How to store canon printer?

[Martin ©¿©¬]

Hi
I have a canon ip 4600 that I have just setup and tested to make sure
it is working, printed 2 pages & 2 CDs
Now I want to store it as my current printer is still working fine

Do I have to clean the print head ?

 

[Don Phillipson]

I have a canon ip 4600 that I have just setup and tested to make sure
it is working, printed 2 pages & 2 CDs
Now I want to store it as my current printer is still working fine

Do I have to clean the print head ?

Printer manuals usually tell us how a printer should be
stored, with or without inks in place etc. If in doubt, it
seems prudent to clean the printheads of any inkjet unit.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

If the manufacturer provides long term storage instructions, I would
follow them.

If they do not, each brand should be considered individually, as they
use different technologies and designs.

There are three basic designs used:

Permanent head
Semi permanent head
Head integrated into the ink cartridge

Permanent head: These printers include all Epson inkjet models, most
Brother, some HP and many high end professional models. They will
probably indicate somewhere that they use piezo electric heads. These
heads typically are not removable from the printer, and are designed to
last the life of the printer.

These printers will develop clogged heads if the ink is left in them
over long periods. Worse still if ink cartridges are removed, allowing
the heads to dry out.

If the printer will be stored for a matter of a few months, it is
probably best to leave the ink cartridges installed, to add some water
to saturate the cleaning/parking station just before shutting the
printer down for the last time prior to storage. Allow the printer to
shut down in its normal fashion, and then unplug it. Keep it upright.
Wrap it is a large plastic bag placing a small plastic container next to
the printer, but inside the plastic bag into which you have placed a
dish washing sponge which is saturated with water. Make sure that
container will remain upright so the water cannot spill. Seal the
plastic bag with printer and plastic container with sponge within it, to
help retain a high moisture level.

For longer storage, you will need to purge the ink from the heads using
cleaning cartridges which have on ink in them but only cleaning fluid.
Print all colors until the fluid coming from the heads is completely
clear without color printing. At that point the heads should be clean
of ink and less likely to clog if left unused for long periods. Once
they are well purged you can remove the cleaning cartridges and allow
the printer to be stored without any ink cartridges connected. Keep the
printer out of dusty locations and store in a good plastic bag.

The ink filled cartridges should be stored in well sealed plastic bags
such as Zip-lock type. Use two bags per cartridge on inside of the other
to reduce evaporation, Since plastic of that type can allow water vapor
through.

==============

Semi Permanent head: These printers include some HP, most "i" class
Canon printers, most current Kodak printers and some higher end models.
The head has a limited life span and will fail prior than the printer
lifespan. They typically last about 8-15 ink cartridges before
requiring replacement.

With these printers, the head and ink cartridges are separate, and the
head is removable from the printer.

If you can acquire cleaning cartridges, use them in replacement of the
colored ones to purge the ink from the head, by printing until the "ink"
coming from them is clear and uncolored.

If you do not have access to cleaning cartridges, remove the ink
cartridge and store as discussed above, then remove the semi-permanent
head and clean it well by soaking in rubbing alcohol or ammoniated
window cleaner and rubbing alcohol, until the liquid is clear and color
less. You may wish to use wet quality paper towels to help draw the
colored inks from the head. Some people find using compressed air with
Canon heads helps to clear out the ink. Shake the head clear of all
liquid and allow to dry and then package in a sealed plastic bag.

===================

Integrated cartridge and head: Some older Canon, most Lexmark and HP
printers use a cartridge which holds both ink chambers and the head
integrated. These are typically considered disposable cartridges, and a
new head is provided with each new cartridge. These heads may last a
number of refillings, but are not designed for long term us.

With these printers, the printer itself is under no risk from long term
storage. It is likely worthwhile to remove the cartridge/head unit and
place it in a double layer of well sealed plastic bags, perhaps with a
quality paper towel which is dampened but rung out. I would not place
the wet toweling directly on the printing surface of the head as it may
cause corrosion over time. If worse comes to worse, and the head or
cartridge become clogged or damaged, they can both be replaced at the
expense of a new ink cartridge.

Art




If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

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[Martin ©¿©¬]

Thank you very much Arthur for your helpful & detailed reply

 

[Al]

Hi
I have a canon ip 4600 that I have just setup and tested to make sure
it is working, printed 2 pages & 2 CDs
Now I want to store it as my current printer is still working fine

Do I have to clean the print head ?

