Whats that stuff...

Sponge

Nah! man,Tis like a thick bed of blotting paper...just can't think what to replace it with? as getting an original would be impossible.

Folded up kitchen paper???

What about MDF...would this work?

It's usually a thick felt pad.

Doesn't act as a great sponge IME (though it doesn't like prolonged exposure to water)

can you just soak the old ink out of it, rinse it a few times then dry it out and replace it?

No that doesn't work,tried that years ago on an old olivetti,turns out when you wash it and dry it out its loses its thickness and absorbancy.

Isn't it poor technology - You pay a fortune for a bit of felt impregnated with ink - the cartridge - and when you clean the heads most of it ends up as waste. Laser printers are getting cheaper. Anyone tried a

The printer I have is still giving me good results...I thought I'd just give it a cleaning service from stripping it down to reassembling.. If you want to talk about laser printers please start your own thread about them.

Oooooh! Get her!!

You could just try thick blotting paper. However, open cell polyethylene foam would work and it can be washed out next time.

Colin Bignell

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "George" saying something like:

1. Thread drift is to be expected.
2. This isn't your thread.

Seconded. I too have an ML-1210. It's brilliant for text printing (although only single sided).

I have a Canon Pixma iP6700D for photos, which quite recently replaced the old Epson Stylus Photo 1200. That was becoming a right pain as it needed repeated head cleanings every time I used it. The only feature I'll miss is its A3 ability, although TBH I only ever used that about twice in the several years I had it. Before dumping it I taught it a lesson by taking it all to pieces. That waste ink pad in the base contained a remarkable quantity of ink, and took up most of the base of the printer. Being an A3 the base was pretty big too.

Regards, Simon.

(It is actually)

========================================= You can get cheap re-fills for the ML-1210 which makes it a very economical printer. Re-filling is easy if you use a small domestic funnel to get the powder in. I've been using mine for about five years. I can't find a bottle of toner at the moment but I'm pretty sure this is the one I've been using:

I'll have to try that... At least, if it doesn't work, it's not too important as I'd resigned myself to having to buy a new machine!