Canon edible printer troubleshooting for cakes How to clean the edible ink print head

In this video I show how to clean the print head if the edible ink Canon printer is not printing the colors correctly. I also mention some tips for Canon edible printer troubleshooting.
Sometimes doing a printhead cleaning can work to unclog a nozzle that's not flowing correctly, but I find that when the edible ink printers start acting up it's worth it to just clean the print head and get it all rinsed out.
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[@michalak04]

Perfect! You was very detailed and explicit. Thanks! My story: I wanted to throw my Canon 6351 into garbage because original cartridges are very expensive, it gets jammed, then extensively used during deep cleaning and by the way it evaporates when longer disused via little air hole which allows ink to go out from cartridge : - printer was "jammed" after a prolonged period of disuse. I had to use 2-3 times deep cleaning to get it working back. But after multiple times results were not 100% and output was with failures (mussing "pixels") - Ink has evaporated during longer period of disuse But I realized that color laser printer has bad / unusable photo printing quality. I bought cheap ink and refillable cartridges from aliexpress (check reviews) and I cleaned printer head as you showed and it's printing like when I bought it. I was expecting that printhead will be damaged but no, now it's 100% wroking like a new. I waited ~3 hours until my printhead get dry in room temperature (25C degrees).

[@Acaketoremember]

I would be really careful about buying cheap ink, I have a feeling that it's not food coloring!

[@richardrico7479]

Thank you, extremely helpful information. I was told not to ever wet the green part on the back of the print head. But seeing you just run it through warm water and just make sure it’s dry answer a lot of our questions. We ended up buy a second canon as a back up . We have a few questions #1 what type of edible sheets do you recommend ? #2 what edible ink do you recommend? #3 Do you cover your printers after using? Thank you in advance Husband & wife little cookie business.

[@Acaketoremember]

I only print on wafer paper and I get it from a few different places. For icing sheets I would stick with a company that has a good reputation so that you don't get old ones because they'll dry out over time. I use Icing Images for ink, I think they sell icing sheets too. I just close the printers up as usual when I'm done, no special procedure.

[@jaimesuarezpa]

Thanks for the video, well done and clearly explained. It helped me a lot. Saved my wife's order and I think...my life. 😁😁

[@KaraBuntin]

Aren't these printers things that you would like to throw out the window? They stink. I'd better be careful or mine will hear me typing and quit working out of spite...

[@cathygreeley3576]

Love your video - so thorough! Most of my images (like clip art type of images) print fine but when I do a photo image - they do not print well - they almost look like a photo that was altered to look like a painting. Do photos not print the same as other images?

[@patriciacherry7837]

For someone that is looking to buy an edible printer for the first time, would you recommend this specific Pixma?

[@KaraBuntin]

This one is kind of on its way out as far as I can tell. I would look at icing images and see what models they're selling, because that's where I get my ink and they'll have some knowledge of other models that I haven't used.

[@peggyvasquez-fl6ts]

How long do you have to let it dry before putting it back in? And thank you for your video it was very informative

[@KaraBuntin]

Not very long, I usually let them sit out for a couple of hours, but there have been times when I just dried it as thoroughly as I could and put it right back in.

[@jonibz1456]

Hi Thanks for this information, was very helpful, could you please tell me which of the latest Canon Printer you are using for this, we still have an ip7250, but are looking for a back-up machine that hopefully uses the same cartridges.

[@KaraBuntin]

I've been sticking with the ix6820 for as long as I can. I have 5 sitting in backup waiting to be installed.

[@jonibz1456]

@@KaraBuntin ok thanks for the info

[@chicntexas71]

Which edible printer do you prefer and you think works best of the canon what’s model numbers

[@KaraBuntin]

I haven't found that one model is better than others, I would just stick to the Canons because you can remove the print head for cleaning.

[@egregory4643]

Thanks so much!!!

[@Acaketoremember]

You're welcome!

[@kandaceemory3436]

I have this exact printer, but I can't get it to print on my icing sheets. Is there a particular sheet setting/thickness I need to set the print at so it will print on these icing sheets?

[@KaraBuntin]

That's strange, it should print on the icing sheets with no extra setting changes. You might want to try putting it on a matte photo paper setting if you're not doing that already, that's what I use.

