Thanks for posting the video showing how to clean a Canon print head. I was close to throwing in the towel when, despite numerous cleanings using the printer controls, I could not get certain tanks unclogged, and everything I printed was coming out cyan. Your video was easy to follow and your technique worked perfectly. I didn't even have to soak the print head overnight. The printer is now like new! Keep up the fantastic work you post on UA-cam. It's appreciated.
It totally worked for me! My magenta wasn't printing at all when I had installed a new cartridge. Tried deep cleaning twice. Didn't work. Tried this, although I didn't wait for it to dry overnight. I just wiped it dry, and also used a blow dryer on cool to help the drying process. Tried it out, and magenta started printing, but then my yellow stopped printing this time. Tried the process again, and now everything is fine. I would recommend after it runs clear, leaving it in the water for about 15min for good measure, and then dried thoroughly. Thank you so much! You've saved me from buying a new printer or printerhead!
Hey Tom. Thank you for taking the time to help people whom you will never meet. The internet is amazing and lets people like you make huge changes. Still cleaning the print head, but I am thankful to you regardless of the result.
@@patrickhenry8711 no no... Thank you for thanking him, we all need to be more thoughtful to each other 😃 PS in a couple of years there's going to be a nasty virus called COVID 19 that sweeps the world, so take care 😷👍
Despite lots of cleaning routines and changing ink tanks with no improvement to printing quality I was about to give up and buy a new printer until I found this video. So simple and the printing results are back to excellent. Many thanks
Impatient, opened up the print head (i900D), taped over the contacts, ran a tiny stream of hot water (kit sink) through ALL THE OPENINGS for several minutes and set it aside a bit. Repeated several times, blew out with 'canned air' and wouldn't have done it without your instructional encouragement! Great job Tom!!
Thanks Tom , your easy to follow instructions worked to perfection . That old 12 year old printer has been so reliable , but using generic ink at a quarter of the cost of the real mc coy for the last 3 years obviously caused the issue , now working like new , i salute you .
Worked perfectly after setting out in the sun a couple of hours to dry. Thank you for helping the environment by not having to junk a functioning printer!
I am always cleaning print heads and it does not matter if the contacts get wet. in fact I find the best way is to use warm / hot water in a ultrasonic jewellery cleaner tank and I fully immerse the print head. This I find has been the best way but even this sometimes takes time to fully clean the heads.
Incredible! I just dropped my print head in my sonic bath and it really did do a great job cleaning it. How long should you wait before putting it back into service?
Tom, this worked for me. Canon service center told me they would charge $120 to diagnose, plus parts. Said it was cheaper to replace. This diy fix saved me @$400! Many thanks!!!
I tried everything to fix my Cannon MX922, kept getting the error code B200. Finally I found this UA-cam video for removing, cleaning, and reinstalling the printhead. I followed the instructions exactly. Honestly I didn't expect it to work, but, it did. I can now print. Yay and thank you.
Thank you for this. I was just about to bin my old printer after it stopped printing blacks but thought I'd give this a try. A few hours soaking later and it's working perfectly again, brilliant!
THANK YOU KING I run a small business and my printer randomly stopped printing the PGBK ink. Canon website told me to run through the built in cleaning functions and neither of them fixed the issue. This manual cleaning did!
It's crazy how this video is almost at 2 million views. Of course often people simply let their print head clog because they don't print enough, but this can't be all of them. There are so many posts online of people who have no idea what went wrong. I myself am here because my FULL Magenta cartridge didn't print at all anymore. From one day to the next. It went from perfect nozzle check to simply gone in less than 24 hours. Canon's printers and especially their ink are both WAY, WAY too expensive for this stuff to be happening so frequently. Especially keeping in mind their INSANE repair rates, in addition to shipping a 20 kilogram package two ways.
Great! It’s Very precise and to the point. I love this video because it is short, no distracting music or animations. Hope I’ll be able to use my printer again.
Zuper! Thanks a lot, Tom. You've given me not just the knowledge of how to fix my blocked nozzle(s), but the confidence that - if I'm careful - I won't be damaging the printer.
Thanks Tom. I had the error that my printer didn't have a print head or had incompatible print head. Your cleaning process was very simple and cured the error. Thanks so much. Great advice.
9 years on since the last comment. I've a much newer Pixma that had a tiny piece of paper stuck under the print head, smudging all of my printouts. While the mechanism for releasing the print head is different, your video brought realisation that the thing could be removed with comparative ease and I'm finally getting clean printouts again! Thanks so much!!
I have tried every advice i could find and nothing worked or worked for a while. Thank you so much for this simple , super easy and really effective solution. I saved a lot not having to pay someone to repair or buy a new printer, which i was ready to do, dumping one more piece of trash in a landfill. THANK YOU !!!!
I just finished following this video instruction and it helped me 100% from a very clogged printhead to a smooth and clean! thank you very much Tom! Keep the good work! Cheers!!!
Thanks so much. A picture is worth a thousand words. I was afraid the cartridges would dry up if we left them out for all the time you suggested. So we rinsed as shown, shook off the water and dabbed, then finished off with a hairdryer on low, for a few seconds. After a deep clean cycle it WORKED! Total time around 15 minutes.
Thanks for your info , nothing too complicated just using warm water and clear the blocked head , easy instructions and not damaging the print head , your vlog has helped and my printer is now fully operational again . Once again thank you i was going to throw out the printer as i couldn't get it working till i found your vlog .Brilliant
OMG!!! It worked. I tried several times last night and wasted almost a cartridge of black ink doing deep cleanings. I have a Canon iX6520 and it has been a great printer. I looked up to see how much a new printer-head was going to cost $106.00 and a new printer was almost $250.00. What did I have to loss? So I followed your directions to a tee. You saved me a lot of $$$$. Thank you so much for tutorial!! I am so excited.
Brilliant ....so simple and worked a treat. All the colours showed up clear after continual blotting except for the yellow which kept leaving a trace. Three hours later and no trace of yellow and now perfect printing. Thanks!
Most indebted to you. I had ordered a new printer as nothing in the manual helped. My printer was just as you described and following your instructions the cleaning worked a treat and worked perfectly on reassembly. Cancelled my purchase from Argos. You saved me £80.00. Cant thank you enough.
thanks for taking the time on this Tom. I found that a turkey baster was the ideal size to fill and put the nozzle over the print head jets and gently squeeze through. Remember to keep the open side down slightly so the head-bays don't overspill and contaminate those next door. Also, lift the turkey baster to avoid drawing any of the ink back up. It's direct, avoids spillage, the print head can be suspended over a plastic dish and there's no chance of getting the back-contact-board wet as Tom highlights. Others have gone out and bought a new printer having had this error message. Mine is back and working.
