I Need Help With My Canon Printer

Decorating By GLORIA2005 Updated 3 Apr 2007 , 3:24pm by Lisa

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GLORIA2005 Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 12:45am
post #1 of 15

I have a i560 canon that I use for frosting sheets but I been haveing alot of problems with it everytime I print something out there lines in them and the black dont even print out on frosting sheets my edible inks are full of colors its not doing well, plus I have a cake this Thursday and I was going to to to use my printer, is there any fast tips I could untill I get something fix the problems, if there any tips I could sure use them now?

14 replies
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maxiecakes Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 2:11am
post #2 of 15

Hi GLORIA2005, your cartridge is clogged.
you can clean it with a steam iron.

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Lisa Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 2:36am
post #3 of 15

Have you refilled the cartridges recently?

It sounds like the print head is clogged. Try a few cleaning cycles and see if that flushes out the dried ink that's clogging the nozzles.

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bohemia Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 2:48am
post #4 of 15

Hi there! I use edible inks a lot and used to have the same problem with my Canon printer (I use a cheaper ipixma1500 so I can change printers every year). I had some correspondence with some kopycake sales distributors here in my country but have erased the emails they sent regarding that problem. I remember the tips though.

Here they are:

*The printer nozzles may be clogged, go to the print page and click preferences and then on printer maintenance run the cleaning program and do a test page. The computer will tell you how to do it. (Use regular inks so you dont waste your edible ones).

*If the print cleaning doesn't work, your printer head must be dirty. KK sells a print head steam cleaner but those are quite expensive. Check your canon repair shop for help on this. You might need a new printer head (If you have an old or well-used computer). I'd suggest print head cleaning first cause printer heads are not cheap.

*The two steps should get rid of the banding as well(lines running through the image)...If it doesn't then try printing at a higher resolution.

Hope the tips help.
Good luck!

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Phoov Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 2:57am
post #5 of 15

What a pain....I was thinking of getting a printer set-up, but if they're this finicky I may not! Is this due to not using them daily?

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bohemia Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 10:00am
post #6 of 15

The print cleaning only takes 5 minutes and the printers usually last long but due to the frosting sheets (sometimes the icing from the sheets gets left on the rollers or print head), they may get clogged.

Ive been using them for a long time and Theyve done me good. You should really try them if you plan to do a lot of edible images. If not, it might not be worth the investment if you'll use it only a few times a year.

I've received lots of compliments on my picture cakes and it's another outlet for your creativity.

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Lisa Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 2:31pm
post #7 of 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phoov

What a pain....I was thinking of getting a printer set-up, but if they're this finicky I may not! Is this due to not using them daily?




They're really not that finicky Phoov. You do have to use the printer regularly to keep the ink flowing but you can also remove the ink cartridges and store them if it will be a while between prints.

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cashley Posted 29 Mar 2006 , 2:50pm
post #8 of 15

You can also clean the head with a Q-tip and rubbing achohol(sorry too early don't know if it is spelled right lol. I have done this many times with my parents. Take out the cartridge and see where the ink comes out, use a q-tip dipped in rubbing achohol. It doesn't matter if you use lots, the achohol will not hurt your printer and will disapate in the air. Then run it through the cleaning cycle.

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Crimsicle Posted 30 Mar 2006 , 2:16pm
post #9 of 15

I would never put regular ink cartridges in my edible ink printer!

I run my cleaning cycles using edible ink. So far, I've only had to do it once, but I did have to run 3 cycles before the clog was cleared. I also bought cleaning cartridges, and I run those once in a while, just to be sure. To use those, you simply print a page on regular paper. After a couple of printings, the paper iremains unmarked, and you know your head is cleaned.

The beauty of the Canon printers is that the cartridges and print heads can be snapped in and out in a matter of seconds. If you've got a really bad clog, you can take the head off and drip some alcohol (drinking alcohol...not rubbing alcohol) through it to dissolve anything stubborn.

I've read that refilling the cartridges yourself can cause clogging and dripping and the issues that causes. So, I just buy new cartrdiges only!

I have had a couple of paper jams...once with rice paper and once with a frosting sheet. Both were easy to get out, and afterward, the following sheets fed just fine.

I have found that with a tiny bit of preventive maintenance, these setups are reliable and fun to use. People who don't know how easy this is are soooo impressed with edible image cakes!

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Lisa Posted 30 Mar 2006 , 2:19pm
post #10 of 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crimsicle


I've read that refilling the cartridges yourself can cause clogging and dripping and the issues that causes. So, I just buy new cartrdiges only!




That is very, very true! I refill and it will cause clogs. Unless you're prepared to remove clogs, don't refill.

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missyvixen1217 Posted 30 Mar 2006 , 6:15pm
post #11 of 15

I LOVE my printer. I remove the print head about every 3 months and soak it in alcohol then clean with q-tips and alcohol. I have not had any clogs since I started doing this. Also, as someone else said, REMOVE your edible ink cartridges from the print head if it's not going to be used for a week or more, I put my cleaning cartridges in when I take the ink out just so foreign matter (dust particles, etc...) doesn't get in there. HTH

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GLORIA2005 Posted 31 Mar 2006 , 8:01pm
post #12 of 15

In read that you take out your printhead to soak it what do you just put in a bowl with drinking alcohole and soak it

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Lisa Posted 31 Mar 2006 , 8:10pm
post #13 of 15

I can't speak for those that use alcohol. I use airbrush cleaning fluid to soak the bottom of my print head if it needs it. I line the bottom of the bowl with a few layers of lint-free paper towels and soak them with the cleaner. Then I can gently push the print head down onto the towels and force the cleaner through the nozzles. This is called reverse purging. You can do the same thing using a modified syringe (no needle) to draw the cleaning solution up through the print head. If you use the modified syringe, you won't need the paper towels.

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peacockplace Posted 3 Apr 2007 , 3:14pm
post #14 of 15

Just wondering which paper towels are lint free?

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Lisa Posted 3 Apr 2007 , 3:24pm
post #15 of 15

I use store brand paper towels and they work but you can also use coffee filters.

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