Canon Pixma MP640
Ink Absorbers are one part of an inkjet printer that will innevitably become exhausted in use.
Liquid ink has a tendency to dry out and the bubble-chambers in the head heats the ink to vapour, so the least contamination with particles or salts in the liquid could block the printhead. This can generally be overcome by a purging cycle on startup, the printer drives a bit of ink through the printheads to clean them.
To purge and clean the head the printer fires droplets from the printhead and uses a wiper to shift this contamination. The absorbers are a set of pads in the base of the printer which mop up this waste ink; it spreads through the fabric so there is a fair capacity for waste in the bottom of the printer. Most of the ink dries in the pads but eventually there is simply too much and there would be a danger of a flood if the printer did not stop.
The printer doesn't measure the level of ink in the pads (that would be difficult) instead it maintains a counter in EEPROM and when this suggests the pads are full the printer beeps 7 or 8 times and gives the messageInk Absorber Full [5B00]
Ink Absorber Replacement
The ink absorber can be replaced by taking the print engine out of the bottom case. The scanner has to be removed as does the external housing to get the print engine out, but the job can be done without much further dismantling.
- The DC harness needs releasing from the logic on the right side of the machine
- The ground cable needs disconnecting from the front chassis on the left side
- Six screws holding the switch system and purge drive unit to the bottom case need releasing - They run in two lines of three down the left and right side of the machine, one at each corner and two at the sides.
- The print engine then lifts away from the bottom of the case.
- Remove the paper separation slope because part of the ink absorber is underneath it.
The ink absorber can then be replaced, making sure it fits correctly into the recesses in the base.
The engine components can then be replaced, make sure the absorbent pads sit below the purge unit and are not allowed to rise up into the mechanism.
The ink absorber counter needs to be reset, or set to an appropriate value in Service Mode. Getting into service mode needs a piece of software supplied on an engineers CD. Our understanding is that Canon won't allow the software to be distributed - it is "authorized agent only" stuff. You are looking for Canon service tool V2000
or some such phrase. When we looked it was for sale on eBay and could be found as a download. Be careful about downloads - they could prove to be malware.
Parts List
# PIXMA-MP640 BOTTOM CASE & INK ABSORBER| Part | Description | Compatibility | Prices | ||
| 7-1 | QM3-6106-000 | Ground Harness Assembly, | MP560 / MP568 / MP640 / MP990 | 8 results | $1.39 €1,72 |
| 7-2 | QC2-9216-000 | Leaf Spring, | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP990 / MX860 / MX868 / MX870 / MX876 | 9 results | $0.59 €0,62 |
| 7-3 | QM3-3739-000 | Front Door Link, | MG5220/ MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 | 6 results | $8.13 €9,82 |
| 7-4 | QC2-9282-000 | DC Harness Cover, | MG5220 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 | 14 results | $1.05 €0,94 |
| 7-5 | QC2-7534-000 | Paper Separation Slope, | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP980 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP990 / MX860 / MX870 / MX876 / MX868 | About 24 results | $1.75 €2,34 |
| 7-6 | QC2-7533-000 | Paper Separation Knurl, | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX868 / MX870 / MX876 / MX882 / MX886 | 26 results | $0.26 €0,22 |
| 7-7 | QM3-6227-000 | DC Harness Assembly, | MP640 only | 17 results | $3.20 €4,12 |
| 7-8 | QC2-7716-000 | Duplex Paper Feed Flapper, | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP640 / MP628 / MX860 / MX868 / MP980 / MP990 / MX870 / MX876 / MX882 / MX886 | 21 results | $0.19 €0,16 |
| 7-9 | QC2-7708-000 | Cassette Feed Pressure Roller | MG6120 / MG8120 / MP640 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX870 / MX876 / MX868 | 15 results | $0.19 €0,16 |
| 7-10 | QC2-9243-000 | Coil spring | MG6120 / MG8120 / MP640 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX868 / MX870 / MX876 / MX882 / MX886 | 15 results | $0.26 €0,22 |
| 7-11 | QC2-7529-000 | Cassette Rail Left | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX870 / MX876 / MX868 / MX882 / MX886 | 26 results | $0.70 €0,94 |
| 7-12 | QM3-3640-000 | Cassette Rail Right | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX870 / MX876 / MX868 / MX882 / MX886 | 17 results | $1.10 €1,40 |
| 7-13 | QC2-7654-000 | Pick Up Shaft Gear | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX870 / MX876 / MX868 / MX882 / MX886 | ||
| 7-14 | QM3-6794-000 | Pick Up Arm | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP560 / MP568 / MP640 / MP990 / MX882 / MX886 | 15 results | $5.49 €6,70 |
| 7-15 | QY5-0235-000 | Absorber Kit | MP620 / MP628 / MP640 | About 11,100 results | $7.94 €22,04 |