Even though my printer is a MP830, I used this video to remove and clean my printer head. I still had the error message after I reinstalled the print head. I then removed the print head again and used canned air to blow out any dust particles from inside the printer. When I was done, I reinstalled the print head and everything worked perfectly. Thank you Tom for this video
Thank you. I think you just saved my 10ish year old printer. It had started printing blank pages, and the nozzle test only printed four bars instead of I think it’s three for each of the five colours. I thought it was a software issue as I’d just set it up with my secondhand computer, and suddenly couldn’t print from my 8 year old iPhone. But when I saw the nozzle test failed I realised it’s probably the print head that’s the problem here, and the amount of ink that came out into the water pretty much confirmed that. I did use a couple of drops of ammonia in the water, like the person further down suggests, and a spray bottle of warm water instead of the teaspoon. Unlike them I began with ammonia in the water and added a little with each change. And I used fairly warm (tap) water to do it. I didn’t want to waste time making distilled water, and I no longer have access to a deioniser. I also thought it was a cleaning job and they always go better with warm water. So it’s currently soaking overnight. I did four washes in total. The first two the water was completely black. After that I was seeing some colours come out. The final water is just vaguely green tinted. The print head looks very clean now, before it was looking very dirty with ink slopped around everywhere. So I would be very surprised if it doesn’t work tomorrow or the next day when I reassemble it. I will comment further once I’ve done so. Even if it doesn’t work, this method is a very good method and would surely work for most users with a clogged print head. You should all try it.
I have a Canon 880 Pixma. The method worked perfectly. In addition to doing what you prescribed, I also turned the head upside down and blew air into the ink grids using a camera cleaning air balloon, taking all the precautions to blow away from the electronic contacts. Thank you very much Tom.
Hi Tom, thanks to your video I have been able to fix my problem with my Canon MG7752 refusing to print cyan ink even after several deep cleans. Removing the printhead and putting it back was a bit fiddly as the cover on my printer model doesn't open fully. However your cleaning technique worked a treat. Like many others I have been spared the time and expense of trying to source a new printhead or printer. I am very grateful.
This is a great intro, I just cleaned my mg8220 printhead mostly using this info. I used warm distilled water and submerged the head. I used a large peanut butter jar to hold the head while soaking and also used a bit of pay for ammonia cleaner, which sure looked like ammonia soap usually purchased in gallons. Windex, fireplace glass cleaner, and ammonia soap all contain ammonia and I suspect could be used if rinsed out afterwards. I also tried a spray bottle instead of a spoon. Either would have taken years. My jar was perfect to hold the head vertically on it's side and keep both the foil print face and contacts from touching anything even if I dropped the jar. I did about 10 cycles of letting the unit soak for 1-3 mins, swirling the water around, repeat a few times and then replace the water and start over. How long, and how many times and how much water you will use will depend on how dirty the head is. my water never did get 100% clean. I then removed it from the jar, shook it off, blew it off gently with a hair dryer and let it sit on it's side in front of a forced air heater vent overnight (it's winter here). I put about a quarter oz of ammonia stuff in on the second soak. I should have stored the print cartridges in a zip lock. They dry out fast. After reinstalling the unit and a mix of new and old cartridges as some were low anyway, I ran deep clean to prime them, then printed the check pattern. Perfect, new machine. BTW don't fear deep clean, it just pumps ink thru the head and allows the used ink to dry on some surface in the printer. If you ran it 100 times, the printer would probably just pee ink. Messy but cleans up with soap and water.
Hi Tom. Followed your suggestions and thank goodness my printer is now working again. What a clever boy you are !! But seriously, thank you so much. I was about to throw out the printer. You've saved me lots of £££££££££s. Absolutely thrilled.
Your video was wonderful. My printer is quite old and I have never cleaned it. It was quite gratifying! I must have done 10 water exchanges Your video was very clear, concise and your directions were so easy to follow. Thanks
This totally fixed my problem! I got a horrible "b200" error on my Canon photo printer and it was telling me to contact Canon technical support so that I could get the printer sent in for fixing. I looked across the internet for an easy solution, but nothing worked. I finally seriously thought about sending the printer to Best Buy to have the Geek Squad work on it, but then, at the last minute I stumbled on this video. Well, cleaning the printer heads worked!!! Thanks Tom! No more error message on my very expensive photo printer!!!! Yay!
I'm getting a message saying that the wrong printhead is installed. LOVE my printer...have had it for 6-7 years at least (Pixma MP600) and it has been awesome. First problem, and I do not want to spend the money to buy a new one that I won't like as well. Praying this works....
I saved myself from buying a new printer with this info. I was VERY derilict in my care of my printer , but now it's working perfectly. Thanks so much to Tom!
Tom!! This was an amazing and very successful cleaning technique. I have been battling for hours, performing deep cleaning, nozzle cleaning etc and your technique worked first time. Given my Canon Pro100-S a new lease of life. I would buy you a beer with this tip!!. Thank you so much. No where in any of the canon documentation is this mentioned!!
WOW I tried cleaning 4 times and nothing . I coudn't believe how easy and effective this was..Thank you so much for taking the time to share this video. Suzanne
This worked just fine on my MG5200. The pigment black and dye blue were both being stubborn, now they print as expected. I used a large syringe (I got those when I switched to refill ink cartridges on a different printer) to help propel the water through the inside print head screens. The stuff that came out!! Thanks a million!
Yes, the syringe idea helped me to clean out a stubborn black dye. Wasn't completely coming out even after long soakings. I squirt the water right on top, carefully, of the ink circles with fairly hot water. Thanks for the idea!
Great video. I've used this numerous times but I've discovered that if you carefully remove the 2 small screws it gives access to the rubber grommet and the holes that inject the inks. Remove the rubber grommet, just clean all the holes as you would normally (I carefully used anti bacterial alcohol hand gel then removed with running hot water), replace the grommet and screws. Luckily I was only required to clean this way once.
very clearly explained. Didn't realise the contacts cannot get wet. This iP4000 is 11 years old and gives me less trouble than my much newer 7200, so it's worth at least a try at getting it working again. Thanks for your help, Duncan
This worked PERFECTLY! I hadn't used my Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mark ii for a couple years and my black and yellow jets were super clogged. Now working like new.
My printer MP560 displayed error code U052. After watching this video. I follow instruction and full detail on this video. Now my printer is working like a champ. THANK-YOU SO MUCH for posted this video.
My old Canon IP4200 was printing blank paper since 3 weeks ago and I tried almost every techniques but it didn't work until I saw your video. I decided to give it one last try since I'm ready to buy another new printer but guess what, your technique works! Oh thank you soooooooo much! Not only I'm so thankful but also my printer & our mother Earth! :-D
I just followed your instructions as my Canon MX700 is no longer printing black any more. As soon as I put the print-head into the warm water I had a black soup so I had to remove the water and the same happend again. Then I removed the water again and I had a blue soup all of a sudden followed by red and finally yellow. Now the water stays clean but I let it stay in there now for the recommended time. I have the Printer since 2008 in use and never cleaned the print head so this explains why yours looked like new compared to my one when I took it out the first time. :-) Great video!!! Big thanks for the help!
