand quite significant pressures when injecting, but you shouldn’t get carried away and you need careful, reasonable pressure, without haste. Otherwise, you can overdo it and the cost of speed and significant impact will be the price of buying a new printer! The main cost of a printer is the print head, and you can quickly see this.

P.S.1. Attention! Do not use this cleaning method for Epson printer heads. Without extensive flushing experience, the slightest excess of pressure leads to destruction of the diaphragms and piezoelectric crystals in the head.

P.S.2. If it is difficult to purchase washing liquid or even distillate, you can use twice-boiled water as a wash.

P.S.3. When using flushing fluid, syringe the head with distillate.

Canon head cleaning. Part 3.

In the third part, we will look at clogged filters and supply channels of the Canon print head (PG) without disassembly.

With large volumes of printing, clogs and ink clots in the filter mesh and feed channels of the PG make themselves felt. This is due to the fact that the supply of ink to the PG nozzles is insufficient, and the supply channels together with the filter do not provide the required ink flow rate. For small volumes, this may not affect the quality of the printout, since when the printer is idle, the ink manages to fill the supply channels, but during continuous printing without interruptions, light stripes and gaps appear due to a lack of ink.

Photo 1. Canon print head test Photo 2. PIXMA IP 4300 print head

The first step is to detect such blockages on the printout of the PG test. Let's take a printout of the Canon IP 4300 test (similar to Canon printers 3000, 4000, 5000 series) and the printout (see photo 1) clearly shows clogged nozzle (area 1, photo 1) and clogged filter with PG channels (area 2, photo 1 ).

Let's consider flushing the Canon PIXMA IP 4300 PG (photo 2) without disassembling, in case of clogging.

You need to stock up:

distillate,

"Silit Bang" does not contain chlorine (see photo 7),

flushing liquid,

container (type of Petri dish)

paper towels,

syringes - 20, 5 and 2 ml.,

PVC tubes with diameters of 4.7 mm.

The sealing gasket is removed from the corresponding color of the inlet pipe. A PVC tube with a diameter of 7 mm is put on it. Before putting it on, you can heat the end of the tube (for example, over the flame of a lighter) and install it tightly. A cut-off body of a 2 ml syringe is inserted on top of the tube (see photo 3), onto the fitting of which a piece of tube with a diameter of 4 mm is subsequently placed. (see photo), for the possibility of further docking with another syringe.

Installation of flushing structure

to the SG receiving fitting Photo 4. Filling "Silit Bang"

Photo 5. "Silit Bang" exposure on the SG receiving fitting

Photo 6. Injection of the Canon print head Photo 7. “Silit Bang” product

The steam generator with the installed structure is immersed in a container into which distillate or washing liquid is poured to a level of up to 5 mm. 1-2 ml is poured into the body of the installed syringe. means "Silit Bang" (see photo 4), and kept for 1-1.5 minutes. (see photo 5). A 20 ml syringe is connected through the tube. and, please note, the syringe piston is pulled out, and the “Silit Bang” product is sucked out, with the head, supply channels and filter mesh washed with washing liquid or distillate (see photo 6). The filled syringe is disconnected and the contents are poured out.

Afterwards, the standard PG washing is performed as described in the previous parts (“Washing the Canon head”, part 1, part 2) of this section. During the washing process, foaming of Silit Bang residues may be observed; in this case, wash with distillate until it is completely clean and free of foam.

Flushing in this way will definitely give positive results, but if there are still blockages, you need to repeat the procedure. And if the blockage has strong resistance, you can use a 10% ammonia solution instead of Silit Bang and let it sit for a few minutes.

More severe head clogs will be discussed in Part 4.

P.S.1. Attention! To avoid mixing of pigment residues, you must first remove the clumps of the pigment head, while making sure that this waste does not fall back into the Petri dish under any circumstances!

Canon head cleaning. Part 4.

