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Cleaning the Print Heads

The print head cleaning and deep cleaning functions allow you to clear up clogged print head nozzle. Perform print head cleaning if printing is faint or a specific color fails to print, even though there is enough ink.
If you perform deep cleaning and the condition still does not improve, perform ink flush.

Cleaning

  1. Open Canon IJ Printer Assistant Tool

  2. Click Cleaning

    When the Print Head Cleaning dialog box opens, select the ink group for which cleaning is to be performed.
    Click Initial Check Items to display the items you need to check before performing cleaning.

  3. Execute cleaning

    Make sure that the printer is on and then click Execute.

    Print head cleaning starts.

  4. Complete cleaning

    Click OK when the confirmation message is displayed.
    The Nozzle Check dialog box will open.

  5. Check the results

    To check whether the print quality has improved, click Print Check Pattern. To cancel the check process, click Cancel.

    If cleaning the head once does not resolve the print head problem, clean it once more.

Important

  • Cleaning consumes a small amount of ink.
    Cleaning the print head frequently will rapidly deplete your printer's ink supply. Consequently, perform cleaning only when necessary.

Deep Cleaning

Deep Cleaning is more thorough than cleaning. Perform deep cleaning when two Cleaning attempts do not resolve the print head problem.

  1. Open Canon IJ Printer Assistant Tool

  2. Click Deep Cleaning

    When the Deep Cleaning dialog box opens, select the ink group for which deep cleaning is to be performed.
    Click Initial Check Items to display the items you need to check before performing deep cleaning.

  3. Execute deep cleaning

    Make sure that the printer is on and then click Execute.
    Click OK when the confirmation message appears.

    Print head deep cleaning starts.

  4. Complete deep cleaning

    Click OK when the confirmation message is displayed.
    The Nozzle Check dialog box will open.

  5. Check the results

    To check whether the print quality has improved, click Print Check Pattern. To cancel the check process, click Cancel.

Important

  • Deep Cleaning consumes a larger amount of ink than Cleaning.
    Cleaning the print head frequently will rapidly deplete your printer's ink supply. Consequently, perform cleaning only when necessary.

Ink Flush

Execute Ink Flush if the status does not improve even after Deep Cleaning is performed.

  1. Open Canon IJ Printer Assistant Tool

  2. Click Ink Flush

    When the Ink Flush dialog box opens, select the ink group for which ink flush is to be performed.
    Click Initial Check Items to display the items you need to check before performing ink flush.
    Be sure to check the remaining ink level before running Ink Flush.

  3. Execute ink flush

    Make sure that the printer is on and then click Execute.
    Click OK when the confirmation message appears.

    Ink flush starts.

  4. Complete ink flush

    Click OK when the confirmation message is displayed.
    The Nozzle Check dialog box will open.

  5. Check the results

    To check whether the print quality has improved, click Print Check Pattern. To cancel the check process, click Cancel.

Important

  • Ink Flush consumes an extremely large amount of ink.
    Executing ink flush frequently will rapidly deplete your printer's ink supply. Therefore, execute ink flush only when necessary.
  • If Ink Flush is run when the remaining ink level is insufficient, it may cause a failure.

Note

  • If there is no sign of improvement after Ink Flush, the ink may have run out or the print head may be worn. For details on the remedial action to be taken, see "Ink Is Not Coming Out."