[@laurareyes3879]

How about when the colors are super strong? My red is more like a burgandy and purple prints blue instead

[@Acaketoremember]

Go into the print settings for the printer and adjust the intensity lower! I was going to do a video about this soon because I just had a nightmare experience with two printers quitting and the new ones defying me, so I've been adjusting colors up and down for the last two days.

[@michellesmith2140]

Hello I have cleaned my printer head 4 times have did the cleaning about 6 time have did deep cleaning and still my cyan not printing I’m about to give up printer was doing fine until I put new cartridges in please help

[@Acaketoremember]

I'm sorry it took so long to answer, I thought that I'd answered this. Try one more time, rinse the printer head in hot water for 15 minutes until it looks like it's running clean, then soak it in printer head cleaning fluid for a couple of hours. Try forcing some of the fluid through the nozzles using a syringe and shooting it into the nozzles and through the vents on the back. After it's soaked for a couple of hours run hot water through it again for another 15 minutes, then let it dry out for an hour or so and put it back in the printer. Run a deep cleaning on it and see if it prints correctly. If it doesn't, it could be time for a new printer. I just had a printer do the same thing with the cyan not printing, and when I cleaned it the cyan printed but magenta didn't, and I couldn't get it to work, so I had to switch it out for a new printer, unfortunately.

[@shania6617]

@@Acaketoremembermine is doing the same thing and I had it since March. The pictures are faded and lines are on the images. I ran a nozzle check as well and deep cleaned it. I also flushed it with water

[@shania6617]

March 2024

[@rachelhuntnevadalearningac5563]

I just bought the Canon ix6820 and have the Cranboly edible ink. The printer will not recognize it, even though I've unplugged the printer, held the reset button for 7 seconds, etc. Any advice?

[@Acaketoremember]

Ugh, I'm sorry about that. It could be the brand, I've never heard of it so I don't know it by reputation. I would get another set of cartridges from Icing Images and see if that works. It should, but if it does, I would get my money back from the first people!

[@JenniferScott-qe8dz]

@A Cake To Remember LLC ...Great Video. I just brought a new CanonTS702a off Amazon with a 4yr. warranty. It is the same printer that Imaging Ink is selling in their bundles. I also brought the conversion kit from Imaging Ink. I've been review videos and everything to do with Edible printing but I can't find anything about the cleaning cartridges they sell. Do we need them if we clean the print heads? Thanks

[@KaraBuntin]

Nah, I think that cleaning cartridges would probably just be used to run some kind of cleaning solution through the print head, but since you can take it out and use water you don't need to us the cartridges. Water will do a more thorough job.

[@JenniferScott-qe8dz]

@@KaraBuntin Thank you so much!

[@macmadeitxo8003]

Hi, I have a canon edible printer , my icing sheets always print with that smudged weird overlap on the bottom 1-2” of the sheet (prints perfect on paper). I’ve tried so many settings, any tips or paper settings you recommend? ,thanks in advance 🤍

[@Acaketoremember]

This is a weird thing that happens to me too, but I don't know how to fix it. You might be able to outsmart the printer by attaching a leading edge of a piece of icing sheet to the front end of the sheet that you're printing on, and setting it to print on a legal sized sheet. i don't know if that would work, but if it's only going to print the smudge on the first part, and you have the file set up with some random stuff on the leading edge and you can attach an extra piece of an icing sheet that would make it 1-2" longer, it might print the smudge on the extra piece and print the normal sheet the right way. I can do a video about that over the weekend, I don't know if I'm describing it the right way so that you can visualize what I'm talking about.

[@macmadeitxo8003]

@@Acaketoremember hi thank you for getting back to me so quickly! I totally understood what you meant, I considered that, but only as far as changing the settings on my printer/ laptop… adding a dummy paper behind the edible sheet to extend the length might make the difference… I’ll give it a try thanks so much , mac

[@Acaketoremember]

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[@MikeJones-qo7vt]

I already own a Canon printer can I jus buy the edible ink and use it? Even though we been using it for office use with regular ink in the past

[@KaraBuntin]

NO, absolutely not...If normal ink has been used in it it's not safe for food use anymore because of the chemicals in printer ink that keep the ink flowing. Edible ink printers can only be used with food coloring inks, if you use it with regular printer ink it's not food safe anymore.

[@dragonqueen4799]

@@KaraBuntincan you tell me where I can buy the edible printer you are using

[@biniamkifle4404]

I want to buy an edible printer. Which type of printer do you recommend me? (For bussiness)

[@Acaketoremember]

Any Canon printer will be fine. Make sure that the one you buy has cartridges that are available in edible ink form.

