How do I clean my printer heads for edible images with out spending ANOTHER $20? I just spent $90 on refills and paper. Would vodka work?

Do you have a canon?

Yes I do! mx700 or somwthing.

Take the print head out can run hot water over it until it runs clean. If it's still clogged you can use a hand held steamer to clean it.

Oh wow, I had no idea you could just use water! I am so glad I didn't spend the $20! I will try that! Thank you so much.

The cleaner does help, when water doesnt work! Also, on older printers, sometimes you think you have a printhead problem when the problem is that the sponges need dampening. If you are a customer of Icing Images, you can sign in to your account, go to the support section and under troubleshooting is the instructions on dampening the sponges. It is easy to do. If you are not a customer, email me and I can email them to you

Use...that is the best remedy. Its like a magic marker that dries up on you, even when it is in the zip lock bag. We recommend that people only get the printer or any printer if they can print about once per week, if not...it is hard to say what will happen. The printer you have uses sponged cartridges, newer printers take sponge free, but I wouldnt invest in a printer that uses the better cartrdiges if you are going to use it that infrequently. You actually are running in to three problems with lack of use...The cartridges drying out, the printhead clogging and then the printer itself has a sponge that when it dries out, it can appear to have printhead problems when it is not. You can take the cartrdiges and printhead out and store them in a baggie, but again, there is no guarentee.

Hey since you're on, icingimages, just thought I'd ask. DH got me a cannon ip3600 for Christmas, along with edible ink cartridges. Not from you, unfortunately, since your name seems to come up quite often on the forums. He just did a search, and found one that seemed to have good reviews.

Anyways, I was all excited to use it, but had nothing until February to use it on something, so I put all the cartridges in that day. I broke the seals on the cartridges then, and not before, so they shouldn't have been dried out. We couldn't get the black to print at all... It was frustrating! Contacted the company, and they sent me a new one, and I sent back the old one so they could look at it. I used the new cartridge and after 4 sheets, my black started looking greenish gray. I know that I can't have run out that quickly, I was printing swim logos and sayings for cupcakes! I had to finish them, even if the colors were off, as I had 200 that weekend for my son's swim team banquet.

I just ordered a new set of colors from your site (the printer has been sitting since March, so I'm sure everything is dried up), but I'm wondering if there might be another problem besides the cartridges. The printer (and thus the print head) was brand new, out of the box, so I can't imagine what the else the issue could be.

Thanks!

I just noticed that this was moved! I asked it in the "How Do I?" forum, not the icing images forum. I don't think it is fair to ask you to answer all the questions someone has about edible images, when there are likely other people who can answer as well. Thank you.

Pettmybunny: Depending on the actual age of the printer, the age it was manufactured and then set and then bought and then set again till it was used, your sponges could be dried. With the cartridges that you have in there, you should run a nozzle check to see what is coming through or not. My guess is the blakc had a partial clog and depending on the brand you may be able to get it out. If your nozzle check is not doing well, take out your printhead and soak it in water (the ink wells only) until the new cartridges come in. About 20 minutes before you go to install, resoak with hot water for 20 minutes then dry it and then go ahead and install and see if that helps. If you have the same problem, I would go to the support section once you are signed in to our website and look at the troubleshooting section where it talks about dampening the sponge. If your printer is infact "older" this means from the time the printer was actually manufactured, than that could be the problem and is easy to fix. You will find the instructions there for you to follow. Let me know if I can be of help

annabakescakes: I have no control over the movement of any of the posts. I am guessing that the moderators move the questions to where they feel they are best catagorized. Anyone can pipe in here and answer questions, they just asked me to try to help people where I can which is what I try to do. But anyone can jump in here and answer things. I hope that I have been able to answer questions and be of help.

Thanks for your advice Debbie! I read your response to my husband (he's a programmer), and he was skeptical about it being a printhead clog. He even tried inserting the regular black ink cartridge in, thinking it would work like normal, but it didn't. So... We soaked the print head today (nothing like waiting to the last minute--I need to print some images tonight), and now it seems to be working just fine.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you again!

Glad to hear it! I am married to a programmer too...I love showing him up since usually he is right!