Cleaning Epson Printheads

[SS]

After refilling my cartridges many times finally I am unable to get the
black to print properly on my Epson 870 photo. I have tried cleaning (many
times). I have an 'empty' cartridge and wonder what I could fill this with
to clean out the nozzles. I have heard Windowlene is good but have looked at
the latest offering here in UK and its not got Ammonia in and is thick and
coloured. I suppose any solvent that will dissolve in water will be good but
what to use that will not damage the printhead? Distilled water? At the end
of the day if I can't clear the head the printer is scrap anyway.

One thing that confuses me: I get my ink from Selectafont and it is said to
be at least as good as manufacturer's original - so why is the printhead
blocked?! Reasons for it not working are said to be air bubbles but I use a
technique of overfiilling the cartridge and then centrifuging it to gat all
the ink to the outlet (fortunately these carts have a little flap valve on
the outlet!). Are there any suppliers that do really produce inks as good as
originals?

 

[Jan Alter]

A solution of 10% ammonia/90% isopropyl alcohol should be sufficient for
your dye-base ink if you're unable to get the Windolene in a made up
cleaning cartridge. After you make up the cleaning cartridge I would suggest
that you take a syringe (without the needle) and hold it tightly against the
black ink inlet spike on the printer head and try withdrawing some of the
ink, then quickly install the cleaning cartridge. The empty space in the
black ink chamber will more easily fill with the cleaning solution than to
simply just install the cartridge.
One other thing I've read many refillers speak about is that they can
refill their cartridges just so many times before they wear out. I don't
know what's wearing out, but consider that information for what it's worth
if you've been using the same black cartridge many times.

 

[measekite]

After refilling my cartridges many times finally I am unable to get the
black to print properly on my Epson 870 photo. I have tried cleaning (many
times). I have an 'empty' cartridge and wonder what I could fill this with
to clean out the nozzles. I have heard Windowlene is good but have looked at
the latest offering here in UK and its not got Ammonia in and is thick and
coloured. I suppose any solvent that will dissolve in water will be good but
what to use that will not damage the printhead? Distilled water? At the end
of the day if I can't clear the head the printer is scrap anyway.

One thing that confuses me: I get my ink from Selectafont and it is said to
be at least as good as manufacturer's original

why do you believe these small mom and poop relabelers that will not
disclose to you what you are buying. all of the clogging reports in
this ng over time tells me to beware. i have spoken to these relabelers
and the reason they tell me they will not disclose is they are afraid of
people like you would go to their mfg/formulator. right you are going
to buy 50 gallons of each color. gimme a break. it would be nice if a
major mfg/formulator would develop a prefilled cart that at least
approaches the quality of oem and is safe to use in printers that is
properly labeled and fully disclosed so the market can track
performance. that is what the relabelers are really afraid of. the
users being able to track market performance based on a real brand so
they can make up their mind. but right now the best choice is to over
pay for the real thing.

- so why is the printhead
blocked?! Reasons for it not working are said to be air bubbles but I use a
technique of overfiilling the cartridge and then centrifuging it to gat all
the ink to the outlet (fortunately these carts have a little flap valve on
the outlet!). Are there any suppliers that do really produce inks as good as
originals?

look at all of the problems you are having. there are 100s and 1,000s
having problems that have ruined their printers and not all of them are
in this ng. they just learned their lesson and went out and bought a
new printer and now use oem ink concentrating on photography instead of
messy refilling and all of the headaches.

 

[polymorph]

After refilling my cartridges many times finally I am unable to get the
black to print properly on my Epson 870 photo. I have tried cleaning (many
times). I have an 'empty' cartridge and wonder what I could fill this with
to clean out the nozzles. I have heard Windowlene is good but have looked at
the latest offering here in UK and its not got Ammonia in and is thick and
coloured. I suppose any solvent that will dissolve in water will be good but
what to use that will not damage the printhead? Distilled water? At the end
of the day if I can't clear the head the printer is scrap anyway.

I'm in the USA, not familiar with Windolene but if it is thick, I would
not use it.

I use:
1 part nonsudsing household ammonia (no added scents, no coloring)
4 parts clear isopropyl alcohol
5 parts distilled or filtered water

One thing that confuses me: I get my ink from Selectafont and it is said to
be at least as good as manufacturer's original - so why is the printhead
blocked?! Reasons for it not working are said to be air bubbles but I use a
technique of overfiilling the cartridge and then centrifuging it to gat all
the ink to the outlet (fortunately these carts have a little flap valve on
the outlet!). Are there any suppliers that do really produce inks as good as
originals?

Who says "as good as manufacturer's original"? Selectafont? Use the
same judgement you would when shopping for a used car...

The bottom of the print head builds up gunk over time. Paper dust,
carpet fibers, pet hair, and house dust get stuck in it and make a kind
of inky mud.

I saved some of my past posts on print head cleaning and put them here:
http://www.polyphoto.com/tutorials/PrintHeadCleaning

Steve

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Ink clogging can be caused by a number of factors, including how long
the ink remains in the head, how much air the cartridge is exposed to,
how dry a climate it is, etc. Further the underside of the head often
gets clogged with dried ink residue after a while.

In general, the best cleaning process is a mixture of underhead
cleaning, and using a cleaning cartridge. Making up a mixture of 1-2%
ammonia with water and 10-30% alcohol is the usual mix. Having some
water in the mix helps. Do not use the thick Windowlene mixture.

Art

 

[measekite]

Ink clogging can be caused by a number of factors, including how long
the ink remains in the head, how much air the cartridge is exposed to,
how dry a climate it is, etc.

yes but you forgot the use of noname generic unauthorized ink.

 

[BD]

yes but you forgot the use of noname generic unauthorized ink.

It's been theorized that Milquetoast was molested by an aftermarket ink
salesman as a child, and this was the catalyst for the near-obsessive
behaviour concerning the little drops of colored liquid in your print
cartridges.

Tragic, really.