Canon QY6-0090 Print Head Color

Canon Printhead for TS8020, TS9020

 This is a new, unopened, genuine Canon printhead manufactured in Japan.  (Beware the Chinese counterfeits.)  Canon does not include ink cartridges with their new print heads.  You can install the ink cartridges from your old print head in the new printhead if they still have ink in them.  

Wondering what causes print heads to go bad?  Usually it is not circuitry failure but simply dried nozzles.  The symptom of dried nozzles is white horizontal lines in the print for one or more colors.  Usually you can print a nozzle check from your printer software which shows a pattern of lines.  If a nozzle is dried, it will show a blank where there should be a line.

Dried nozzles can be caused by several things, including a poorly seated ink cartridge, or lack of use (letting the printer sit for a few weeks without using).

Sometimes print heads can be "resuscitated".  Of course, first start by running several cleaning cycles using your printer's software.  If that doesn't work, try removing the printhead and carefully cleaning the bottom of it with water.  Some of our customers have reported they've been able to get their print head unclogged by soaking the nozzles in Windex.  

Sometimes the printhead problems are caused not by a defective print head but by a “gunky” parking station.  The parking station is the place where the print head “rests” when it is not printing.  Usually it’s on the right side of the printer (looking at the printer from the front).  The parking station has rubber seals that are supposed to surround the printhead when it’s parked.  These seals have two purposes: 1) to keep the printhead from drying out when it is not printing, and 2) to provide a tight seal for strong suction when the printer is self-cleaning the head.  Some printers also have rubber wiper blades that move across the bottom of the printhead to remove accumulated ink.  All these rubber pieces get “gunked” up over time with condensed ink.  This prevents a tight seal, allowing the head to dry out.  The good news: the rubber can be cleaned!  Best tool is a Q-tip dipped in water.  You’ll need several Q-tips.  

For easier access to the parking station, open the cover of the printer so that the print head carriage comes to the middle (as if to replace an ink cartridge).  Unplug power from the printer.  Then use your hand to gently slide the printhead carriage over to the left, so that you can access the parking station (at right) more easily.  When you are finishing cleaning, close the printer, plug power back in, and turn it on.  The printhead will automatically return to the parking station.