3 Most Effective Ways to Unclog HP and Canon Integrated Printhead Cartridges

There are many benefits to having an integrated printhead cartridge. An inability to get clogged is not one of them. Integrated HP and Canon cartridges are just as susceptible to getting clogged as any others, so I’ll be going over how to fix that today. These are the top 3 most effective methods I know to unclog your integrated printhead cartridges.

These are called integrated printhead cartridges because they come with the printhead built into the cartridge unit. Therefore, when you change the cartridge, you’re also changing the printhead.

For the demonstration I did, which you can view in this video that I posted on my YouTube channel, I used an HP 98 integrated printhead cartridge. The procedure for this cartridge model will be similar to what you need for other integrated printhead cartridges made by brands like Canon or Lexmark.

If you’ve tried to refill your cartridge but found it isn’t working correctly, it’s likely an air bubble got into the system at some point during the refill. The air bubble is most likely at the bottom, so there’s a chance that if you let it sit overnight and make sure the air vent is open, the cartridge will be ready to print in the morning.

Refilling Summary

Allow me to give a summary of how the refilling process works for these cartridges. We go in through the air hole using our needle and ink-filled syringe. It’s essential to make sure you don’t overfill the cartridge. The ink then passes through the filter and can flow to the printhead. If there are air bubbles around the filter, the printhead is clogged by dirt or debris, or the printhead has become physically damaged, the cartridge will not operate properly.

For the video demonstration, you can see that we chose to use dry cartridges. To get empty cartridges, you can go to eBay and search “empty [model number] cartridges.” This is a highly convenient way of getting the cartridges you need, but there’s one major drawback. You can’t know what state the cartridges will be in until you get them.

An alternative method of acquiring empty cartridges for this process is to go to BCHTechnologies.com, where we sell those and much more.

There are two terms you’ll need to know if you decide that you want to buy your cartridges off of eBay. Firstly, a cartridge with the original OEM labels that has been used but has never been refilled will be called a “virgin cartridge.” Conversely, a cartridge that has been refilled will be called a “non-virgin cartridge.”

Test the cartridges

When you have your cartridges, you’ll want to test if their electronic components are still good and function as intended. Simply insert the cartridges into your printer and turn it on to see if it notices errors or recognizes that the cartridge has been inserted. Of the seven cartridges we tested in the demonstration, only one of them turned out to be a dud.

Still, the printheads on the remaining six integrated cartridges were in pretty bad shape, and it was apparent that they weren’t ready for immediate use. We did a quick refill and moved on to the unclogging.

In a bowl large enough to fit the cartridges standing up, heat enough water to cover the bottom of the bowl to about ¼ of an inch. You can use your microwave to heat it for about a minute.

Once you heat the water, put the cartridges in the bowl for 10 minutes, printhead-side down. Be sure not to let any of the cartridge’s electronic components touch the water. Having the cartridges in the water causes dirt to loosen and will make it so that the cleaning solution we use will be more effective.

We tested the cartridges once they finished soaking in the water and found that the test page we printed was far from optimal. Dried ink and debris were still clogging the cartridge. In an empty bowl (not the same one we had the water in), add ¼ of an inch of BCH brand cleaning solution.

We sell two types of cleaning solutions on our website, and the kind you want depends on the sort of ink that you use. The green triple action cleaning solution is best for the dye pigments and sublimation ink. The transparent cleaning solution works best on the pigmented ink.

Leave the cartridges to soak in the solution overnight. When we did this with the cartridges in the demonstration and tested them again, there was no notable difference between the printed pages. However, the clog did appear to soften.

Clean out the cartridges

Next, You must remove the air bubbles and sludge from the bottom of the cartridge. The first method we could use to do this is to blow it out. Both cartridges have five air holes, so the process will be the same. We need to seal off four of them using a piece of duct tape. Use a syringe to blow air into the remaining hole. This will create pressure within the cartridge, forcing out any sludge and air bubbles.

Canon’s ink cartridges only have one hole per chamber, so this process is a lot easier if you have one of those. You should be able to see bits of sludge and debris get blown out of the bottom. The resulting test after we did this was even worse than the previous two. If this happens to you, blow it with the syringe again until you see the air bubbles come out.

The second method uses a priming clip (preferably one from BCHTechnologies.com). When you get your priming clip, you’ll see that it’s composed of two main components. The plastic holder holds the cartridge in place, and the silicone pad sucks ink out of the cartridge’s ink head. In the demonstration, I noticed that some debris had gotten on the surface of the printhead, so I used a high-pressure steamer to get it off.

Put the cartridge into the clip and push it in until it locks into place. Once you have it locked in, use the syringe to draw ink from the bottom of it until you see the air bubbles go away. Take the cartridge off of the clip and clean the electronic contact points. Insert the cartridge into the printer and print off a test page.

Vacuum cleaning method

The third and final method is to use a household vacuum cleaner. Duct tape the cartridge onto the vacuum’s hose. You will no longer be able to see the printhead, so you have to be careful not to overdo it. Only vacuum it for a few seconds at a time and run a test print between each one until it comes out clean.

Your cartridge should now work correctly, and you can go back to printing smoothly.