Cleaning the Ink Waste compartment

[PrintersLaf]

Hi,

I have to clean the wasted ink compartment inside the printer... Can somebody tell me (or show me with video) how the dissassemble the Photosmart 7520 to get to the wasted ink compartment?

Thanks in advance,

Marc L

[PrintersLaf]

Hi,

Can someone tell me how to remove the cover (printhead door) from the Photosmart 7520 printer?

Thanks,

Marc L

[The_Fossette]

@PrintersLaf,

Welcome to the HP Forums!

Thank you for posting your query on this forum, it's a great place to find answers.

I reviewed your post and I understand that you want to know how to clean the Ink waste compartment.

Don’t worry, I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

In order that I may provide you with an accurate solution, I will need a few more details.

Are you facing any issues with the printer?

The ink used for servicing goes into a pad in the service station.  This is typically designed to have the capacity for the life of the product, it is generally not required to ever clean the service station.

However, if you wish to clean it please refer to the below video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPmG7Wq9IJ0

NOTE: Though it is for a different product the steps are the same.

 Please refer to "Step 6: Manually clean the printhead" from this link: http://hp.care/2i8i5gm

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

[PrintersLaf]

Hi,

Unfortunately, the video was not helpful because it was not my model of printer. I have the photosmart 7520.

If I can get the print cartridge door off, I will be able to access the waste ink dispenser... Would you know I get can remove the top cover?

The hinges are holding the cover in place!

[The_Fossette]

@PrintersLaf,

It is great to have you back and your patience is greatly appreciated.

There are no instructions available to remove the top cover. However, please refer to the below user guide for your printer and check if it helps.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03456524

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

[PrintersLaf]

You must be kiding !!!!

HP built the printer but they don't have any instructions on how to access the inner components....

Wow! Hard to believe.

If you do find anything, please send it my way 😉

[The_Fossette]

@PrintersLaf,

It is great to have you back and your patience is greatly appreciated.

I would like to inform you that none of the printer parts is customer replaceable hence there are no official instructions or service manuals available to open the printer.

However, please refer to the below video and check if it helps. This is a third party link. Links to external, or third party websites, are provided solely for your convenience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAX9zSmCG4E

NOTE: Links taken to other sites are done so at your own risk and HP accepts no liability for any linked sites or their content. When you access an external website, keep in mind that HP has no control over its content.

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

[Thatscreenname]

There is a video on taking apart the HP 7520 / 7525 here:

Taking Apart HP Photosmart 7520, 7510, 7525, 7515 Printer ...

I have done a number of repairs on electronics, including things like replacing the screen on a MacBook Pro and the battery and other components on iPhones. I would consider cleaning the waste ink mechanism on an HP printer to be reasonably difficult, both because the ink gets on everything, and because full disassembly of the waste ink mechanism involves a couple of small springs which take some skill to reinstall.

If you really want to clean the waste ink area

I've just finished a thorough cleaning of the waste ink area of our 7520. You don't need to do everything in the video to get to the waste ink mechanism. However, the video is a big help in understanding how to take things apart.

Cleaning up the waste ink mechanism is a real chore. It and everything around it will be covered with gooey, messy, semi-dried ink.

Strongly recommend you get some nitrile gloves. These are thin, but will resist the ink. You'll also need a #10 torx screwdriver or bit, and lots of paper towels and Q-tips, and some isopropyl alcohol.  A long thin plastic spudger with a flathead end would also be extremely helpful. I found both needle point and flat point tweezers to also be helpful. A bottle of canned air could also help with drying, but isn't required.

You may also want some teflon dry lube spray such as Elmer's Slide-All or DuPont teflon spray to lubricate the mechanism after you clean it. (Don't use WD-40 Specialist Dry Lube - it's not really a dry spray.) Check any "dry" lube spray first to see 1. that once the carrier dries what's left is a dry white powder, and 2. that it will not damage the ABS plastic used for the mechanis. You can spray it on a non-critical part of the mechanism to test it.

Also, take pictures of every step you do. This will be a big help in remembering which screw goes where, or how the parts are oriented.

Here's what to do to clean the waste ink area in a Photosmart 7520:

1. Remove the print cartridges and wrap in plastic wrap.

2. Remove the printhead by pulling up on the handle on its left side. Remember to move the handle back down, as the top will hit it if left up. I then put the printhead in a small glass bowl with about 1/2" of isopropyl alcohol, to get it cleaned up.