[@aimeejoffe7851]

Hi! Can you use vinegar to clean a print head? I really want to use my current cannon to print on edible paper. I have a Pixma MX882 and I think that model is used for edible ink. I can tell my family not to eat the pictures if it will be unsafe, but if I clean it really good, should I give it a try? I know its not recommended

[@Acaketoremember]

No, you can't do that for a bunch of reasons. The regular printer ink is toxic, so it shouldn't be used for edible paper. Also the edible ink can mess up the printer because it doesn't flow through the same way.. Vinegar won't clean print heads, especially with the regular printer ink.

[@kaylahenning4552]

Thank you for this! Mine is used for everyday printing. I just finished all the steps it is drying❤about how long does it take to say it's safe to put back into the printer?... Mine was just printing blue so hopefully all will be good when I put it back together 😊

[@Acaketoremember]

IT doesn't take that long, but I've been letting them dry out overnight. I've put them back in after half an hour or so but I make sire to get as much water out of it as I can with a paper towel.

[@richardrico7479]

One more ? Which software do you use when printing or transferring a photo to software we are also having difficulty with colors, sad. We are new to the edible sheets but love the fact we can have a 48 hour turnaround for sugar cookie’s. Thank you once again😊

[@Acaketoremember]

I just have the images on my computer and I print directly from that.

[@Nicola-bw4jt]

Thank you this was very helpful.. i havent removed the head betore and managed not a problem watching your video from the start to end 👍😁😘

[@Acaketoremember]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dellr4706]

Thank you!

[@Acaketoremember]

Thanks for watching!

[@riverstorm8000]

This has been so helpful for my personal printer. Question, do you think this would be possible to fix a printer that hasnt been used in years, our local culinary school found one in the closet and we wanted to try to fix it for their students

[@Acaketoremember]

It's worth a try, I would try to make sure that the print head is totally cleaned out, though. Start by running it under really hot water for 15 minutes then soak it in hot water for a while, use some print head cleaner fi you have any (the food coloring kind) and maybe put it through your dishwasher at home. Watch my video on the nuclear cleaning option!

[@loreenrivera1741]

Hi! I’ve followed all the stops and my printer is only printing black and white. Any tips on how to fix it ?

[@KaraBuntin]

You would have to clean the print head again if the colors aren’t working. Before you do that make sure the printer isn’t set to black and white printing! Sometimes it gets to the point where it just won’t print at all anymore and the only solution is to get a new printer.

[@leaf8731]

Printer getting stuck and printing wrong dimension. Any solution. This problem arise Only edible print sheet. Pls help

[@leaf8731]

@@KaraBuntinTutorials Goodnes. May be I am using default settings. Let me try it & adjust the setting. Thanks a lot.

[@khelse8877]

You should atleast move the printer to make the video , it was a struggle to see what you’re doing . So useless

[@Acaketoremember]

You must have stopped watching right away, it was moved later in the video. Since the first part was just taking out the cartridges I didn't think that was necessary for people to watch that being done, most people have a grasp on how to do that.

[@michellesmith2140]

Hi when I put my ink in my cartridge it run out fast on my cartridge it’s a little black piece that I hook on the orange clip the black piece want stay up do you think that why it’s running out the cartridge I just got the cartridge 🤦🏽‍♀️I see your piece is clear mines black

[@Acaketoremember]

I just got some that have a black clip and they don't want to get locked in the same way as the clear ones, so that's probably not the problem. Make sure that the little rubber stopper is in the cartridge, that keeps the ink from just pouring out. If you mean that it runs out fast when you're printing things, it does...The food coloring ink definitely doesn't seem to last as long as regular ink for some reason, I have to refill my cartridges pretty frequently.

[@michellesmith2140]

Just seen your reply Thank you

[@Roddy1965]

This was helpful, thank you!!

[@vickiejunkins3956]

How do you change the ink in the black LXX or XLL it has no plug to check out to refill

[@Acaketoremember]

It should have one, if it doesn't you can't refill it!

[@judyturbeville6006]

Will removing edible print cartridges when the printer is not in use prevent buildup in the printer?

[@Acaketoremember]

Not that I know of. it happens more when the ink goes through the print head as it's printing. It gets clogged up inside the print head because the food coloring doesn't have the chemicals that make the ink not get clogged up inside it.

