drkenb's Canon Portable Printers

Printhead Cleaning

     There are many different references found on Google on how to clean a printhead.  Some suggest using amonia, others rubbing alcohol, and still others a variety of cleaning solutions.  What I recommend here is what I have found to be most effective and yet safe for the printhead (and the printer itself!).

     If you find that your printer starts to yield output which is missing portions of text (streaks of blank space across the page), your printhead may need to be cleaned.  Following these steps in order from mild to strong cleaning until your printhead functions properly:  

1. Run the printer’s self-cleaning cycle a few times to see if that resolves the problem. 
2. Remove the printhead from the printer, and gently tap it onto a damp paper towel to dissolve any dry flakes of ink. 
3. Thoroughly clean the printhead by removing the ink cartridges and flushing the printhead under hot water, forcing the water through the ink nozzles on the inside of the printhead. 
4. Soak the printhead in rubbing alcohol overnight, then flush completely with warm water. 

     The best way to clean a printhead with clogged ink jets is to use an ultrasonic cleaner.  For less than the cost of a single printhead, you can purchase a small ultrasonic cleaner from http://www.harborfreight.com/  Fill the unit with hot water.  Flush a much of the ink as you can using hot tap water in a sink, then place the printhead in the ultrasonic cleaner and run for 3 minutes.  Observe the printhead: if you see ink streaming out from the nozzles, run the ultrasonic cleaner for another 3-minute cycle.  Repeat until you see no ink coming from the nozzles.  Remove the printhead, rinse using hot tap water, and then dry using canned air. If you believe your printhead may have extremely clogged ink jets, you can let it soak overnight in the ultrasonic bath before running a few ultrasonic cleaning cycles.

     Make sure the printhead is thoroughly dry before reusing.  You can air-flush the nozzles out with canned air.  If none of this helps, your printhead is probably shot and needs to be replaced.