| 7-16 | QC3-3581-000 | Case Bottom | MP640 only | 9 results | $16.20 €22,04 |
| 7-17 | QC1-6457-000 | Rubber Foot | MP560 / MP568 / MP620 / MP640 / MP628 / MP980 / MP990 / MX860 / MX868 / MX870 | 23 results | $0.19 €0,12 |
| 7-18 | QC2-9287-000 | Antistatic Sheet | MG5220 / MG6120 / MG8120 / MP620 / MP628 / MP640 / MP990 / MX870 / MX876 | 16 results | $1.60 €2,00 |
| 7-19 | QC3-3585-000 | Ink Absorber Sheet | MP640 Only | 16 results | $0.40 €0,44 |
| 7-20 | QC2-5330-000 | Double Sided Tape | MG8120 / MX860 / MX868 / MX870 / MX876 and just about anything else a short length of double sided tape will fit (Aldi sell it). | 9 results | $0.19 €0,16 |
Position numbers and Product codes were copied from the Canon Service Parts PDF. Descriptions are derived from the same source but in ordinary English order. Compatibility is from Web research - it is believed approximately correct and intended to indicate design similarity rather than recommend a spare for individual printers. Check the service parts list for the specific printer. The number of search Results is as given by Google in Aprl 2014. Prices in dollars are from executivecolor.net and mk-electronic.de.
The ink absorber QY5-0235 is likely to be required. One point arising from Internet research is the way it totally throws the list - all of a sudden there are over 11 thousand results.
Run Of The Mill Parts
Almost all the other parts in the printer are listed as available from one US, EU and Australian vendor. These don't include any of Canon's UK distributors, nor their UK Service Centres. Search results have a baseline of about 8 responses with a few straying over 20.
Generally the same sites appear each time.
Parts companies executivecolor.net and mk-electronic.de are almost certainly working from a Canon supplied list. They are present in a Google search for every code relating to this printer - if not every Canon code.
At a guess mediaform.com.au and wenku.baidu.com are doing the same but they aren't necessarily present in the search list for every code.
maqguroch.com and mission.com.myare frequently but not invariably present in the searches.
There are two or three companies who don't ever respond with a web-page but have put up PDF manuals:internaute.free.fr/depannage,and racs.co.bw, surpringly mk-electronic are not comming up again with a PDF. Watermarked Service Parts PDFs online is the way they tend to operate; but not in this case.
Three responses come from manualslib.com, helpowl.com and manualowl.com
manualslib.com is similar to scribd.com. They basically act as a library for material; people who want a copy of a file they have are encouraged to upload another potentially useful file and that allows them to download the one they want. Alternatively they can view things online. However where scribd generally does show the file online manualslib is less helpful.
helpowl and manualowl generally display things losely connected to the question. In most cases with the Canon MP640 what they displayed was irrelevant. What seems to happen is that every part code is used to generate a page, regardless of whether there is anything to put on it. To the average technician looking for information these pages are useless, but the site operator sells advertising. Based on this and other exercises the "owl" group appears to do little more than generate web-spam.
Search Returns Page Position
Commercially it is vital to appear in the first couple of Search Engine Returns Pages (SERPS). People tend to look at the first few entries on the first page and one of those will satisfy their interest.
How many search responses each supplier generates seems to depend on the vagaries of their page generation and perhaps of the search spiders
For instance
Site Structure
If someone actually searches for a product on a parts site (rather than via a search engine) then the site generates a search response. Some sites will then "persist" that response, putting the page permanently on their server so that search spiders are likely to find it. Navigation pages, details pages and perhaps these search responses get added to the sitemap (which is another navigation page).
Search-engine spiders looking for content are generally thought to read a page, make a list of all the links then follow each in turn as they index content. This can only proceed so far. There are trillions of pages and even a large organisation like Google might choose to use the site-map rather than follow all links. Site content can exist without a search engine visiting it.
Search engines are thought to put a high value on links from outside. It is unlikely that anyone will ever make a link from another page into one of these pages - unless it's from a forum saying "you can buy it here". Research like this apart, it is quite unlikely that any human being will ever visit most of these parts pages. They were automatically generated and they are there because a search spider might visit.