The practice of operating inkjet printers shows a significantly larger number of reasons causing malfunctions, decreased quality, or even failure of printing than laser printers. The operation of inkjet printers is influenced by many more factors, often some of them are external, such as temperature, idle time between printing, and changes in atmospheric pressure. And all this happens due to the need to operate fluid flows in conditions of extremely small sections, where the effects of fluidity, viscosity, internal friction forces and surface tensions already increase significantly. The main unit subject to all the misfortunes of the printer’s fate is the print head (PG) of the printer.

This 4th part and subsequent series of articles are intended more for service workers and experienced users who have sufficient experience in operating inkjet printers.

Often, the cause of poor-quality printing may not be in the PG itself, but, for example, in the cartridge seat, due to air leakage due to a leak in the receiving fitting gasket or damage to the cartridge body. Therefore, having gone through all the possible reasons outside the PG, only after that should we seriously begin a “serious” dialogue with the PG.

Photo 1. Applying the solution to the nozzle pad

If previous methods of flushing the PG do not produce results, then you can try to dissolve stubborn clots and blockages by dripping the head with a 10% ammonia solution. This method is especially relevant for PG printers of the BJC and S series, the head of which cannot be disassembled. To do this, the head is installed upward with the nozzle platform and the solution is applied directly to the rows of nozzles (see photo 1). The solution is applied in the form of a slide directly to the rows of nozzles, while trying to avoid excessive contact with the conductor loop. The solution will begin to be absorbed into the PG nozzles and, as it decreases, it will be replenished with a new portion. During this operation, a moment will come when the ammonia solution begins to drip, pouring out of the receiving pipe - this should not stop you, we continue to replenish the melting pile of solution on the nozzle platform. And so the washing can be maintained for half an hour.

It was necessary to use a more concentrated ammonia solution - 25%. However, such a strong chemical attack on the PG was carried out when the blockage was extremely severe, and the possible loss of the PG was logically justified, since no one else undertook to repair the printer, and it was not possible to disassemble the S series head.

I warn you - I do not recommend the use of a 25% ammonia solution, but indicate it as one of the last attempts to break through the recalcitrant PG.

At the end of dripping, rinse (see parts 1, 2) with PG distillate several times, while changing the liquid in the bath several times.

Photo 2. Flushing Canon PG

After the procedure, the head will begin to show signs of life (dry the PG, install and print out the nozzle test), but, as a rule, there are still gaps in the test. You can leave the head on the printer alone for a long time (several hours) and then perform a test. If the result is unsatisfactory, the 10% ammonia solution is dropped again and washed with distillate. For new heads that do not have damage to the cable, 3-4 ml is dissolved in the distillate in a bath (Petri dish). “Silit Bang” product (2-5% solution) and wash your head by pumping (see photo 2). At the same time, the solution in the syringe foams. When finished, rinse thoroughly with distillate, always changing the liquid in the cup until foaming stops in the syringe, during vacuuming and at the outlet of the nozzles, during injection. The head must be free of solution residues before installation.

In the absence of the “Silit Bang” product and its relative high cost ($5.5-7 $), you can use a wash with a blue “Mr. Muscle” solution ($1-1.5 $), but with a higher concentration.

The use of green “Mr. Muscle” is not rational, since it contains ammonia, and it is necessary to carry out additional washing with another solvent (organic alcohols) present in the blue “Mr. Muscle”.

When extruding, you do not need to put in much effort; this will not give a positive result, but can only lead to even more severe blockages, due to the fact that a large particle of solid formation can be sealed tightly into the nozzle. It must be remembered that rinsing the head means dissolving solid deposits and delicately removing them.

P.S.1. “Silit Bang” has the properties of an active aggressive acidic environment pH = 2.2, since sulfuric and nitric acid are present, therefore its prolonged exposure to copper conductors of a frayed or damaged loop can lead to their failure.

P.S.2. If the final rinsing with distillate is poor, an emulsion may remain in the container above the long row of particularly black PG nozzles, which will immediately result in streaky printing and holes in the dough grid. This can also show up in color rows.

Canon head cleaning. Part 5.

Aggressive detergents

Photo 1. Photo 2.

Recently, active, one might even say aggressive, detergents are often used when washing print heads (PGs), which make it possible to remove heavy blockages and old deposits of dried PGs. One of the brightest and most popular representatives among them is the “Cilit Bang” detergent (photo 1), often used when washing the filter mesh and supply channels (photo 2) of Canon PGs.