3. Remove the lower side trim and side panels as per the video. Note that the side panels stick up into inner top cover where the screws go down into them - it's useful to have a plastic spudger to pry the top up a little so that they can get free. I think that removing the right side panel requires that you take out a screw on the back of the printer next to the hinge, in addition to the two screws that are on the inner top.

4. The cables to the top unit (ADF/scanner) are on the left side. Carefully unplug the front most plug (red & white wire that goes to upper left corner of ADF/Scanner), and the three ribbon cables which run back to the ADF/Scanner. The two larger ones had blue at the bottom, and but the narrow one did not. All the cables were black. There is also a white cable toward the back, which you do not need to unplug.

5. Note the position of the four cables you've unplugged. It's a good idea to take a photo of each one, and how it's routed.

6. Carefully unroute the four cables from the black mounting board they route through. You should end up with a loose two wire (red and white) cable at the front, and two wide and one narrower ribbon cables at the back.

7. Watch the video for how to remove the ADF/Scanner unit hinges. Basically, you pop off the covers at the back, then loosen the hinge supports from the underside of the ADF/Scanner unit by prying them down from their front edge. The guy in the video used a screwdriver, but I found that a long flat plastic spudger worked really well. If you pull the ADF/Scanner unit forward a little it will create a small space you can use to insert the spudger. Once you get the spudger in about an inch (or less) the hinges will release from the ADF/Scanner unit.

8. Carefully slide the ADF/Scanner unit off of the hinge supports. The three ribbon cables at the back left corner have a small "L" shaped plastic trim piece which will likely pop off (it's held in place by the same screw that holds the left trim panel at the back). Carefully slide the three ribbon cables free, and set the ADF/Scanner unit aside.

9. Follow the video instructions for removing the remaining screws holding the inner top in place. There are three screws at the front, with the left and right ones back a bit. Also three or four at the back of the inner top. If you didn't remove the screw on the back next to the hinge, do that now. Then lift off the inner top.

At this point you can see most of the waste ink mechanism on the right, but you can't remove it yet.

10. Remove the black plastic shield on the left side which the ribbon cables were routed through. There is one screw top center which holds it in place, along with a tab which holds it loosely at the top near the back of the printer.

11. Loosen the metal plate which holds the printhead motor: Remove two screws on the left side of the printer at the back (these go into the plate from the left side, not from above), two screws a couple of inches from each end of the plate, and the black screw near the right end of the plate. You may also want to remove or at least loosen the two screws which hold the plate to the printhead motor.

The plate will still be attached on the left end, but loosely. Use a small block of wood or something similar to hold the plate up in the middle. This will give you access to the back end of the waste ink mechanism.

At this point you could work on cleanup from there, but you'll find that it's a challenge, and you still can't get to the pads under the waste ink mechanism. I ended up removing the entire waste ink mechanism, which is a box shape about 10" long and 4" wide.

12. I found it easier to do by removing the front metal plate on the top center of the printer, as this abuts the edge of the waste ink mechanism on its right end.

13. The waste ink mechanism has three points of contact on its left: a rectangular stud toward the front, a gear, and a rectangular stud toward the back. There is also a stud on the bottom front right. If you gently wiggle the mechanism you should be able to get it loose.

14. The waste ink mechanism is also attached to three small vacuum hoses. These run to a plate under the mechanism, which is held down by one screw. If you remove the screw, you can then easily unplug the three hoses, freeing the entire waste ink mechanism. The plate has hoses on both sides - one side runs to the waste ink mechanism, the other to the vacuum motor which sits under the front edge of the waste ink mechanism.

15. At this point you will see the absorbant pads that sit under the waste ink mechanism. There are four parts to the pads:

- A section about 6-8" long that acts like tape, run over the top of the vacuum motor, and wrapped around the largest pad at the front end.

- The largest pad, which is on the front side of the vacuum motor, wraps around it on the right, then splits into two sections going back. Note that it doubles over both at the front, and at the front edge of the back left smaller pad.

- Under the largest pad are two smaller pads at the back, one on the left, and one on right.

