Inkjet Printhead Cleaning Method

[websnail]

Just a quick note... after many a search trying to find ammonia based cleaners here in the UK, I've finally managed to get the best solution from an ex Epson printer service engineer who does a lot of this sort of print head cleaning himself.

His solution was a "make your own" where the critical ingredient is Ammonia which can be bought in pure liquid form from your local chemist at about 2 per litre or some such.

Note: Obviously extreme caution is required and safety is paramount so when handling it, rubber gloves, a face mask and proper ventilation of the work space is an absolute requirement.


In terms of solution the recommendation was to dilute the ammonia with distilled water, and it's even possible to add in a little pure alcohol although not required.

I'm going to check back as to proportions for the mix but please can I stress the need to handle this with care and treat it's storage as you would any other cleaning chemical in the house!

 

[Nifty]

Speaking of ammonia based cleaners... I've been reading posts about "spare sets" of cartridges some members of the forum have on hand ready to go into the printer when their first set goes empty. Would it make any sense to have a full set of cartridges filled with ammonia cleaner to run through the printer every xxxx number of prints to keep everything running smoothly? If not, what about a single color cart (and in my case another cart for pigment black) filled with ammonia cleaner to be used when a nozzle seems to need a little bit of cleaning?

 

[skyhawk1]

I have a Canon S520 printer. It's great, I love it. Last week my printer printed blank pages and cannot be fixed. I gone through the deep cleaning cycle, took the print head out and soak with water. Everything looks normal but no text or pictures print on the paper.
I need some help to troubleshoot the problem.

Thanks,

 

[robotchr]

The posts in this forum helped me overcome the "gumption trap" of tackling the cleaning of an older epson stylus color 740. My daughter had this printer at college, removed an empty black ink cartridge, and let it sit that way for two years.

I put in new cartridges and even after many cleaning cycles it would NOT print black or red. It's working now! Here's what I did. After following the directions given in previous posts about how to park the print head, I put strips of paper towel down on the track which the head follows as it passes left and right.
Using q-tips I applied 100% isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) to each of the little "nibs" that protrude from the base of the head. These nibs puncture the seals on the ink cartridges and conduct ink to be printed.

After several applications of alcohol, I forced air through the nibs using a can of "Endust for Electronics" ,available at STaples, Office MAx, and Radio Shack stores. I used it with the straw-like extension tube. I suggest replacing the paper towel strip after each "spray" from the Endust can.

The printer now works fine again.

 

[mikling]

I just use water, a silicone tube and a syringe. Attach the silicon tube to the syringe and gently force some water through or just let it sit there with a column of water as pressure. Water based dyes, instantly dissolve with water. I think techs have a limitation of time spent on a machine so they pursue aggressive techniques. A hobbyist advantage is time, so they can pursue techniques where time is not critical. Water is the magic ingredient and warm water is best. The kinetic energy of warm water molecules will break down dye based clogs.

 

[mikling]

Now many people instantly assume that a bad or missing print is a clog. Not necessarily so. An air bubble can give you a bad print and some bubbles are tough to pull through on a head cleaning especially if you use inks with the wrong viscosity and fine holes. The clog is bugger of a bubble that doesn't want to go through the fine holes. This is VERY important. Ink with the correct is viscosity VITAL for Epson piezo heads.

On a HP, Canon and Lexmark heads you must be careful that an initial clog doesn't cause buildup of dried ink on the heaters which then causes two things. The heat from the heater can no longer get through the buildup fast enough to cause a good bubble to eject ink and move ink through. That then causes further buildup and it gets worse with each head cleaning. The only way out is to remove the head and then soak the heads so you can dissolve the buildup around the heaters. Now typically the initially buildup on the heater is caused either by ink running out where the emptying sponge actually is holding the ink from flowing or not feeding the head properly or you guessed again air bubbles.

 

[sandenscot]

I have a Canon MP 780...great printer....was not getting magenta to print well...saw a recommendation to soak the print head in hot water..voila'...it worked...for a minute...now i get it to print with the nozzle check....then it does not....do a cleaning.....will print...next sheet it does not....print head cleaning...it willprint one or two sheets then blank. .....so basically..why does it print right after a cleaning...then not again....thanks...all other colors fine

 

[AlienSteve]

Speaking of ammonia based cleaners... I've been reading posts about "spare sets" of cartridges some members of the forum have on hand ready to go into the printer when their first set goes empty. Would it make any sense to have a full set of cartridges filled with ammonia cleaner to run through the printer every xxxx number of prints to keep everything running smoothly? If not, what about a single color cart (and in my case another cart for pigment black) filled with ammonia cleaner to be used when a nozzle seems to need a little bit of cleaning?

I would not. Ammonia is a nasty chemical to have around metals, rubbers, and electronics for extended times. It is also going to evaporate out of the cleaning cartridges over time, so eventually they'll just have water in them anyway.

I'm reminded of VCR cleaning cartridges: I saw several people wear the heads out in their VCRs in a year or two because they ran a cleaning tape after every rental VHS tape.

If you are having problems that often, then you have other issues. I've rescued a -lot- of Epson and Canon inkjet printers that had really bad clogs, then used them myself, sometimes for years without problems.

Although I am a tech, I treat it like I'm a hobbyist. Patience, time, and gentleness. I never syringe flush an Epson head, and although I use an eyedropper to flush Canon heads I never make a seal with the ink inlet.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but smaller syringes result in -more- pressure. I did the math and some experiments. It is easy for an adult to press on a syringe with 4 pounds of force. Using a small Insulin syringe, you can reach 72psi with only 4 pounds of force.

 

[AlienSteve]

I have a Canon MP 780...great printer....was not getting magenta to print well...saw a recommendation to soak the print head in hot water..voila'...it worked...for a minute...now i get it to print with the nozzle check....then it does not....do a cleaning.....will print...next sheet it does not....print head cleaning...it willprint one or two sheets then blank. .....so basically..why does it print right after a cleaning...then not again....thanks...all other colors fine

We need to know more. CIS? Which brand? OEM cartridges? 3rd party cartidges? Which brand? Refillables? Which brand?

You could have a partial clog of the air inlet in the cartridge. A nozzle check only uses a little ink. Printing uses a lot more ink, a partially blocked air inlet might not let air in quickly enough, causing a slight vacuum to build up in the cartridge, causing symptoms of a clog. Air comes in, a nozzle check again looks fine.

This can happen if you overfill and ink comes out through the air inlet and dries there.

Or if you've refilled this cartridge a lot, there may be a buildup of crud in the sponge, impeding ink flow too much for a successful print but not enough to prevent a nozzle check. Search this site for back flush instructions, or replace the cartridges.

Or as Mikling suggests, an air bubble may be present below the ink filter screen.

 

[panos]

AlienSteve, are you suggesting against pure ammonia only or windex as well?

I use a spare cartridge that is filled with Windex. Inserting this on a clogged pickup and running a head cleaning usually fixes the problem. If it doesn't, I use the method I described earlier in this thread. I never let the cartridge on the printhead more than 5 minutes.

I use only one cleaning cartridge. Color bleeding from the cartridge to the pickups (and vice versa) is minimal and my printer is used for business documents where there is no serious need for color precision (though I print a few photos each month and they come out without any problem).

I must note I very very rarely have clogs anymore. Streamlining my refill and sealing methods and switching to OEM cartridges and Jetyoung ink are the most probable reasons.