TCT - How to remove and clean Canon Printhead

[PblissE]

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!

[tomlashbrook]

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.

[morganucopia]

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 YouTube. It's appreciated.

[geoffandcarolhudson]

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

[markopperman]

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!

[sylviemray]

I tried everything to fix my Cannon MX922, kept getting the error code B200. Finally I found this YouTube 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.

[Mucosamommy]

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!

[sheilawilliams]

Wonderful! Whenever I was left out of options I only go through your video and always findthe best way to solve my problem.

[PurpleWhirple]

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!

[golfmother]

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 .

[kenhaaksr]

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!!!

[Digitapper]

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!!

[penelopevincent-sweet]

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.

[debraulerson]

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.

[markgriff]

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.

[PotatoHead]

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.

[jodyw]

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.

[tonyrahm]

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.

[andylacey]

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.

[jamesgoodman]

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!!