Clogged nozzle on Canon color printer

[_R]

I had just posted a Q about replacing my i850. It has stopped
printing black, and of course is not usable for straight text B&W
output.

I don't use the printer much, so maybe the ink dried and clogged
nozzles? (Just heard this...I wish I had known about that). New
heads cost $40+ so it doesn't seem worthwhile to fix it (new printers
are cheap and come with fresh ink carts).

Canon tech support advised trying 'deep clean' several times.
Is there anything else I should try before giving up?

 

[measekite]

I heard of people soaking the head in very hot water and then blowing it
out with compressed air; outside of course. Then try the deep cleaning
and see what happens. Do you use 3rd party inks?

 

[BOB BURKE]

I don't know if this will apply to your printer, but I have a Canon
Bubblejet BJC 80 printer, which is only used while away from home.

As a result of the long periods between use, the printheads often dry up and
become blocked. On one occasion, this happened when I wanted to use the
printer in a remote location (in the outback of Australia's Northern
Territory), where no replacements were available.

As I had nothing to lose, I removed the print head from the computer and
cleaned it, initially, with "Windex" (which acts as a solvent for many inks)
and then under running water, tapping the printhead gently on the palm of my
hand till no further traces of ink appeared. The printhead was then dried
gently and allowed to air dry, before reinstallation in the printer, where
it worked perfectly.

I have since used this technique sucessfully on several occasions.

As I said this was a last resort, but if you can easily remove the printhead
from your computer, what have you to lose.

Good luck,
Bob
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[Burt]

I believe I answered your previous post with this information. Go to
http://www.neilslade.com/papers/inkjetstuff.html and read about printer
maintenance. Neil Slade is very knowledgeble regarding Canon printers,
inks, and papers, and his info will probably help you to bring your i850
back to life. Read his info first before taking other people's advice,
although the post about windex and blowing air is similar to Neil's
suggestions. Some aftermarket inks are high quality and some are junk.
Slade covers that issue quite well. It sounds as if your problem is really
a head clog caused by infrequent use.