Tom - This worked perfectly. I have the Canon PIXMA MX922, and I was getting a Support Code 5200 that I couldn't get rid off. I removed the printhead and cleaned it in accordance with your guidance, and my printer is back and working. THANKS!!!
Worked like a Gun.. Thank you very much for a useful tip.. I use a Canon Pro 9000 II printer and my green and photo Cyan was clogged.. repeated for 25 times of cleaning and set the head to dry for 10 hours.. installed it back and its printing like new.. So glad I found this one.. I previously had a small photo printer for which I followed one more youtube video and ran it thru the tap water.. I dint know the chip part shouldn't be touched or cleaned.. I had to scrap the whole printer.. first I was skeptical to wash my pro 9000 this way and had to give it a try.. this method worked like a gun.. Thanks again Tom for the wonderful tip..
Great help. However I was searching for "clean canon mg6120 ink absorber" Then I saw your title and tried it. Very informative. At this moment I am soaking the print heads. Stay tuned.
Thank you so much for this info. My black cartridge went completely dry and even when I put in a new black cartridge my printer wouldn't print black. I followed your step by step info and now my canon ts9120 is printing perfectly again! 😊
Yeah thanks, I have a canon MP540 that stopped working at the worst time. As what canon printers are notorious for. I was researching to buy one at first, but since I really needed documents printed ASAP it was the last resort. I removed all the cartridges and the head. Put tape over the gold and removed the rubber O-rings. Then in the sink washed the head and O-rings with water till all the ink was out and dryed it. Now it works like it was brand new and saved me not only time but money! Canon doesn't have this in there manual and wants you to depend on them. Guys It really does work, just completely wash out and clogs and all the ink till the head looks new. And bam your printer will work again.
Thanks for saving my printer! I was in a real rush so want for the fast and dirty version: pull apart, rinse in hot water about 10 times. pat and shake dry. put back in printer with fingers crossed. run cleaning cycle once. print. 20 mins of effort, and printer is like new again. Many thanks!
Hi Tom! I did this with distilled "warmed" water and used a syringe to add water from the top and it ran through nicely. Dried it on paper towels and used photography sensor clean to wipe off the contacts on the back just to cover all the bases. Also, when I dried it out, I put it inside a Tupperware food container with several desiccant packets to accelerate the drying. Clean as NEW. Of course, my Canon Printer still is flashing the yellow light and isn't working, but the print head is super clean and I will use this method on my new printer when it arrives :) Thank you soooo much, I appreciate the tutorial! I am replacing this printer with a Epson I'm afraid.
If I could hug you right now-- I would!! this was extremely helpful. I can't believe that an 11-year old video could be so helpful as it relates to technology
I really like your clear and calm delivery style. I a midway through my cleaning process and have every confidence that it will work. While doing this I removed the ink absorber pad (could not find any videos on doing this), and just hope I can reinsert it properly. If you have not done a video on this process, it could help others too. Thank you.
thank you Tom! I can't believe I managed to fix the printer with the print error 'ink tank near full' - I went to ask for help at a place that has techs & his advise was to ' just buy a new one " So instead I nervously tried this [ the stubborn cartridge was moving so fast; but I managed to catch it - then turn off the power...etc] Then used your advice! It's working!!! Yay ! Thanks for being there.
Wow! so simple. I'd always been told that you had to virtually take the entire printer apart to get at the heads, but, no its as simple as removing the inks and flipping up a lever. Thanks for sharing that advice.
Great video! Only 2 comments: 1/ The print head lock mechanism varies with different Canon printers. Finding how to open it up took me time on the TS705! 2/ I taped up the upturned ink cartridges' ports overnight to prevent accidental spillages and possible ingress of dust.
I realize this is an old video but I'd like to thank you regardless for the straightforward and short tutorial! My Pixma Pro-100 had a clogged nozzle (Cyan) and I cleaned it per your instructions - except instead of a spoon I used a pointy plastic syringe to channel water where it needs to go. When I print the test sheet, I still see a teeny bit of banding in Cyan so I might redo the cleaning again this weekend but for now I'm just glad to see it actually works. Thanks again!
OMG thank you so much for your video. It seems so simple - who thought water could do such a great job. I was about ready to throw away my Canon Pixma because I did at least 2 deep cleanings. Nothing was working. I did what you said. It is amazing when you think they are clean, still alot more ink but after doing it probably 40 times, I did one final overnight. Lt it thoroughly dry then put it in keeping my fingers crossed. Wow I have a working printer again. I am amazed your simple idea worked - thank you so much and heartily recommend this inexpensive fix to anyone. THANK YOU!
Thanks!! Tried several times the cleaning and deep cleaning on the Canon maintenance site, that didn't help, not a single black ink spot on the paper. Your cleaning method with water really helped, good prints now
Works great and now my 10 year old Canon Pro9000 MKII prints like new. The generic ink had dried up a bit over a summer of non-use and the colors were way off and had a serious magenta hue. I used a combination of methods from yours, the many comments here, plus other 10 year-old instructions on DP review. Don't worry about getting the connections wet-- it doesn't matter at all. Flush in the sink under fairly hot tap water, no need to mess around with spoons etc, switching from ink hole inlets to print outlets, back and forth, until it drains clean-- could take 10 minutes or longer. Soak the print head outlet side in about 1/8" Windex for an hour or 2, just so the fluid comes to the top of the print head. Rinse again with hot water faucet, both inlet and outlet for a few minutes, back and forth, both sides. You can blast some water in with a plastic syringe for an extra thorough job, but probably not necessary in most cases. Shake the water out. Pour some isopropyl alcohol around the head so some gets inside around the back of the print head to help dry things off inside there. Shake thoroughly for a few minutes to get rid of most water/alchohol. Dry with a hair dryer on "no heat' setting, high air flow, from about 12" away for few minutes until dry. Rub the contacts gently with a lint free cloth to clean them, just in case they were dirty. You're done-- insert print head and have at it. Works like a charm- takes about 2 hours. My 10 year old printer prints like brand new, perfect colors. By all means, use generic ink, but make sure you print something or do a nozzle check every week or two to prevent any drying/clogging. I just ordered a Canon 6 tank
Thank you for posting this tutorial Tom. My Canon Pro 9000 Mk II would not show any green at all on a nozzle check even after several deep cleanings. All of the other colors were ok and the printer “thought” that all of the inks were functioning normally. I did exactly as you recommended using distilled water. I really didn’t expect it to work but after one deep cleaning the nozzle check was perfect.
Tom, I just put my printer head in a safe place to dry. I'll let you know tomorrow when I reinstall it if this gets rid of that B200 error. Thank you for these instructions. If I would have known or seen a video like this 7 years ago, I wouldn't have gotten rid of my first Canon printer. I love Canon products because they last.
Many thanks for a really useful video Tom. My Canon MP 610 wasn't printing photo's properly, but after following your instructions it's now working perfectly again.......thanks again.......Pete
I have a Cannon MP620 - it is a little different, but essentially the same. I took the print head out and cleaned it as you described (I used distilled water as I always have it around here). IT WORKED - PERFECTLY!! I wanted to thank you for your help. It is greatly appreciated and the printer works great once again!