Note that the largest pad has two vacuum hoses that run into it, one on the left, and one on the right, in addition to a space for the three hoses that run up to the waste ink mechanism.

I used flathead ended spudger to loosen the first "tape" pad, then removed all the pads.

Cleanup:

16. The waste ink mechanism - This can be broken down into three parts, with a movable carrier in the center, and a smaller piece in the center of that used for the printhead rest. However, the the movable carrier and the printhead rest parts are both held by small springs. If you take these apart, note carefully how the springs are connected. I used pointed end tweezers to get the springs back in place, but it took some work. The advantage of taking it completely apart is that you can clean into all the grooves. Note that the printhead rest block has two vacuum hoses run into it, and a third which sits against it via a spring, ending in a small disk with a hole in it. I took all of these apart to clean them.

There is also a sort of sponge on the left of the waste in mechanism near the front. Mine had gotten pushed down. I removed it, and a small cage that holds it which clips in on the left side. Make sure you don't throw the sponge out, as it likely will look like a big glob of ink. The sponge itself took several washings and soakings to get the ink out of it.

I first used the plastic spudger to scrape up as much old ink as possible. I then put the mechanism in a ceramic dish with warm water and let it sit. I ended up rinsing it and changing the water several times, then did a final spray down of all the parts with the kitchen sink spray. 

Then I shook as much water out of the parts as I could, and put them in the sun to dry. A botle of canned air to get water out of nooks and crannies would be a good idea.

Once the parts were dry, I lubricated all the moving parts with teflon spray.

17. Cleaning the pads: After an initial rinse, I put the four pad parts in a ceramic dish with dish detergent. I ended up effectively hand washing them several times, including spraying them with the sink spray and squeezing them gently. I then dried them partly in the sun, and further in a warm oven and then with a fan. The main pad took a long time to dry.

18. I also thoroughly scraped with the plastic spudger, then wiped out the inside of the printer's case where the waste ink mechanism sits, including squeezing the vacuum hoses to make sure there was no sticky ink inside, and wiping off the ends of the tubes. Again, Q-tips and paper towels dampened with isopropyl alcohol were a help in getting the ink up.

19. I then put the pads back in place. The "sticky tape" pad had enough adhesive to still work. I also put the vacuum tubes back where they had been.

20. Cleaning the printhead: The printhead had a fair amount of gunky ink on it. I used the thin plastic spudger to scrape off larger chunks, then Q-tips and paper towels, with isopropyl alcohol, to clean it thorougly. I carefully used Q-tips with isopropyl alcohol to wipe the print heads themselves, and paper towels to clean the area surrounding them. I then used dry Q-tips and paper towels to get the printhead ready to reinstall.

20. While I had the printer opened up I wiped up many other surfaces, using either a Q-tip or a bit of paper towel and isopropyl alcohol.  I took special care to clean all the rollers.

21. Re-assembly is the reverse of the above. The only thing I found something of a challenge in the re-assembly was getting the waste ink mechanism back in place so that the gear meshed, both rectangular studs on the left were in the right holes, and the stud on the front right bottom was down in its hole. Note that if you push the in the center of the right side of the waste ink mechanism you can make the black gear poke out on the left side, which makes it easier to get the gear in the right place. Take your time and don't force it.

Note that once I had everything back together the printer went through a 5-6 minute setup, but then seemed to work perfectly.

I've made this sound a lot simpler than it was. I first stared with Q-tips reaching in to the waste ink mechanism, then realized I really needed to get the cover off, then realized I needed the metal plate for the printhead motor out of the way, then realized I really needed to remove the entire waste ink mechanism. There was an amazing amount of ink, and it was hard to clean up. Even surfaces that looked clean could have a coating of ink that took multiple wipes to get clear, using a paper towel or a Q-tip dampened with isopropyl alcohol. I found that even part of the hinge had ink on it in a crevisse which seemed to have an inexhausible supply of ink.

I got into this because our printer was having a problem where after being on for a few hours all the lights would start blinking, and the display said "The printer has encountered a problem. Turn it off and then back on." It would turn off, but not back on. I had to unplug the power for a time to get it to start up again. Then a few hours later, same thing. It would wake from sleep, then go into this "panic" mode. I have a suspicion that the amount of ink clogging up the waste ink mechanism was responsible. We'll see.