The product “Cilit Bang” is used in its pure form only for the upper feeding part of the PG (photo 2, PG Canon QY6-0044, QY6-0054), when washing it in a disassembled state.

To flush the PG head itself, “Cilit Bang” can only be used in a weak distillate solution of up to 5%, and then only in cases of extremely complex blockages. It is categorically unacceptable to soak the PG itself in this solution due to the extremely high aggressiveness of pH = 2.1-2.2.

Let's take a closer look at the ongoing processes.

The “Cilit Bang” product is a mixture of sulfuric, nitric acid and surfactants (surfactants that we encounter every day in everyday life). The percentage composition of the product is as follows: sulfuric acid – 30.3%; nitric acid – 52%; distillate, surfactant and fragrance – 17.7%.

Salts (carbonates) of metals act as solid deposits; they react actively with which the acids present enter. Mostly these are salts of calcium, magnesium and iron (photo 3, PG nozzle with deposits).

Let us consider the chemical reactions taking place using the example of the destruction of calcium salts. At the first stage, interaction occurs with nitric acid, which predominates in the solution (52%), resulting in the formation of calcium nitrate and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide quickly breaks down into water and carbon dioxide.

Next, sulfuric acid comes into action, which destroys calcium nitrate, converting it into loose sulfate, while nitric acid is reduced. Now loose and weak metal sulfates can be cleanly extracted from the filter and channels of the upper part of the head.

Now it is clear that nitric acid acts as a solvent, and sulfuric acid acts as a leavening agent and precipitate creator.

The same similar reactions occur with magnesium and iron salts.

This “hellish mixture” cannot affect the structural details of the upper part of the head, since it is made of plastic and the filter is made of synthetic fibers.

Now, having considered the behavior of one of the aggressive representatives of detergents, it is necessary to thoroughly weigh the pros and cons before using them for washing PGs. Such tools must be used with knowledge of the composition of the components and their interaction with the materials of the PG parts.

For warm-up: - imagine the interaction of this solution with the exposed copper conductors of the PG, a scratched or frayed cable?! ...

Ammonia solution and Mr. Muscle detergent

Currently, ammonia solution (ammonia) and “Mr. Muscle” detergent in blue and light green colors are widely used for washing PGs. Namely, “Mr. Muscle”, light green in color, contains in its composition, in addition to ethyl alcohol, also an ammonia solution.

Therefore, we will focus on the reaction of the ammonia solution with solid deposits, which are the main component of severe SG blockages.

Let's consider the reaction of ammonia with lime deposits.

By reacting with insoluble calcium salts, alkali and soluble precipitates are formed. It is clear that such substances are removed when washing the head.

Reactions with salts of other metals are similar, also leading to the formation of soluble and unstable salts.

The mechanism of washing with an ammonia solution is now clear, the essence of which is to convert sediment salts into soluble substances.

P.S. The site team and readers express their gratitude to Yuri Polishchuk (perevozchik) for conducting laboratory research.

Canon head cleaning. Part 6.

Disassembling the printing unit

Starting with the i250 printer, Canon has provided us with an excellent opportunity to disassemble the print assembly, which is extremely necessary for severe print head (PH) blockages. Washing the disassembled printing unit makes it possible to completely clean the supply channels, gasket, filter meshes and the PG itself.

Issues of electronics, images of parts and filters of the PG are perfectly discussed and presented in the article by Mikhail Yuryevich (mag54) “Canon print head (PG), an outside view” (StartCopy.net).

Reminder: - when starting work, guided by articles from part 4 and above, it is necessary to understand the full responsibility of the danger of damage (DH), up to its irreversible loss.

Let's consider the process of disassembling and washing the steam generator step by step.

i250 series printers - 1000, 1500 and 2000 Canon.

In photo 1, arrows indicate the attachment points of the contact pad, which are made in the form of plastic rivets. They must be carefully cut off with a knife without damaging the enamel of the printed circuit board with contact pads. The red arrow indicates the cut rivet.