Thank you for not taking down this video!! Also, thank you for sharing what Canon apparently feels is esoteric information. Their support site is worthless if you need help beyond the owner's manual. In fact, they don't even recognize their own printer model at that site.
Rob in West Vancouver . . . this was fantastic, pone of those invaluable gems the manufacturer or supplier never tell you about . . . love it. Thanks Tom.
This worked perfectly for me! took me about an hour of repeatedly soaking and drying and spooning water into the tops but eventually no more ink was coming out and I let the thing air dry and now it prints beautifully agian :)
Hi Tom, I had a severely clogged black nozzle on my MG7720. I took the printhead out and cleaned it the way you showed and it works just like new. Thanks so much.
This worked perfectly for me with a printer I was given, rarely used and the cartridges all dried-up, and the Black PGBK nozzle completely clogged. A 20-minute wash in a plastic bowl, changing the water about a dozen times until clear, reinstalled everything, and it worked like new. Thanks for a great vid.
I'm using a prehistoric Canon MG6600 and even though this video is extremely helpful in the cleaning portion, I couldn't remove the printhead with these instructions. So, I called Canon and confessed to using generic ink and overusing this old workhorse of a printer. The tech was quite kind and said that to remove the head on this old printer, keep it plugged in after removing the cartridges. Then depress the STOP button until the carrier slightly re-positions itself to the very middle position. Now, the color coded bar at the front of the carrier can be pulled (snapped) forward slightly, making it simple to remove the printhead.
Hello, you can put all the printhead under the water, even under running water (hot water). Be sure, you will not damage your printhead, BUT be sure to dry it before reinstall it.
Hey Tom: My Canon MG7720 PGBK was so clogged that when I did "deep cleaning", the pattern for PGBK wouldn't even show up. Needless to say I was getting pure white papers in B&W print out. I saw your video, followed the recipe (down to a spoon for pouring water), and after putting the head back, the printing works like the printer is new! I was thinking I may have to buy a new printer. More than the money, you helped me save the environment a bit.. Thanks!!
quote from some forum, just for information purposes: "Bad clogs are ONLY CAUSE BY CONTINUING TO PRINT when the ink is low. Bad clogs are the result of small amounts of ink being "Burned" on the walls of each nozzle as it is heated over and over with insufficient ink."
The careful, conservative approach recommended in the video is good advice. I had to rejuvenate the printhead on my old iP4200, in which the ink cartridges had totally dried up after three years of disuse. The warm water treatment was working...slowly. I'm impatient so I added three drops of household ammonia to the water the printhead was soaking in. Results were instantaneous and dramatic--flakes of dried ink cascaded off the bottom of the printhead, along with a lot of dissolved ink dye. When I set it on the paper towel to absorb the rehydrated ink from the jets on the head, much more was released each time than had been the case with just water. Also, an eye dropper is the most efficient way to put ammonia-laced water onto the cartridge seats. The gunk there also dissolved much faster. The whole process took me about half an hour and the printer was working as it always did within an hour. The moral: Add a few drops of ammonia to the soak.
Wow! My Pixma 6150 now working like new. I wouldn't have dared dismantle it without this tutorial. But I'm impatient so I copied the commenters here who ran it (carefully) under the tap, then dried it with kitchen towel and hair drier. Took me 15 minutes max. Brilliant. Not many tech videos so useful 6 years on!
Thank you SOO much Tom for your fantastic instructions on how to clean canon printer, no wonder mine wasn't printing right! I have never cleaned it for years!! Joan UK :)
Excellent video - was about to buy a new printer because all my pages were blank no matter now many deep cleanings I did. Not to mention I was going broke buying ink trying to clean it. Will never do that again! I used warm water and a plastic syringe with a fine pointed tip which allowed me to gently blast the ink through each of the pathways. I had the syringe left over from when I had a tooth pulled :-) Anyway, I did about 10 passess on each of the ink pathways. Sped up the process a bit. I let it sit for about a half an hour after the water ran mostly clear.
Great vid ! I got exactly the info I needed to clean and fix my MG5220 which had stopped printing the black. It printed the other colors, just not black. The vid shows how to remove the print head - mine was all crudded up with ink, which I just gently cleaned off (didn't wash it) and it is back to normal. Yay. My faith in humanity is restored.
Thanks for the Video. Had a canon 870 that was not playing ball. Basically followed your example. Used medical cleaning syringe to "inject" warm water back through the lines instead of the spoon. But your instructions were clear and concise. Actually I did not know that you could do this until I saw your Video. All working good now. Thanks.
Thanks a lot, I was sceptical but it worked a treat, kept swapping water until it was completely clear, let it thoroughly dry before I replaced it and my cannon now prints better than it has in ages and with generic cheap ink too. Very pleased
Thank you so much. This cleaning process just worked perfectly on my trusty old Canon Pro 9000 Mark II that had finally clogged up the PM cartridge. Great video.
Good one Tom. Just and extra hint-help. I do my own cleaning on my Canon printers and I find using a 20 to 50 mls syringe and some soft tube that is just big enough to fit over the black ink hole, over and around the gauze. After I have copied all your directions I gently introduce warm water into the cartridge inlets on the print head using the syringe and soft tubing that has been attached to the syringe via intermeiate tubing or glue etc. Works for me.
Thank you so much for showing. The clogged print head gives me a big headache when I can't print coupons and shipping labels for my small home business. I am soaking the print head right now per your instruction. Hope it will work just great like other ppl here.
Thanks for posting the video showing how to clean a Canon print head. I was close to throwing in the towel when, despite numerous cleanings using the printer controls, I could not get certain tanks unclogged, and everything I printed was coming out cyan. Your video was easy to follow and your technique worked perfectly. I didn't even have to soak the print head overnight. The printer is now like new!
Keep up the fantastic work you post on UA-cam. It's appreciated.
It totally worked for me! My magenta wasn't printing at all when I had installed a new cartridge. Tried deep cleaning twice. Didn't work. Tried this, although I didn't wait for it to dry overnight. I just wiped it dry, and also used a blow dryer on cool to help the drying process. Tried it out, and magenta started printing, but then my yellow stopped printing this time. Tried the process again, and now everything is fine. I would recommend after it runs clear, leaving it in the water for about 15min for good measure, and then dried thoroughly.
Thank you so much! You've saved me from buying a new printer or printerhead!
The clening process worked me in the same way for the MG 6450 head. Very useful tip!
Hey Tom. Thank you for taking the time to help people whom you will never meet. The internet is amazing and lets people like you make huge changes. Still cleaning the print head, but I am thankful to you regardless of the result.
"Thank you for taking the time to help people whom you will never meet." A very thoughtful response. Yes, thank from all of us!