[@kendraborczuch-kitts8935]

What if it’s just printing black ink when you run the cleaning?

[@Acaketoremember]

Either clean the printhead by running it under water to flush it out, or try another cleaning cycle. If it's not printing any color at all you probably have to remove it and clean it, even if you've already done it once. At some point, every edible ink printer will just die and not print right no matter what you do, though, so it could be that it's just the end of the line for the printer.

[@bridgettchapman5020]

Nope can never get mine clean I got a new print head worked and I said I’m gonna ruling it every single day, I did and after the 3rd day started having lines in the test run! Not sure what I can do but it’s literally a pain in the butt and I’ve spent so much money doing this it’s not even funny!

[@bridgettchapman5020]

And just so you know I even have a little plunger that I connect to the top of the sponge it forces the water completely through I watch it spray out the bottom it runs completely clear solid sprays out of all outlets but STILL no luck with unclogging

[@Acaketoremember]

I totally understand...I've spent the last month having at least one of my three printers just stop working right after a day or two of printing fine. It makes no sense, and it's completely aggravating. I'm at the point where I just assume that I'll have to clean at least one print head a day, and it's usually two of them. There's also some defective magenta ink being sold, and some companies have more or less fixed it, but the magenta has always given me problems.

[@renaeausburn9932]

So ow long can you soak a print head in water? Is overnight too long? Also, Magent!! Ugh! It’s the only one that ever gives an issue. I clean the printhead and works great. The very next day the pink is barely there. Cleaning daily is stupid. You mentioned magenta maybe sold from bad batch, is there a particular brand you trust? Icing images is where it came from.

[@Acaketoremember]

It's not a bad batch at this point, they fixed that, but the magenta is thicker than the other ink, so it clogs faster. I've been having problems with the black ink recently, and I never did before. Black has magenta in it, so I think part of it could be that. It's REALLY aggravating. I did try a different ink brand and it did the exact same thing, so that didn't matter. I also think that the food coloring ink basically burns out the print head a lot faster than regular ink does, sine I can usually get about 3 months out of a printer before I have to give up and replace it. If one lasts longer than that it's a miracle. I plan on going through about 10 printers a year, it stinks. You can soak them in water for as long as you want to. If you don't have the print head cleaner from Icing Images get some, it definitely helps to clean the ink out better than water by itself. And force water through the nozzles using a squeeze bottle or syringe, that helps to get clogs out.

[@renaeausburn9932]

Thank you. I’m actually out of the cleaner, so I’ll be ordering more tomorrow. Almost not worth the hassle of edible printing ☹️

[@harmonywhalan4877]

@@Acaketoremember WHOA!! 10 printers a year? May I ask how many prints you get out of it before having to replace the whole printer? How many prints would you do in a day? I've had mine for so many years so now I'm curious!

[@rt-ks2bh]

Thx for your honest feedback,,,,,,cheers

[@christinegriffiths936]

how do you stop black roller lines on my prints please

[@Acaketoremember]

You would have to clean the rollers if you can get to them. Sometimes you have to go through the back panel of the printer to reach the inside parts, but it depends on how your printer is set up.

[@pamelahoward2307]

I keep having white lines on my printed items

[@Acaketoremember]

That's probably something in the print quality settings. Try it on a higher quality setting and see if that helps.

[@pamelahoward2307]

@@Acaketoremember will try it. thank you

[@dianahill2186]

CANT SEE ANYTHING!

[@Acaketoremember]

It’s working fine for me, sorry i can’t see what’s going on for you.

[@rt-ks2bh]

what a headache

[@Acaketoremember]

Yep...That's why most people who buy the edible ink printers end up throwing them out the window after a few months. They're a pain in the butt.

[@stankendall4171]

@@Acaketoremember I have had the same printer for the past 7 years. All I do is at the end of every print job I clean the print head much the same way except I use some large syringes with the tips cut back to fit over the ink entrance to force hot water into each system until it sprays out clear. blow dry with air can blowers wrap up with a sheet of paper towel. And it ready for the next days of printing. this all take no longer 5 or 10 mins it also lets you see how the ink cartridges are doing .

[@ashleyolsonalberts7365]

Is it safe to wash it with water? I think i need to do this cant get mine to print

[@KaraBuntin]

Yes, and you can sit it in a bowl of water with the sponges under the water to soften everything up. Just make sure that you dry it off really well before putting it back in the printer.