My printer II

My Canon MultiPASS MP360 broke. It started making weird noise during start up last year. It sounded like some gears were not catching but since it kept working, I just ignored the problem. And then one day 5 months ago, it wouldn't start. The alarm blinked and won't reset. I tried to open it up to see if I could fix the problem, but could only go as far as unscrewing the back and detaching the scanner top. The left and right front panels were snap-on and I couldn't figure out how to pry them out. So I was left printer-less/scanner-less for 5 months.

Why repairing it you ask. Inkjet printers are dirt cheap I know. A Canon PIXMA went for only $30 + tax after rebate at Fry's a couple weeks ago. They say they sell the printer at a loss so they can make money on the ink cartridges. Ink cartridges are seriously over priced, really. Even the after market ones. It is because most cartridges have attached to them the print heads, which have some minor electronic parts. Even the ones like the Canon PIXMA have which have detachable ink tanks, nowadays require special inks which are not available after market. And this is the cool part about my MP360. I can refill the tanks with bottle inks and print for cheap. Even if I am in the mood to spend, Canon brand black cartridges are only $6.50. That's why I want to repair it. I am holding on to it for as long as I can.

Ink profits aside though, with a price tag of almost $90 it was hard for me to believe they sold me this printer at a loss, that was, until last Thanksgiving weekend, when I finally mustered enough strength to repair it, and found out how complicated a piece of equipment this is.

Once inside, I was amazed how well built and well thought out each part was. There were 3 motors I counted - one whose sole purpose is to lower the front panel and let the printout out. The other two motors have shifts to transmit motion to different parts of the unit - the rollers, the paper feeder, the print head belt, etc. The intricate wiring is simply stunning with cables wrap around corners and gears. It blows my mind how the designers came up with all these.

The core of the printer part of the unit, the scanner part sits on top and has been removed

This motor's sole purpose is to flip open the printout paper tray

There are brackets and guides for internal wiring and cables all over the places

The most impressive part is the print head bay: when the unit is on standby or powered off, the print head is covered up. On start up, the cover lowers and a sweeper passes through the print heads to scrape off any residue. A roller rocks the cartridges and small amount of ink is released to clear the print head. Shockingly, there are actually plumbing in the cover that directs these ink release to a foam at the bottom that just soaks up everything.

Flipping the unit up side down reveals how the print head cover funnels inks through a tube down to a foam below

Apparently very absorbent, this foam resides underneath everything, and is supposed to soak up all ink for the life time of the printer; at first site, I thought this is a black foam

It was a long journey for me. I had to detach many cables, unscrew many covers, reattach the cables and then power up then unit in order to see the problem in action. Turns out the springs were too strong for one of the motors to roll down the print head cover. I wedged something in there to tighten the turns and it works now. It took me 3 hours to put everything back together because some of the screws were so hard to reach.

All in all it took me 2 days of my long weekend, but I finally can print for cheap again. I gained not only a nice printer I thought I've lost, but also renew respect for the engineers who designed and came up with all these complicated assemblies. Printing will never be the same for me again.