I have replaced the print head and the ink, but now it looks as if the little sponge underneath them has a rip and it wont let paper feed correctly, where do I get the new sponge line.

You did not say what type of printer it is, or if you have checked for a piece of paper stuck somewhere in the printer.

Example of possible solution:

https://www.inkredible.co.uk/canon-error-code-6a81-fixed


https://www.inkredible.co.uk/canon-error-code-6a81-fixed

Quoting from web page shown, photo not included in quote:

"Canon Error Code 6A81 - Fixed! We recently came across error code 6A81 on our Canon Pixma MG5250 Printer (using PGI-525/CLI-526 range cartridges). The error could also occur on other printers in this range.
The error code is basically caused by an obstruction within the printer, usually a paper jam but could be any foreign body that has found its way into the printer (those with young children will understand!). The obstruction stops the carriage and print head from moving into the correct position when powering up the printer. The print head should come to rest at the right hand side of the carriage and position itself over the waste ink sponges. If the print head is unable to do so, it returns the '6A81' error message.
You can see from the picture, the position of the two waste ink sponges towards the right hand side. The sponges are spring loaded and move backwards and forwards when the printer initialisation occurs upon start up.
The problem in our case was caused by two pieces of torn paper. One at the far right of the printer which was simple to remove, but the other was stuck in a small opening behind the spring mechanism for the waste ink sponges. This was preventing the sponges from being moved freely and seated correctly, which in turn meant that the print head was unable to pass over them and come to rest in the correct position.
To remove the torn paper we turned off the power to the printer (to prevent any damage to the carriage mechanism) and used a pair of tweezers to carefully pull the offending article through the small gap. We missed this hidden piece of paper the first time we checked for obstructions so it's worth shining a torch in and having a good nose around!
Close your printer lid, power on the printer and et voila... Canon error code 6A81 is no more!"

A B LED light denotes that the black ink cartridge is running low.
A C LED light denotes that the colour ink cartridge is running low.
If the alarm light is on (lightning bolt in a triangle) it should be accompanied by an error code.
Canon MP495 - Error Codes If the printer displays an error message, the following information should help to diagnose the problem.
The led screen on the printer will flash a letter E and will then be followed by two numbers:
Error Description More Info Error E02 The machine is out of paper or will not feed. Error E03 Paper jam or output tray is closed. More Info Error E04 The Cartridge cannot be recognised. More Info Error E05 The Cartridge cannot be recognised. More Info Error E07 Cartridge is not installed in the correct position. More Info Error E08 Ink absorber is almost full. More Info Error E13 The remaining ink level cannot be detected. More Info Error E14 The Cartridge cannot be recognised. More Info Error E15 The Cartridge cannot be recognised. More Info Error E16 The ink has run out. More Info Error P02 Carriage encoder error. More Info Error P03 Line feed error. More Info Error P07 The waste ink absorber is full. More Info Error P08 Print head fault. More Info Error P10 Print head fault. More Info Error 5100 Carriage Encoder error. More Info Error 5200 Print head fault. More Info Error 6000 Line feed error. More Info Error B200 Print head fault. More Info Error 5B00 The waste ink absorber is full.

Hello.
Remove the cartridges, then the head itself by lifting the lever attached to the side of the cartridge holder. Sit the head part in a saucer of boiled water, making sure no water touches the contacts on the front of the head unit. Leave for 5 mins and replace in the printer.
While the head is out inspect the cartridges "bed" inside the printer. there is a sponge that the head rests on when the printer is idle, this can clog and leave clumps of ink on the head. if so simply place some tissue or toilet paper over the sponge to adsorbs as much ink as possible,
I hope this helps Regards GM

That sounds like the ink is coming off the waste ink absorbers. Try blotting the excess ink off the bottom of the printer with paper towels. The ink absorbers are small pads at the bottom of the paper feed path. With work, you can pull them pads and rinse them clean and then reinstall them when dry. Unfortunately, this can take almost disassembling the printer. Simply absorbing some of the excess is a temporary step.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells
(there is a counter that indicates when (based on average use) the waste ink absorber is full. The printer will stop working when that number is reached. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a reset for this model that actually works.)

The sponge under the print cartridges is to soak up the ink when cleaning the print heads. If part of it broken off and lodged in the rollers where the paper is drawn into the printer then try to locate the sponge and remove it. Sounds like it's lodged somewhere and jamming the paper feed.

Its a sponge in the drip tray underneath the print head. It tends to fill up, especially if you're cleaning your print head quite often.

Its full of ink, and so needs to be dried out. The easiest way would be take it out, rinse it under the tap and leave it somewhere warm to dry out.

If you can't take it out, try and decant the ink, blotting paper, sponge as best you can and give it a while to dry.

Have you tried cleaning the print head? A couple of times anyway and test print. If you use generic sometimes you'll need to clean print heads more often than if you used epson ink.

Are you using genuine Canon inks? This is a typical problem with 'compatible' ink cartridges.
What happens is that ink leaks from the cartridge and out of the bottom of the print-head. As the print-head moves back and forth across the paper these little leaky bits drop off on to the paper.
Another possibility is that the sponge that sits under the print-head when it's at rest is really saturated with ink and it's leaving a large mount on the bottom of the print head which then get moved on to the paper as the print-head moves. (This too is often caused by a leaky cartridge.)
A quick way to check is to open the printer and take out the print-head (you can do it on this model without taking the cartridges out of the carriage) and look at the bottom off it. If it's all smeared with ink then there's your problem. Use some paper towel and clean the surplus ink off. Then , get some fresh paper toel and a bright light and examine the area at the right hand end of the printer where the carriage normally sits when the printer is off. You should see the absorber sponge. It will probably be very wet. Use the paper towel and try to get as much ink as you can out of that sponge - you'll get your finger ends all inky but that's the price you'll have to pay.
When you've got as much ink out as you think you can, put the carriage back in and test the system out.
Please let us know if that works.

The sponge is the head cleaner. It cleans the dried ink off the print headwhen you start a print job. If you don't replace it, your print head or cartridge will be ruined.

The print Head has gone bad. Not using a printer that often will dry out the print head. The print head is where the ink goes. Try to get a cue tip and put some Alcohol in the place where the ink goes through. These should be small sponge like things underneath the ink cartridges.


The print Head has gone bad. Not using a printer that often will dry out the print head. The print head is where the ink goes. Try to get a cue tip and put some Alcohol in the place where the ink goes through. These should be small sponge like things underneath the ink cartridges.