Photo 1. Print unit Canon QY6-0044 Photo 2. Disassembling the print unit Canon

Photo 3. Difficulties during disassembly

Next, unscrew the screws (see photo 2) securing the base of the PG to the body of the printing unit. When unscrewing screws, you may encounter such a tight fit that you can even cut off the slots of the screw head. In this case, you can preheat the body of the self-tapping screw with a soldering iron tip (see photo 3). When performing heating, overheating of the screw is dangerous, since the seating part of the assembly body can melt.

Let's digress: I couldn't unscrew the screws on the head of the Canon 4300 printer, even with the help of heat, completely cutting off the slots of the screw - and finally getting angry, I took a drill, a drill bit of dia. 3 mm. and began to drill out the heads of the screws, with the expectation of cutting them off (then unscrew the remains of the body of the screws with pliers), and; - at the moment of drilling, a comrade comes to me, ...... he froze in the doorway!

You need to see - drill the PG with a half kilowatt drill!

Use a screwdriver to pry up the porcelain (white) base of the PG and separate it from the body (see photo 4). The base may dry strongly onto the gasket and require a little force to remove it.

Photo 4. Removal of the PG base Photo 5. Extracted base with PG

Photo 6. Base with PG and rubber gasket

Attention: it is necessary to separate the porcelain base of the PG, indicated in photo 4 by the blue arrow, and in no case should you tear off the cover of the supply channels by mistake (indicated by the red arrow)!

Photo 7. PG gasket Photo 8. Top cover and outlet of supply channels

Photo 7 shows the head gasket located between the cover of the supply channels and the base of the PG. The arrows indicate bottlenecks where paint clots may accumulate.

Photo 8 shows the surface of the supply channel cover, where:

seats for head fastening screws;

black ink supply pipe;

supply pipes for color ink.

For the cohort of “I want to know everything!” lovers Photo 9 shows the removed top cover of the supply channels, where the supply channels are clearly visible (indicated by white arrows). It is strictly forbidden to remove this cover, and there is no need to do so. The problem is that the lid is hermetically sealed along the walls of the channels and if it is torn off from the body, it will no longer be possible to seal it hermetically. Photos 9 and 10 show the details of an already “dead” SG, so to disassemble it to such an extent is to deliberately destroy the SG.

Photo 9. Removed cover of supply channels

Photo 10. PG and base

The porcelain base (see photo 10) consists of two parts; a massive base 1 and a thin plate 2, onto which the PG is directly glued. Both parts are glued together and disassembly is impossible.

The photo also shows the glued colored PG 3, but already torn off from the contact strip of conductors.

The supply channel of the base of the black PG (see photo 10, item 4) is made in the shape of a truncated pyramid.

Rice. 1. SG design

Figure 1 schematically shows a section of a black PG along the axis, where:

pipe of the cover of the supply channels (photo 8, item 2),

gasket (photo 7),

porcelain base PG (photo 10, item 1),

gluing the plate and base,

porcelain plate PG (photo 10, item 2),

PG housing,

PG nozzle area,

the area where ink clots are most likely to be deposited (photo 10, item 5).

Photo 11. Washing supply channels and filters.

Now, having considered the limit of the degree of possible disassembly, we will proceed to washing the supply channels and filters of the housing.

While washing the housing, the PG with the base (see photo 6) can be placed in a washing liquid with a low level in the container, so that only the PG itself and the porcelain base are immersed in the liquid. It is advisable not to wet the el. cable, especially if there are scratches or damage to the coating (the likelihood of a short circuit in the cable increases).

The lower part of the housing of the supply channels is immersed in heated industrial water. liquid and injecting is performed according to the method described in previous chapters (see photo 11). Even aggressive detergents can be used as a flushing liquid, since the material of the housing and filters is inert.

Injection is stopped when the liquid begins to move freely in the forward and reverse directions and the force on the piston becomes very small. In other words, it is easily pumped with a syringe.

In case of severe blockages, you can draw liquid into the syringe from the head immersed in the flush from the base side. To do this, the PG is located in the liquid with the nozzle platform down, and the liquid is drawn in from the base through the holes with a syringe. The nozzle pad should not be allowed to come into contact with hard objects, so you can place the PG on two toothpicks at the edges of the body.