@@patrickhenry8711 no no... Thank you for thanking him, we all need to be more thoughtful to each other 😃
PS in a couple of years there's going to be a nasty virus called COVID 19 that sweeps the world, so take care 😷👍
Despite lots of cleaning routines and changing ink tanks with no improvement to printing quality I was about to give up and buy a new printer until I found this video. So simple and the printing results are back to excellent. Many thanks
Impatient, opened up the print head (i900D), taped over the contacts, ran a tiny stream of hot water (kit sink) through ALL THE OPENINGS for several minutes and set it aside a bit. Repeated several times, blew out with 'canned air' and wouldn't have done it without your instructional encouragement! Great job Tom!!
Thanks Tom , your easy to follow instructions worked to perfection .
That old 12 year old printer has been so reliable , but using generic ink at a quarter of the cost of the real mc coy for the last 3 years obviously caused the issue , now working like new , i salute you .
Worked perfectly after setting out in the sun a couple of hours to dry. Thank you for helping the environment by not having to junk a functioning printer!
I am always cleaning print heads and it does not matter if the contacts get wet. in fact I find the best way is to use warm / hot water in a ultrasonic jewellery cleaner tank and I fully immerse the print head. This I find has been the best way but even this sometimes takes time to fully clean the heads.
Incredible! I just dropped my print head in my sonic bath and it really did do a great job cleaning it. How long should you wait before putting it back into service?
Tom, this worked for me. Canon service center told me they would charge $120 to diagnose, plus parts. Said it was cheaper to replace. This diy fix saved me @$400! Many thanks!!!
Wonderful! Whenever I was left out of options I only go through your video and always findthe best way to solve my problem.
I tried everything to fix my Cannon MX922, kept getting the error code B200. Finally I found this UA-cam video for removing, cleaning, and reinstalling the printhead. I followed the instructions exactly. Honestly I didn't expect it to work, but, it did. I can now print. Yay and thank you.
Thank you for this. I was just about to bin my old printer after it stopped printing blacks but thought I'd give this a try. A few hours soaking later and it's working perfectly again, brilliant!
THANK YOU KING I run a small business and my printer randomly stopped printing the PGBK ink. Canon website told me to run through the built in cleaning functions and neither of them fixed the issue. This manual cleaning did!
It's crazy how this video is almost at 2 million views. Of course often people simply let their print head clog because they don't print enough, but this can't be all of them. There are so many posts online of people who have no idea what went wrong. I myself am here because my FULL Magenta cartridge didn't print at all anymore. From one day to the next. It went from perfect nozzle check to simply gone in less than 24 hours.
Canon's printers and especially their ink are both WAY, WAY too expensive for this stuff to be happening so frequently. Especially keeping in mind their INSANE repair rates, in addition to shipping a 20 kilogram package two ways.
Great! It’s Very precise and to the point. I love this video because it is short, no distracting music or animations. Hope I’ll be able to use my printer again.
Zuper! Thanks a lot, Tom. You've given me not just the knowledge of how to fix my blocked nozzle(s), but the confidence that - if I'm careful - I won't be damaging the printer.
Thanks Tom. I had the error that my printer didn't have a print head or had incompatible print head. Your cleaning process was very simple and cured the error. Thanks so much. Great advice.
9 years on since the last comment. I've a much newer Pixma that had a tiny piece of paper stuck under the print head, smudging all of my printouts. While the mechanism for releasing the print head is different, your video brought realisation that the thing could be removed with comparative ease and I'm finally getting clean printouts again! Thanks so much!!
I have tried every advice i could find and nothing worked or worked for a while.
Thank you so much for this simple , super easy and really effective solution.
I saved a lot not having to pay someone to repair or buy a new printer, which i was ready to do, dumping one more piece of trash in a landfill.
THANK YOU !!!!
I just finished following this video instruction and it helped me 100% from a very clogged printhead to a smooth and clean! thank you very much Tom! Keep the good work! Cheers!!!
Thanks so much. A picture is worth a thousand words. I was afraid the cartridges would dry up if we left them out for all the time you suggested. So we rinsed as shown, shook off the water and dabbed, then finished off with a hairdryer on low, for a few seconds. After a deep clean cycle it WORKED! Total time around 15 minutes.
Ha ha …And a video is worth a 1000 pictures! ;)
Thanks for your info , nothing too complicated just using warm water and clear the blocked head , easy instructions and not damaging the print head , your vlog
has helped and my printer is now fully operational again .
Once again thank you i was going to throw out the printer as i couldn't get it working till i found your vlog .Brilliant
I'm here for it, 5 1/2 years later after you posted this! THANK YOU! IT WORKED! Very happy that your great instructions were easy to follow.
This saved my printer, which was not printing at all, before I followed your instructions, and is now working like a dream. Thank you.
OMG!!! It worked. I tried several times last night and wasted almost a cartridge of black ink doing deep cleanings. I have a Canon iX6520 and it has been a great printer. I looked up to see how much a new printer-head was going to cost $106.00 and a new printer was almost $250.00. What did I have to loss? So I followed your directions to a tee. You saved me a lot of $$$$. Thank you so much for tutorial!! I am so excited.
Brilliant ....so simple and worked a treat. All the colours showed up clear after continual blotting except for the yellow which kept leaving a trace. Three hours later and no trace of yellow and now perfect printing. Thanks!
Most indebted to you. I had ordered a new printer as nothing in the manual helped. My printer was just as you described and following your instructions the cleaning worked a treat and worked perfectly on reassembly. Cancelled my purchase from Argos. You saved me £80.00. Cant thank you enough.
thanks for taking the time on this Tom. I found that a turkey baster was the ideal size to fill and put the nozzle over the print head jets and gently squeeze through. Remember to keep the open side down slightly so the head-bays don't overspill and contaminate those next door. Also, lift the turkey baster to avoid drawing any of the ink back up. It's direct, avoids spillage, the print head can be suspended over a plastic dish and there's no chance of getting the back-contact-board wet as Tom highlights. Others have gone out and bought a new printer having had this error message. Mine is back and working.
Even though my printer is a MP830, I used this video to remove and clean my printer head. I still had the error message after I reinstalled the print head. I then removed the print head again and used canned air to blow out any dust particles from inside the printer. When I was done, I reinstalled the print head and everything worked perfectly. Thank you Tom for this video
Thank you. I think you just saved my 10ish year old printer. It had started printing blank pages, and the nozzle test only printed four bars instead of I think it’s three for each of the five colours. I thought it was a software issue as I’d just set it up with my secondhand computer, and suddenly couldn’t print from my 8 year old iPhone. But when I saw the nozzle test failed I realised it’s probably the print head that’s the problem here, and the amount of ink that came out into the water pretty much confirmed that.
I did use a couple of drops of ammonia in the water, like the person further down suggests, and a spray bottle of warm water instead of the teaspoon. Unlike them I began with ammonia in the water and added a little with each change. And I used fairly warm (tap) water to do it. I didn’t want to waste time making distilled water, and I no longer have access to a deioniser. I also thought it was a cleaning job and they always go better with warm water.
