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What does this error mean that suddenly came up on my Canon Pixma 780? What is waste ink?

After doing a bit of research I found the following:

This printer has an ink absorber that takes in ink during the printing and print head cleaning processes. The cleaning process is necessary in order to keep the print head nozzles from becoming clogged. Over the life of the printer during normal use, the amount of ink that the ink absorber has collects is calculated by the printer (How? I don’t know). Eventually, after substantial use, the printer will enter an error condition when the ink absorber is nearly full. Printing is still possible however. Press the Stop/Reset button to cancel this error. You will still be able to print for a short period of time. To protect the printer from damage, you will not be able to print at all once the ink absorber is full.

What you would do, before the waste tank gets full, is to take it to a Canon dealer to get the ink absorber pads replaced. Canon also reset the waste ink full counter so the printer is right to go again.

Can you do it yourself? Well, from what I have read it is possible to change the absorbers yourself (can be a messy job), and as far as the waster tank full counter goes, if you have a service manual handy you can find the right codes/method to do it. Personally, I would recommend taking the printer to Canon for a proper service. The Pixma range of printers are good enough (and last long enough) to spend a bit of money on.

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Waste ink near full for Canon Pixma 780