• This is the back of the ceramic head assembly. I have color-coded the holes so you can tell what color ink goes through each hole into a head slot.
• These are straight-through holes with no twists or turns for the ink to traverse. I wish the same could be said for the ink paths in the cartridge-holder!
• The small holes are for the color dyes and the large slot in the top-left of the photo is for the Black Pigmented ink (it has a two-dot black color-code).
• I have no idea what the large round well is for above the color holes.
• Also marked on the photo are the screw slots and the index slot.
• The latter fits over a peg on the bottom of the cartridge-holder that helps to align the head assembly.

• This shows the bottom of the cartridge-holder and the gasket that goes between the holder and the ceramic head assembly.
• If this gasket is cut or torn around a hole, you are in a world of hurt. For the head to work correctly each hole must seal or the ink for that hole won't print.
• To the left and right of the gasket are the posts that the head assembly screws tight into.
• To the bottom-left of the Pigmented ink hole is the post that goes through the index hole in the head assembly.
• The edges of the holder are not bowed, but straight. My camera has a fair amount of distortion when in macro mode.
• If you will refer back to Picture 3 you can see that the screens are no where near the holes beneath the gasket; this means the ink has a convoluted path to flow through to get to the head assembly. This is where my magenta clog was.

• This is just a really cool closeup of the head gasket. You can zoom into it and get all the detail you would ever need!
• Okay, you have all the pictures you need to take apart your head assembly, now you need the actual cleaning instructions. Well, for the small sum of only $19.95 you can buy my instruction book... Hold it! Relax, I'm only kidding! ;)

1. There is nothing in the cartridge-holder or head assembly (that I found anyway) that is sensitive to water. The first thing to do, after removing the ink cartridges, is to hold the whole works under running water until the water is clear of ink. I used hot water, but it was cool enough so I could keep my hands in it.
2. Carefully remove the head assembly from the holder. This is the most dangerous part of the procedure.
3. Clean the exposed areas with running water again. Blow through the holes in the head to remove any water in them, then hold it up to a light and look for light through all 7 of the ink holes.
4. If any appear to be blocked use Isopropyl alcohol (NOT Rubbing alcohol!) to clean the holes. If you have a syringe use it otherwise an eyedropper could work.
5. The clog will probably be in the holder. To clean it, hold it upside-down (gasket pointing up) and take a syringe filled with alcohol and place the needle into the individual ink holes in the gasket. The syringe and blunt needle that came with one of my refill kits worked perfectly.
6. Shoot the alcohol into the cartridge holder. The alcohol should come out through the screen on the underside.
7. There will be quite a lot of back-pressure because I suspect the ink channels are very small. Make sure you have something under the holder to catch the colored alcohol as it comes out. This could stain a tablecloth.
8. Keep shooting alcohol through the holes until it comes out clear. Congratulations, you've unclogged your printer head.
9. I should point out that you will have to hold a finger over one of the cyan holes while you shoot alcohol into the other one - you will see what I mean. The same goes for the magenta.
10. After everything has dried reassemble everything making sure that the head assembly is properly aligned. I wasn't as careful with this as I should have been and my head is slightly misaligned (according to the test print), but text and photos look very good.

I hope this guide can help save you some money if your Cannon iP3000, iP4000, or iP5000 printers get clogged.