So it’s currently soaking overnight. I did four washes in total. The first two the water was completely black. After that I was seeing some colours come out. The final water is just vaguely green tinted. The print head looks very clean now, before it was looking very dirty with ink slopped around everywhere. So I would be very surprised if it doesn’t work tomorrow or the next day when I reassemble it. I will comment further once I’ve done so. Even if it doesn’t work, this method is a very good method and would surely work for most users with a clogged print head. You should all try it.
Man am I glad I calmed down about my printer failure and you tubed this, You saved me from buying a new printer Tom!! Thank you.
I have a Canon 880 Pixma. The method worked perfectly. In addition to doing what you prescribed, I also turned the head upside down and blew air into the ink grids using a camera cleaning air balloon, taking all the precautions to blow away from the electronic contacts. Thank you very much Tom.
Hi Tom, thanks to your video I have been able to fix my problem with my Canon MG7752 refusing to print cyan ink even after several deep cleans. Removing the printhead and putting it back was a bit fiddly as the cover on my printer model doesn't open fully. However your cleaning technique worked a treat. Like many others I have been spared the time and expense of trying to source a new printhead or printer. I am very grateful.
This is a great intro, I just cleaned my mg8220 printhead mostly using this info. I used warm distilled water and submerged the head. I used a large peanut butter jar to hold the head while soaking and also used a bit of pay for ammonia cleaner, which sure looked like ammonia soap usually purchased in gallons. Windex, fireplace glass cleaner, and ammonia soap all contain ammonia and I suspect could be used if rinsed out afterwards. I also tried a spray bottle instead of a spoon. Either would have taken years. My jar was perfect to hold the head vertically on it's side and keep both the foil print face and contacts from touching anything even if I dropped the jar. I did about 10 cycles of letting the unit soak for 1-3 mins, swirling the water around, repeat a few times and then replace the water and start over. How long, and how many times and how much water you will use will depend on how dirty the head is. my water never did get 100% clean. I then removed it from the jar, shook it off, blew it off gently with a hair dryer and let it sit on it's side in front of a forced air heater vent overnight (it's winter here). I put about a quarter oz of ammonia stuff in on the second soak. I should have stored the print cartridges in a zip lock. They dry out fast. After reinstalling the unit and a mix of new and old cartridges as some were low anyway, I ran deep clean to prime them, then printed the check pattern. Perfect, new machine. BTW don't fear deep clean, it just pumps ink thru the head and allows the used ink to dry on some surface in the printer. If you ran it 100 times, the printer would probably just pee ink. Messy but cleans up with soap and water.
Hi Tom. Followed your suggestions and thank goodness my printer is now working again.
What a clever boy you are !! But seriously, thank you so much. I was about to throw out the printer. You've saved me lots of £££££££££s. Absolutely thrilled.
This totally worked!!! I used distilled water, and now all the colors print perfectly. Thank you!!!!💯
Your video was wonderful. My printer is quite old and I have never cleaned it. It was quite gratifying! I must have done 10 water exchanges Your video was very clear, concise and your directions were so easy to follow. Thanks
This totally fixed my problem! I got a horrible "b200" error on my Canon photo printer and it was telling me to contact Canon technical support so that I could get the printer sent in for fixing. I looked across the internet for an easy solution, but nothing worked. I finally seriously thought about sending the printer to Best Buy to have the Geek Squad work on it, but then, at the last minute I stumbled on this video. Well, cleaning the printer heads worked!!! Thanks Tom! No more error message on my very expensive photo printer!!!! Yay!
I'm in the exact same situation now (exact) 😬
I'm getting a message saying that the wrong printhead is installed. LOVE my printer...have had it for 6-7 years at least (Pixma MP600) and it has been awesome. First problem, and I do not want to spend the money to buy a new one that I won't like as well. Praying this works....
I saved myself from buying a new printer with this info. I was VERY derilict in my care of my printer , but now it's working perfectly. Thanks so much to Tom!
Tom!! This was an amazing and very successful cleaning technique. I have been battling for hours, performing deep cleaning, nozzle cleaning etc and your technique worked first time. Given my Canon Pro100-S a new lease of life. I would buy you a beer with this tip!!. Thank you so much. No where in any of the canon documentation is this mentioned!!
WOW I tried cleaning 4 times and nothing . I coudn't believe how easy and effective this was..Thank you so much for taking the time to share this video. Suzanne
You are really professional! Your voice is calm and you know what you are talking about. Thank you so much.
shut up
His voice is like Porn Divine.... Ha ha ha.. Sorry
This worked just fine on my MG5200. The pigment black and dye blue were both being stubborn, now they print as expected.
I used a large syringe (I got those when I switched to refill ink cartridges on a different printer) to help propel the water through the inside print head screens. The stuff that came out!!
Thanks a million!
Yes, the syringe idea helped me to clean out a stubborn black dye. Wasn't completely coming out even after long soakings. I squirt the water right on top, carefully, of the ink circles with fairly hot water. Thanks for the idea!
Great video. I've used this numerous times but I've discovered that if you carefully remove the 2 small screws it gives access to the rubber grommet and the holes that inject the inks. Remove the rubber grommet, just clean all the holes as you would normally (I carefully used anti bacterial alcohol hand gel then removed with running hot water), replace the grommet and screws. Luckily I was only required to clean this way once.
very clearly explained. Didn't realise the contacts cannot get wet. This iP4000 is 11 years old and gives me less trouble than my much newer 7200, so it's worth at least a try at getting it working again. Thanks for your help, Duncan
This worked PERFECTLY! I hadn't used my Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mark ii for a couple years and my black and yellow jets were super clogged. Now working like new.
Sometimes we have the solution in front of us, but we don't have a clue of how to do it. Thanks Tom great solution.
My printer MP560 displayed error code U052. After watching this video. I follow instruction and full detail on this video. Now my printer is working like a champ. THANK-YOU SO MUCH for posted this video.
My old Canon IP4200 was printing blank paper since 3 weeks ago and I tried almost every techniques but it didn't work until I saw your video. I decided to give it one last try since I'm ready to buy another new printer but guess what, your technique works! Oh thank you soooooooo much! Not only I'm so thankful but also my printer & our mother Earth! :-D
I just followed your instructions as my Canon MX700 is no longer printing black any more. As soon as I put the print-head into the warm water I had a black soup so I had to remove the water and the same happend again. Then I removed the water again and I had a blue soup all of a sudden followed by red and finally yellow. Now the water stays clean but I let it stay in there now for the recommended time.
I have the Printer since 2008 in use and never cleaned the print head so this explains why yours looked like new compared to my one when I took it out the first time. :-)
Great video!!! Big thanks for the help!
Tom - This worked perfectly. I have the Canon PIXMA MX922, and I was getting a Support Code 5200 that I couldn't get rid off. I removed the printhead and cleaned it in accordance with your guidance, and my printer is back and working. THANKS!!!
