Aluminium foil will protect against electrostatic discharge as well as, if not better than, an anti-static bag. (An anti-static bag is only slightly conductive, so a direct ESD event onto it can be transferred to the board inside.) But aluminium foil is NOT suitable for boards that have power sources, such as lithium backup cells, because it will short them out and discharge them if it makes contact with them. Boards containing supercaps for short-term backup are safe if the supercap is discharged. I would fold the foil at least twice (forming four layers) before wrapping it round the board, otherwise it can rip and leave areas unprotected. KrisBlueNZ (electronic serviceperson and design engineer)

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... top surface of the printhead puck. I used a small rubbery "collar" from the tray suspension system in a CD drive, but you could use a rubber washer, a rubber grommet, or anything that will "kiss" the surface and form a good seal.

For each ink hole, press the tube and grommet around the hole, and suck on the tube. This will suck the isopropyl alcohol from the tray, up through the printhead puck, and into the bottom part of the tube. Stop sucking, slide the grommet off the edge of the puck and blow the crap out. Slide it back and repeat until you see bubbles coming through the alcohol in the tube, showing that air is able to flow through the puck. Repeat for the other holes.

Clean up both sides (lots of toilet paper is good here), refit the gasket and reassemble. You'll need to run a few pages through it to clear the alcohol out.

KrisBlueNZ

"That's a nasty clog!" - Groundskeeper Willie

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Here's a suggestion for cleaning out the printhead. I did this on a Canon Pixma MP630 that was showing error B200. It didn't fix the problem, so I can't be sure this is good advice, but it did clean a lot of ink out of the printhead.

Open the lid, remove all of the ink cartridges and lift the grey lever. Slide the printhead assembly out.

Set up a work area with several layers of newspaper because it gets messy! Unscrew the two silver Phillips-head screws holding the postage-stamp-sized printhead "puck" onto the plastic structure and prise them apart gently at the end opposite the orange flat flex cable. Remove the grey rubbery gasket and clean it in isopropyl alcohol.

Pour some isopropyl alcohol into a shallow tray slightly larger than the printhead element and hold the printhead puck in it, with the printing side downwards and the ink feed holes upwards.

Get a one foot length of plastic tube and slide something soft and rubbery over one end so it will make an airtight seal with the ...