Any slightest scratch on the nozzle pad can lead to irreversible misalignment of the jets due to damage to the edges of the nozzles.

Pieces of soft tubing are placed on the tip of the syringe (elastic adapters for a medical transfusion system can be used). Photo 12 shows the installation of tubes of different diameters for the possibility of extruding black and colored PG. The force of pressing the syringe against the porcelain base should be minimal, only to allow suction and removal of liquid.

We carry out such an operation carefully, without being distracted by other matters; the PG will not forgive accidental sudden efforts.

Canon 4000 and 5000 series printer head

For our regular readers, we present photos of the structural elements of PG series 4000 and 5000.

Design description and flushing operation will be provided soon.

Photo 13. Unscrewing the mounting screws

Photo 14. PG contact pad

Photo 15. Plastic cover and head gasket

Photo 16. PG nozzle areas Photo 17. Print head with contact plate

Photo 18. PG gasket Photo 18. Flushing the housing

Owners of Canon printers periodically have to clean their devices. This process is not always easy; it requires caution and knowledge of some rules for performing this procedure. You can contact a special service for help, but today we will tell you how to carry out this task at home.

When you start cleaning equipment, you should touch absolutely all the necessary components in order to accurately get rid of any problems that have arisen or to avoid their occurrence in the future. Each component is cleaned using its own method. In some situations, hardware will come to the rescue, but most manipulations must be done manually. Let's look at everything in order.

Step 1: Exterior Surfaces

First of all, let's deal with the external surfaces. To do this you will need to use a dry soft cloth. Before starting, be sure to turn off the power to the printer and do not use rough cloth or paper towels, which may scratch the surface. In addition, the use of chemical cleaners, gasoline or acetone is contraindicated. Such liquids can easily cause serious problems.

Once you have prepared the fabric, carefully go through all areas of the equipment to remove dust, cobwebs and foreign objects.

Step 2: Scanner Glass and Cover

Many Canon printer models are equipped with a built-in scanner. Its inner side and lid play an important role. Contamination that appears on them can affect the deterioration of scanning quality or even cause failures during this process. Here we also recommend using a dry cloth, always without lint, so that it does not remain on the surface. Clean the glass and the inside of the lid, making sure there is no more dust or stains.

Step 3: Feed Rollers

Incorrect paper feeding is most often caused by contamination of the rollers responsible for moving it. It is not recommended to clean the rollers just like that, since they wear out quite a lot during scrolling. Perform this only if necessary:

Sometimes a paper feeding error cannot be solved by this method, so you need to manually wipe the rollers. Use a damp cotton swab for this. Clean both elements by accessing them through the rear tray. It is important not to touch them with your fingers.

Step 4: Cleaning the Tray

It is recommended to regularly remove contaminants from the internal components of the printer, as they can cause stains to appear on the finished printed sheets. This procedure can be done manually as follows:

Wait for the paper to dispense. Pay attention to the fold, if there are ink stains there, repeat this step. If the second time is unsuccessful, wipe the protruding internal parts of the device with a cotton pad or swab. Be sure to turn off the power before doing this.

Step 5: Cartridges

Sometimes the ink in the cartridges dries out, so you have to clean them. You can use the services of a service center, but the task at hand can be easily solved at home. There are two methods of washing, they differ in complexity and effectiveness. Read more about the instructions on this topic in our other article at the following link.

If, after cleaning or replacing the ink tank, you have a problem locating it, we suggest using the guide presented in the material below. There you will find several methods to solve this problem.

Step 6: Software Cleanup

The printer driver includes various functional features. In the device management menu you will find tools, after launching which will begin automatically cleaning the components. Owners of Canon equipment need to do the following:

You can run all the functions one by one to achieve good results. Additionally, after performing such actions, we recommend calibrating the device. Our other article will help you figure it out.

This completes the Canon printer cleaning procedure. As you can see, the task can be accomplished independently; it will not be difficult. The main thing is to follow the instructions exactly and carefully perform each action.