Worked like a Gun.. Thank you very much for a useful tip.. I use a Canon Pro 9000 II printer and my green and photo Cyan was clogged.. repeated for 25 times of cleaning and set the head to dry for 10 hours.. installed it back and its printing like new.. So glad I found this one..
I previously had a small photo printer for which I followed one more youtube video and ran it thru the tap water.. I dint know the chip part shouldn't be touched or cleaned.. I had to scrap the whole printer.. first I was skeptical to wash my pro 9000 this way and had to give it a try.. this method worked like a gun..
Thanks again Tom for the wonderful tip..
Great help. However I was searching for "clean canon mg6120 ink absorber" Then I saw your title and tried it. Very informative. At this moment I am soaking the print heads. Stay tuned.
Thank you so much for this info. My black cartridge went completely dry and even when I put in a new black cartridge my printer wouldn't print black. I followed your step by step info and now my canon ts9120 is printing perfectly again! 😊
Yeah thanks, I have a canon MP540 that stopped working at the worst time. As what canon printers are notorious for. I was researching to buy one at first, but since I really needed documents printed ASAP it was the last resort. I removed all the cartridges and the head. Put tape over the gold and removed the rubber O-rings. Then in the sink washed the head and O-rings with water till all the ink was out and dryed it. Now it works like it was brand new and saved me not only time but money! Canon doesn't have this in there manual and wants you to depend on them. Guys It really does work, just completely wash out and clogs and all the ink till the head looks new. And bam your printer will work again.
Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!! It took around 650ml of water to get my print head cleaned up but now my printer WORKS like a new machine!
Thanks for saving my printer! I was in a real rush so want for the fast and dirty version: pull apart, rinse in hot water about 10 times. pat and shake dry. put back in printer with fingers crossed. run cleaning cycle once. print. 20 mins of effort, and printer is like new again. Many thanks!
Hi Tom! I did this with distilled "warmed" water and used a syringe to add water from the top and it ran through nicely. Dried it on paper towels and used photography sensor clean to wipe off the contacts on the back just to cover all the bases. Also, when I dried it out, I put it inside a Tupperware food container with several desiccant packets to accelerate the drying. Clean as NEW. Of course, my Canon Printer still is flashing the yellow light and isn't working, but the print head is super clean and I will use this method on my new printer when it arrives :) Thank you soooo much, I appreciate the tutorial! I am replacing this printer with a Epson I'm afraid.
Which Epson did you get?
If I could hug you right now-- I would!! this was extremely helpful. I can't believe that an 11-year old video could be so helpful as it relates to technology
I really like your clear and calm delivery style. I a midway through my cleaning process and have every confidence that it will work. While doing this I removed the ink absorber pad (could not find any videos on doing this), and just hope I can reinsert it properly. If you have not done a video on this process, it could help others too. Thank you.
thank you Tom! I can't believe I managed to fix the printer with the print error 'ink tank near full' - I went to ask for help at a place that has techs & his advise was to ' just buy a new one "
So instead I nervously tried this [ the stubborn cartridge was moving so fast; but I managed to catch it - then turn off the power...etc] Then used your advice! It's working!!! Yay ! Thanks for being there.
Water and time fixes so many things. Took about an hour of soaking after running warm water over each colour for a few minutes. Thank you.
Wow! so simple. I'd always been told that you had to virtually take the entire printer apart to get at the heads, but, no its as simple as removing the inks and flipping up a lever. Thanks for sharing that advice.
not all printers are created equal
HP print head removal is a much greater P.I.T.A.
Great video!
Only 2 comments:
1/ The print head lock mechanism varies with different Canon printers. Finding how to open it up took me time on the TS705!
2/ I taped up the upturned ink cartridges' ports overnight to prevent accidental spillages and possible ingress of dust.
I realize this is an old video but I'd like to thank you regardless for the straightforward and short tutorial! My Pixma Pro-100 had a clogged nozzle (Cyan) and I cleaned it per your instructions - except instead of a spoon I used a pointy plastic syringe to channel water where it needs to go. When I print the test sheet, I still see a teeny bit of banding in Cyan so I might redo the cleaning again this weekend but for now I'm just glad to see it actually works. Thanks again!
OMG thank you so much for your video. It seems so simple - who thought water could do such a great job. I was about ready to throw away my Canon Pixma because I did at least 2 deep cleanings. Nothing was working. I did what you said. It is amazing when you think they are clean, still alot more ink but after doing it probably 40 times, I did one final overnight. Lt it thoroughly dry then put it in keeping my fingers crossed. Wow I have a working printer again. I am amazed your simple idea worked - thank you so much and heartily recommend this inexpensive fix to anyone. THANK YOU!
Thanks!! Tried several times the cleaning and deep cleaning on the Canon maintenance site, that didn't help, not a single black ink spot on the paper. Your cleaning method with water really helped, good prints now
Thank you. We'll see how long it lasts, but my printer works again! Your cleaning instructions did the trick.
Works great and now my 10 year old Canon Pro9000 MKII prints like new. The generic ink had dried up a bit over a summer of non-use and the colors were way off and had a serious magenta hue. I used a combination of methods from yours, the many comments here, plus other 10 year-old instructions on DP review. Don't worry about getting the connections wet-- it doesn't matter at all. Flush in the sink under fairly hot tap water, no need to mess around with spoons etc, switching from ink hole inlets to print outlets, back and forth, until it drains clean-- could take 10 minutes or longer. Soak the print head outlet side in about 1/8" Windex for an hour or 2, just so the fluid comes to the top of the print head. Rinse again with hot water faucet, both inlet and outlet for a few minutes, back and forth, both sides. You can blast some water in with a plastic syringe for an extra thorough job, but probably not necessary in most cases. Shake the water out. Pour some isopropyl alcohol around the head so some gets inside around the back of the print head to help dry things off inside there. Shake thoroughly for a few minutes to get rid of most water/alchohol. Dry with a hair dryer on "no heat' setting, high air flow, from about 12" away for few minutes until dry. Rub the contacts gently with a lint free cloth to clean them, just in case they were dirty. You're done-- insert print head and have at it. Works like a charm- takes about 2 hours. My 10 year old printer prints like brand new, perfect colors. By all means, use generic ink, but make sure you print something or do a nozzle check every week or two to prevent any drying/clogging. I just ordered a Canon 6 tank
Thank you for posting this tutorial Tom.
My Canon Pro 9000 Mk II would not show any green at all on a nozzle check even after several deep cleanings. All of the other colors were ok and the printer “thought” that all of the inks were functioning normally.
I did exactly as you recommended using distilled water. I really didn’t expect it to work but after one deep cleaning the nozzle check was perfect.
Tom, I just put my printer head in a safe place to dry. I'll let you know tomorrow when I reinstall it if this gets rid of that B200 error. Thank you for these instructions. If I would have known or seen a video like this 7 years ago, I wouldn't have gotten rid of my first Canon printer. I love Canon products because they last.
