I've torn down my retired Canon Pixma MX340 multi-function inkjet almost to its individual components. I was a bit surprised the remaining electronics still ran through its power-on self-test sequence. It failed the test, of course, given how almost all mechanical components have been disassembled. But the fact it ran at all was enough to motivate keeping all the electronics together until I pick off individual pieces for future repurposing.

The same could not be said of its mechanical components. Most of the plastic pieces are very specific to a MX340's mission of handling paper and that hasn't been my area of interest. Now that they've been taken apart, I no motivation to put them back together again. Another part of this lack of interest is the fact that, thanks to 3D printing, it's easy for me to create tailored plastic pieces for future projects. I think I will keep the gears because, even though they can be challenging to repurpose, they are difficult to 3D print well. The remaining plastic are landfill bound.

I don't have any metalworking capability, though, so all these miscellaneous metal bits will be added to my jar of salvaged parts. Joining my existing collection of screws, springs, and shafts.

Before these parts go their separate ways, I laid them all out together one last time. I had originally thought it would be neat to lay them out in a way that maintained their relative position to each other like an exploded-view engineering drawing. But due to how a MX340 is built, it quickly became an impossible task to maintain 3D space relationship of multiple layers on a flat 2D layout.

Ignoring my failure to maintain spacial relationship, this "group picture" showed the large number of parts that go into a multi-function inkjet. I believe an inkjet is the most mechanically complex consumer electronic equipment still on the market. Especially now that VHS decks, audio cassette players, and CD changers have disappeared. Given their complexity it's amazing inkjets are still sold for well under a hundred bucks. Now that I've taken one thoroughly apart I find it more believable they might be sold at low to no profit (or even a loss) for the intent selling profitable ink cartridges.

Taking this apart was a lot of fun! But when putting together this picture, I realized I missed an item on the to-do list: salvage the scanner flatbed glass.

This teardown ran far longer than I originally thought it would. Click here to rewind back to where this adventure started.