Canon MG5250 Ink Absorber Full Message

Smodlet

Hi, hoping someone can help with this problem as we have googled, called stores, a techie guy we used to know and even Canon who would not talk to us unless we paid them to. No-one can tell us how to get rid of this "ink absorber full" message in order to actually get at the ink absorber to do something about it. The printer's innards just won't budge because of this message.

Please, can anybody help? Otherwise we will have to buy a new printer just because of a silly software glitch. TIA.

Neil_Jones

Its not a software glitch its by design.

The ink absorber is basically a sponge that collects excess ink during normal printer operation. When it gets too full it can't hold any more ink and it would just effectively drip all over the innards of the printer and out the bottom. Which is bad.

However the firmware keeps track of how much printing the printer does and flashes a message up long before the pads are literally full, though some printers can sense how full the pads get as the printer is used more and more. On some printers this counter is resettable by pressing keys in a certain combination but on others the only solution is to physically dismantle the printer to get at the pads.

This is not unique to Canon, the same happens to Kodak, Epson and HP. It is by design. If you don't want to see messages about full waste pads, don't buy inkjets - buy a laser.

You can try this if you haven't done so already:
http://www.fixkb.com/2011/06/reset-canon-printer-ink-absorber.html

Or this if you've feeling brave and you think you can get to them:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/clean-canon-ink-absorber-57609.html

Or failing that, replacement canon printer on Amazon £23.98.

Smodlet

Thank you so much, Neil Jones. OH insists on this type of printer because he wants to be able to print directly on to CDs; he's a bit of a muso and you are a star. :T