I get an error message on Canon i960 printer that tells me the waste ink tank full. How can I empty this myself?

Visit to the service station and they will replace the in absorber....

The POWER Lamp Flashes Orange Eight flashes: Waste ink tank almost full
The printer has a built-in waste ink tank for the ink used during print head cleaning. Eight flashes indicates that the waste ink tank is nearly full. Press the RESUME/CANCEL button to cancel the error so you can continue printing. Before the waste ink tank becomes completely full, contact a Canon service representative.

Note
Canon recommends that you call for service as soon as this error occurs. Once the waste ink tank becomes completely full, printing will no longer be possible.

Inkjet printers have a fibrous pad inside them that collects the waste ink from cleaning the print head. Over time, this pad fills up with ink and can no longer hold any more. When this occurs, the printer indicates a "waste ink tank full" error.

Replacing the waste ink absorption pads is something an authorized canon service facility can take care of for you. Once they are replaced, it'll be functional again.

I have had this problem. There is a counter in your printer that must be reset to move on. The ink tank may not be full, but the counter estimates it is full (and maybe it is an instruction to you to buy a new Canon printer), and to actually empty the ink tank would be an uneconomical task. How do you do it, there are a number of helpers here so Google: MP730 waste ink near full.

Hello,
I cleaned the waste tank pad following the directions at
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/421538-solved-printer-used-ink-tank.html

These were from Lanmaster.

Note carefully how you take it apart - with photos if necessary - so re-assembly goes well.
Wear gloves!

I sent you a solution

here it is again

let me know if you require anyhthing else

Reporting solution by daweed:
"WASTE TANK ALMOST FULL or FULL ERROR MESSAGE PROBLEM
This is true with many Canon Ink Jet Printers: Eventually, you'll get an error message "Waste Ink Tank Almost Full, Contact Your Canon Repair Center". Canon is totally sly about this, and is actually a pretty ridiculous design flaw that they should be ashamed of- planned obsolescence. Anyway, don't let this problem discourage buying an otherwise fantastic Canon printer.
This problem will also be indicated by flashing orange lights on your printer. Different flashes for different models.
LOOK IN YOUR PRINTER MANUAL TO KNOW WHAT NUMBER OF FLASHES INDICATE. In any case, your computer printer software will also tell you exactly what is going on.
You need to do this after you get the WASTE TANK ALMOST FULL message and the printer continues to work, but BEFORE the WASTE TANK FULL message and the printer completely stops. I think. ;-)
Here's the fix:
The waste ink take is actually just a felt pad that sits under the printer mechanism inside the case and absorbs the ink from your cleanings. From what I gather, its both a time consuming and expensive proposition to take to Canon to fix. And they won't tell people how to do it themselves. Well, I WILL. And this works.
Remember of course, you've got to cycle the cleaning process a huge amount of times to get this to occur.
But when it does, there is a fix-it-yourself solution that is both safe and effective for the printer, and free. You have to be slightly mechanical to do this. If you get this message and you've never used a screwdriver and are all thumbs, well, Canon gotcha. But give it a shot even then, or give it to someone halfway coordinated to do this for you.
You may RESET the printer code first if you like or do it after you clean the pad
In some cases you may need to REMOVE THE PRINT HEAD FIRST or the reset code will not work. This was true of the S900 and i960 so, remove the print head first before doing this reset.
This is the correct code for the S and I (like i960) series of printers. (M series below this)
1) Power off printer
2) Hold RESUME button then press and hold POWER. (The beeper MAY sound once, or may not depending on your model.)
3) Hold POWER and Release RESUME.
4) Press RESUME twice then release both POWER and RESUME buttons.
5) When the indicator lights steady, press RESUME 4 times (for the S900, 3 times for the 8200 apparently).
6) Press power to set data.
7) Print away!
For other codes for other printers and more info go here to this big forum (but try the above first) Fix Your Own Printer Generally many of Canon's models use exactly this same code, the i models use the same code, all the s models use the same code.
I did this and it works fine! No more error messages and so..."

For Canon i850, i950, S600
Start with the printer OFF
1. Hold down RESUME and then hold down POWER
2. release RESUME
3. press RESUME twice, then release POWER
4. Let green light blink until printer is done futzing
Select function with RESUME press POWER to execute:
presses - light color - function
Number of presses - light color - function
0 presses - green - Test print (or exit service mode on i960)
1 press - orange - EEPROM info print (plus grid nozzle diagnostic on i960)
2 presses - green - EEPROM initialize
3 presses - orange - Reset waste ink counter

Reporting solution by daweed:
"WASTE TANK ALMOST FULL or FULL ERROR MESSAGE PROBLEM
This is true with many Canon Ink Jet Printers: Eventually, you'll get an error message "Waste Ink Tank Almost Full, Contact Your Canon Repair Center". Canon is totally sly about this, and is actually a pretty ridiculous design flaw that they should be ashamed of- planned obsolescence. Anyway, don't let this problem discourage buying an otherwise fantastic Canon printer.
This problem will also be indicated by flashing orange lights on your printer. Different flashes for different models.
LOOK IN YOUR PRINTER MANUAL TO KNOW WHAT NUMBER OF FLASHES INDICATE. In any case, your computer printer software will also tell you exactly what is going on.
You need to do this after you get the WASTE TANK ALMOST FULL message and the printer continues to work, but BEFORE the WASTE TANK FULL message and the printer completely stops. I think. ;-)
Here's the fix:
The waste ink take is actually just a felt pad that sits under the printer mechanism inside the case and absorbs the ink from your cleanings. From what I gather, its both a time consuming and expensive proposition to take to Canon to fix. And they won't tell people how to do it themselves. Well, I WILL. And this works.
Remember of course, you've got to cycle the cleaning process a huge amount of times to get this to occur.
But when it does, there is a fix-it-yourself solution that is both safe and effective for the printer, and free. You have to be slightly mechanical to do this. If you get this message and you've never used a screwdriver and are all thumbs, well, Canon gotcha. But give it a shot even then, or give it to someone halfway coordinated to do this for you.
You may RESET the printer code first if you like or do it after you clean the pad
In some cases you may need to REMOVE THE PRINT HEAD FIRST or the reset code will not work. This was true of the S900 and i960 so, remove the print head first before doing this reset.
This is the correct code for the S and I (like i960) series of printers. (M series below this)
1) Power off printer
2) Hold RESUME button then press and hold POWER. (The beeper MAY sound once, or may not depending on your model.)
3) Hold POWER and Release RESUME.
4) Press RESUME twice then release both POWER and RESUME buttons.
5) When the indicator lights steady, press RESUME 4 times (for the S900, 3 times for the 8200 apparently).
6) Press power to set data.
7) Print away!
For other codes for other printers and more info go here to this big forum (but try the above first) Fix Your Own Printer Generally many of Canon's models use exactly this same code, the i models use the same code, all the s models use the same code.
I did this and it works fine! No more error messages and so..."