2025-01-23 - Removing a Stuck Cartridge From a Canon MAXIFY MB5155
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Someone recently asked me to remove a cartridge from a Canon MAXIFY
MB5155[0] that wouldn't pop out when it was supposed to. It wasn't
particularly difficult, but I wanted to document it just in case
anyone else has the same issue.

The way these Canon printers are supposed to work is that the printhead
with the cartridges moves to the left side where the blue blastic lever
with the arrow is[1]. Once a cartridge is positioned there, the blue
lever can be pushed upwards to release the cartridge. One additional
"feature" is that the printhead only moves over when the printer senses
that a cartridge is empty, meaning that a special trick is required
to change cartridges that aren't empty or that don't report their
ink level properly. I have no idea how anyone could think that this
"feature" is a good idea.

The trick to remove cartridges when the printer won't let you is to
start printing a page, then unplug the printer while it's printing
so the printhead carriage is unlocked. If you just want to remove
cartridges that aren't empty yet, you can use the cartridge release
lever[1]. Once the correct cartridge is lined up underneath the lever,
the lever can be pushed up to release the cartridge. However, the
lever is usually locked, so the big gear on the left-hand side has
to be turned clockwise until a click can be heard to release it[2]
(of course, this has to be done while the carriage is pushed out of
the way). All of this is also explained in [3]. In my case, the blue
lever wasn't always locked, but I couldn't really figure out when
exactly it was locked and when it wasn't.

This procedure didn't actually help me because the stuck cartridge
(cyan) wouldn't move at all when I tried to remove it. It is possible
to remove the entire carriage in order to access the cartridges
more easily. In order to do that, the plastic cover in front[4]
first has to be removed. It is held on by several clips[5] that
have to be pushed with a screwdriver so it can be slid out[6]. The
carriage can then be removed by pushing up a lever on the left-hand
side and unscrewing a screw on each side[7][8], after which it should
be possible to carefully pull it out[9].

In this state, it is also possible to see the cartridge removal
mechanism. Each cartridge has a hole in the top where it is held by a
clip. When the blue lever is pushed, this cartridge clip is pushed out
of the hole, allowing a spring to push the cartridge out. Someone had
already tried to remove the cyan cartridge by force, causing the clip
to become a bit bent[10], but fortunately it wasn't damaged too much.

After messing around with it a bit, I realized that the cyan cartridge
really was just stuck very tightly. I originally thought that it maybe
had gotten caught on something, so I didn't want to use too much force
in case that would break something, but brute force really was the
answer in this case. After replacing it with a different cartridge,
I screwed the carriage back into the printer (don't forget to push
the lever on the left-hand side back down). The plastic cover in
front of the carriage sits on some plastic tracks, so it has to be
pushed in from the front[11].

Once I was done with that, everything worked again. It wasn't really
a difficult repair, but I still wanted to write a small article on
it since you do need to know some tricks.

I just wanted to add one more note in the end. In this particular
case, the problem was caused by a third-party ink cartridge that
wasn't the correct size and thus got stuck in the carriage. This
doesn't mean that you should only buy original ink cartridges because
those are ridiculously expensive for absolutely no valid reason. Just
make sure to buy good quality third-party cartridges and you should
be fine. Also, never connect a printer to the internet, otherwise
certain companies have been known to secretly install updates that
block third-party cartridges.


[0] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/printer.jpg
[1] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/cartridge_release.jpg
[2] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/gear.jpg
[3] https://youtube.com/watch?v=elktHMke8ts
[4] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/cartridge_cover.jpg
[5] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/cartridge_cover_clips.jpg
[6] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/cartridge_cover_removed.jpg
[7] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/printhead_screw1.jpg
[8] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/printhead_screw2.jpg
[9] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/printhead_removed.jpg
[10] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/cartridge_clips.jpg
[11] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-01-23-stuck-cartridge/cartridge_cover_track.jpg