You must have gotten a good deal on the printer and bought it without
needing it now. If it was brand new, you should have merely stored it
as is and taken your chances that it would work when opened.
I would removed all the cares and wrap them individually in clear wrap
after first taping the inlet and outlet to each. I would tape the wrap
too. Then I would remove the print head and flush each color with a
hose hooked up to the inlet and flush with a syringe of alcohol and
water (rubbing alcohol). You will see the spray out the print head as
it turns from color to clear. Continue flushing with air. I think you
could store it almost forever like that.

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

Arthur, any idea where I could get cleaning cartridges online
I'm in the UK?

 

[Al]

Thank you very much Arthur for your helpful & detailed reply

In my opinion, that level printer is not worth spending any extra
money on cleaning carts when you could achieve the same thing with
household products. Another possibility is to use the printer until
the carts are empty. Then wash them out in the sink and add rubbing
alcohol and use that for the cleaning before storing.

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

In my opinion, that level printer is not worth spending any extra
money on cleaning carts when you could achieve the same thing with
household products. Another possibility is to use the printer until
the carts are empty. Then wash them out in the sink and add rubbing
alcohol and use that for the cleaning before storing.

Good suggestion AL, that is what I will do
now why didn't I think of that?

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

You must have gotten a good deal on the printer and bought it without
needing it now. If it was brand new, you should have merely stored it
as is and taken your chances that it would work when opened.
I would removed all the cares and wrap them individually in clear wrap
after first taping the inlet and outlet to each. I would tape the wrap
too. Then I would remove the print head and flush each color with a
hose hooked up to the inlet and flush with a syringe of alcohol
and water (rubbing alcohol).

do I use a syringe without a needle? (I haven't done this before)

 

[Al]

do I use a syringe without a needle? (I haven't done this before)

I'm in a fortunate position of having lots of supplies available.
What you would need is a hose that will fit over the inlet to the
print heads. That could be a small length of about 3/16 vinyl tube or
even any hard tube you might have around, such as pulled from a spray
bottle or something. Then you have to make a connection at the syringe
with the needle removed. This is why a vinyl hose often works because
it slips over both the syringe and the print head opening. It's an
easy job when the print head is not clogged as the fluid runs right
through. I suspect a person might even hold it under the faucet and be
successful using just water.

But I like the idea of using the ink up first if you can. I run
several printers at the same time. Sometimes I don't come back to a
given printer for a month. The Canon never gives a problem except for
the cleaning cycle it goes through. The HP 900 series seems to take a
rest without clogging and doesn't auto-clean when I restart it.
Everything I use is dye based ink except for some pigment black ink in
the HP 45 cart some times.

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

I'm in a fortunate position of having lots of supplies available.
What you would need is a hose that will fit over the inlet to the
print heads. That could be a small length of about 3/16 vinyl tube

What internal diameter would the tube need to be?

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

What internal diameter would the tube need to be?

Just re-read your post and measured the prinhead.
3/16" will fit over the large black port
I should have checked before posting !!
Thank you for your help & assistance

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

Just re-read your post and measured the prinhead.
3/16" will fit over the large black port

Should read 3/8" my bad

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Hi Martin,

If the printer does not use the ink monitor chips on it, you can simply
fill the old cartridge with a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and a window
cleaner which contains ammonia. I know ammonia is a bit hard to come by
in the UK.

However, most chemists (Drug stores) should have access to it, Yo want
to create a final dilution of between 1 and 2% ammonia, so if you must
be a stronger version, you need to dilute appropriately. So if you can
make a water ammonia mix that is about 3-4% and then add 50% isopropyl
alcohol to that, it will drop it to around the acceptable concentration.

If you have the types of cartridge which require the ink monitoring
chips, there are now resetters for these sold on ebay and elsewhere,
which are battery operated and good for indefinite resetting of
cartridges. I don't know how specific they need to be in terms of model
numbers. The ones for Epson printers only work with a couple of models
per type of resetter.

Once you reset the chip on the cartridges, you can refill them with
cleaning fluid. I don't know offhand where in the UK one can buy
commercial cleaning cartridges for Canon printers, unfortunately.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/