Search engines are often said to have a preference for "Product per Page" listing. This actually makes very little sense in spares - but of course the search engine doesn't know these are spares, they could be hand-knitted jackets for iphones or whatever the next teen craze is and your friendly search engine is there to help
In my research mk-electronic.de was almost invariably first in the list, sometimes displaced by mediaform.com.au. Then there might be internaute.free.fr and racs.co.bw who have PDFs online - rather than web pages containing these keywords. Last in the list almost invariably was executivecolor.net.
mk-electronic.de and executivecolor.net have almost identical content on every search. It is odd that the latter is so persistently last in search. They have perfectly good pages, slightly better than the competition because they actually give a compatibility list - so why bottom position all the time?
Absorber Kit and the Crowd
This pattern holds true for almost everything except the absorber kit. The absorber kit might be important, it does have to be replaced from time to time. Somehow this part has made it to icecat so everyone - and his cat - is claiming to sell it. We have EAN code of "5711045153143" , release date of 02 Feb 2012 and last modification on 24 Mar 2014 11:43:06. The fact that the product is in Icecat means that every site using it as a feed claims to have the product. These include proper parts suppliers like mival.ro, jacob-computer.de and eafsupplychain.com.
Icecat also brings in a great number of me-too list processing vendors who may or may not have product but are finding various ways to promote it and grab search position. So for instance we have and eBay vendor at $21.86 and Amazon vendor Zar charging £36+£12 delivery. At the moment (spring 2014) it seems to be compulsory for any Google SERPS first page to have an eBay and an Amazon line. Quite why eludes me: eBay and Amazon have their uses but they scarcely ever provide good information about printer parts.
Why not provide links? We have tried in the past but pages on parts sites don't last long and some of the businesses are shortlived as well. We have no way to maintain a big group of disparate links at present, although it's something we do consider.
The suppliers working from the Canon list are now knocked to one side; these are Canon's primary stockists but they come nowhere in Google's search criteria. Instead we find (in SERPS order):
Amazon (Zar) £36+£12 delivery, mediaform.com.au $30.30, eafsupplychain.com £15.00 Ex VAT, amazon.de (Zar again) €35, mival.ro 133.60 RON, pricecat.be (icecat), jacob-computer.de (no stock), dustin.se (no stock), markit.eu €20.12 ebay.ca (but its the wrong part) and they want $67.98 , eBay again €44.90, cxcommerce.com £24.00. uk-computers.co.uk £18.83, dustin.dk no price, dustin.no no price, beckscrs.com $14.99, plotterreparaturhamburg.de €39.27, agpfrance.fr €24,12, ceins.de €22.95 , reparatieplus.nl no price, abbo-shop.ch CHF 42.05, mk-electronic.de €22.04, comm2ig.dk (no stock or price), shopmania.it €38.56, sat-ulc.eu €44.90, pop-informatique.com €25.34, eetgroup.com trade only no price, eetgroup.com again, eetgroup.com 44950 ZAR, manualowl.com (excerpt from parts list), manualslib.com (another excerpt), produkt-guiden.dk 293.00 DKK, estock.fr €31.70, salespider.com (shopping site no ifo), …
No vendors display any product knowledge on their Web page. In most cases the pages were derived from distributors P&A lists - and the absorber was the only thing on them hence it is the only part listed by those vendors. These pages weren't better than executivecolor.net; usually worse, in that they had no compatibility information. What might be true is that these guys are better at search optimisation in their various ways.
There are a couple of UK vendors for the absorber. I couldn't find one of our usual UK distributors listing stock in March / April 2014 - EET does have it but hasn't listed it. EAF and MK have it as well, so we could sell the part for about £20 plus courier. (or less if we imported the part from the US).
Prices for spares vary a lot. Everything is not straight-forward, though. Canon may charge more for spares in the EU than they do in the US and that might be because costs are higher in a fragmented market with multiple languages. The cheap US distributor has a minimum order value of $100.
Spares vendors might be wary of parts like this.
Many MP640 users could need the absorber pad and it was a popular printer, so superficially there could be thousands of sales. However people are only likely to exhaust the pad if they use the machine quite heavily or have it for a long time. To need a change of pad people will probably have changed the printhead - but we know the price of printheads is a bit of a wall and they might go off and buy a new printer. The number of vendors looks like the market expressing a need but it may just reflect the number of people processing the Icecat list. Icecat counts product views - and against QY5-0235-000 it says "8". That is one of the lowest scores seen, so this part looks to be of interest but perhaps nobody really buys them?
The sheer number of vendors returned by the Google search is not really any help. Not a single one of the sites we looked at gave information about the service-mode reset needed after changing the pad. It looks as though selling them could create tech support problems.
Copyright G & J Huskinson & MindMachine Associates Ltd 2013. Some images are based on Canon User Guides and Service Manuals.