Many thanks for a really useful video Tom. My Canon MP 610 wasn't printing photo's properly, but after following your instructions it's now working perfectly again.......thanks again.......Pete
I have a Cannon MP620 - it is a little different, but essentially the same. I took the print head out and cleaned it as you described (I used distilled water as I always have it around here). IT WORKED - PERFECTLY!!
I wanted to thank you for your help. It is greatly appreciated and the printer works great once again!
Thank you for not taking down this video!! Also, thank you for sharing what Canon apparently feels is esoteric information. Their support site is worthless if you need help beyond the owner's manual. In fact, they don't even recognize their own printer model at that site.
Rob in West Vancouver . . . this was fantastic, pone of those invaluable gems the manufacturer or supplier never tell you about . . . love it. Thanks Tom.
This worked perfectly for me! took me about an hour of repeatedly soaking and drying and spooning water into the tops but eventually no more ink was coming out and I let the thing air dry and now it prints beautifully agian :)
Brilliant - thank you! :D Worked perfectly for me and saved me buying a new printer after repeated deep cleaning didn't work.
11 years later and still very useful information. Something tells me I need to Print more.
Hi Tom, I had a severely clogged black nozzle on my MG7720. I took the printhead out and cleaned it the way you showed and it works just like new. Thanks so much.
This worked perfectly for me with a printer I was given, rarely used and the cartridges all dried-up, and the Black PGBK nozzle completely clogged. A 20-minute wash in a plastic bowl, changing the water about a dozen times until clear, reinstalled everything, and it worked like new. Thanks for a great vid.
Sorry,can I asking you ??
@@maroua4790 you have a question?
Thank you Tom - a great demonstration for cleaning the printheads of my printer. I was about to give up on it.
I'm using a prehistoric Canon MG6600 and even though this video is extremely helpful in the cleaning portion, I couldn't remove the printhead with these instructions. So, I called Canon and confessed to using generic ink and overusing this old workhorse of a printer. The tech was quite kind and said that to remove the head on this old printer, keep it plugged in after removing the cartridges. Then depress the STOP button until the carrier slightly re-positions itself to the very middle position. Now, the color coded bar at the front of the carrier can be pulled (snapped) forward slightly, making it simple to remove the printhead.
Hello, you can put all the printhead under the water, even under running water (hot water). Be sure, you will not damage your printhead, BUT be sure to dry it before reinstall it.
Correct
Hey Tom: My Canon MG7720 PGBK was so clogged that when I did "deep cleaning", the pattern for PGBK wouldn't even show up. Needless to say I was getting pure white papers in B&W print out. I saw your video, followed the recipe (down to a spoon for pouring water), and after putting the head back, the printing works like the printer is new! I was thinking I may have to buy a new printer. More than the money, you helped me save the environment a bit.. Thanks!!
I had the same issue and am grateful I didn't have to replace the printer or buy expensive cleaners.
quote from some forum, just for information purposes: "Bad clogs are ONLY CAUSE BY CONTINUING TO PRINT when the ink is low. Bad clogs are the result of small amounts of ink being "Burned" on the walls of each nozzle as it is heated over and over with insufficient ink."
Thank you, that's exactly what I had been doing!
Yup! I've been doing that too. Good tip! My printhead was REALLY full of dried up ink. Took a lot of flushing to get it clean.
Informative,quick and easy, nice to still see good people on youtube!
The careful, conservative approach recommended in the video is good advice. I had to rejuvenate the printhead on my old iP4200, in which the ink cartridges had totally dried up after three years of disuse. The warm water treatment was working...slowly. I'm impatient so I added three drops of household ammonia to the water the printhead was soaking in. Results were instantaneous and dramatic--flakes of dried ink cascaded off the bottom of the printhead, along with a lot of dissolved ink dye. When I set it on the paper towel to absorb the rehydrated ink from the jets on the head, much more was released each time than had been the case with just water.
Also, an eye dropper is the most efficient way to put ammonia-laced water onto the cartridge seats. The gunk there also dissolved much faster. The whole process took me about half an hour and the printer was working as it always did within an hour.
The moral: Add a few drops of ammonia to the soak.
Thank you Tom for taking time and sharing the video. You explained it really well. I just cleaned my printhead wihtout any issue ... Thanks again ...
Wow! My Pixma 6150 now working like new. I wouldn't have dared dismantle it without this tutorial. But I'm impatient so I copied the commenters here who ran it (carefully) under the tap, then dried it with kitchen towel and hair drier. Took me 15 minutes max. Brilliant. Not many tech videos so useful 6 years on!
I was about to give up on my old printer until I saw your tip. Thanks Tom!
Thank you SOO much Tom for your fantastic instructions on how to clean canon printer, no wonder mine wasn't printing right! I have never cleaned it for years!! Joan UK :)
Excellent video - was about to buy a new printer because all my pages were blank no matter now many deep cleanings I did. Not to mention I was going broke buying ink trying to clean it. Will never do that again! I used warm water and a plastic syringe with a fine pointed tip which allowed me to gently blast the ink through each of the pathways. I had the syringe left over from when I had a tooth pulled :-) Anyway, I did about 10 passess on each of the ink pathways. Sped up the process a bit. I let it sit for about a half an hour after the water ran mostly clear.
Great vid ! I got exactly the info I needed to clean and fix my MG5220 which had stopped printing the black. It printed the other colors, just not black. The vid shows how to remove the print head - mine was all crudded up with ink, which I just gently cleaned off (didn't wash it) and it is back to normal. Yay. My faith in humanity is restored.
Thanks for the Video. Had a canon 870 that was not playing ball. Basically followed your example. Used medical cleaning syringe to "inject" warm water back through the lines instead of the spoon. But your instructions were clear and concise. Actually I did not know that you could do this until I saw your Video. All working good now. Thanks.
Excellent, clear and concise and cheerful enough to give me hope I don't need to buy a new printer! Now all I need to do is try it out....
This video rocked. We were going to buy a new printer. this saved our printer. Thank you!
Thanks a lot, I was sceptical but it worked a treat, kept swapping water until it was completely clear, let it thoroughly dry before I replaced it and my cannon now prints better than it has in ages and with generic cheap ink too. Very pleased
Thank you so much. This cleaning process just worked perfectly on my trusty old Canon Pro 9000 Mark II that had finally clogged up the PM cartridge. Great video.
Good one Tom. Just and extra hint-help. I do my own cleaning on my Canon printers and I find using a 20 to 50 mls syringe and some soft tube that is just big enough to fit over the black ink hole, over and around the gauze. After I have copied all your directions I gently introduce warm water into the cartridge inlets on the print head using the syringe and soft tubing that has been attached to the syringe via intermeiate tubing or glue etc. Works for me.
This really works. I tried other advice - alcohol and steam and had about given up. So easy and saved me replacing this expensive printer.
Thank you so much for showing. The clogged print head gives me a big headache when I can't print coupons and shipping labels for my small home business. I am soaking the print head right now per your instruction. Hope it will work just great like other ppl here.