External Ink Waste Container Increases Clogging?

I taught that OCP inks are suppose to be 80% cheaper than OEM inks,
so how cheap can cheap be.. ?

Click to expand...

I just gave it a try, the PGI-40 is removable head/cart combo and it worked.
As you see the reused ink is free! And it is perfect if you have dye printer, if you have also pigment ink it may clog due to pigments (you would need to filter it before use but if filtered usable also).

Going back to the dye ink based waste ink. You could buy syringe filters which are used to sterilize culture media that can not be heat sterilized ( in an autoclave ) Even a 4.5 micron filter would suffice. You load up a large syringe, attach the filter to the syringe tip, and shoot the waste ink through it, catching it on a clean bottle.
If you do that with pigment you will filter out the pigment particles which would basically produce nothing usable. Not only that, the filter would immediately clog up due to the particulates.
I used to use as fine as .8 micron which would effectively filter out almost 100% of bacterial organisms except for mycoplasmas.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sac...ringe+filters&_nkwusc=syringge+filters&_rdc=1

But as The Hat stated, why bother. Even OCP K3 pigment inks cost only 3-4 cents / ml when purchased in 16oz per color. I don't care at all about my ink costs anymore.

Joe

I have looked at filters there and would like to ask you:

1. What filter size microns for DYE ink?
2. What filter size microns for PIGMENT ink?

Also perhaps there is a way to convert picoliters that printer print to microns to get
filter size?

1pl = microns?
2pl = microns?

Thanks.

Only for DYE.
These filters will filter out bacteria!!!! So think about it. What do you think it will do with comparatively HUGE pigment particles?
Yes they would immediately clog your filter.
So no. You cannot really filter pigment inks.
The idea of filtering waste ink and reusing it would only apply to dye inks. Not for pigment inks.
If contaminants are as large or smaller than pigment particles, how do you expect the filter to differentiate between "Good" and "Bad" particles?

Joe

I clear it that I would like to use to filter NEW ink, not used !
And primary goal is to filter DYE ink. The PIGMENT ink was just a thought.

Are you sure the 0.4micron etc. filters would work for DYE?

I know there are SOLVENT printer filters like 5 micron filter, would this work for PIGMENT?
The only problem is this filter is too large to say filter 100cc of ink, the syringe ones a perfect.

If you look here it is sis that particle size is largest 0.1micron
http://www.konicaminolta.com/inkjethead/technology/report/pdf/icis_200205_tomotake.pdf

This shows largest as 2.87microns, some 0.6 some
http://www.slideshare.net/HORIBA/particle-size-analysis-of-pigments-and-inks

This chart below shows particle size from 0.1 to 0.5microns


This however claims that particle size is mostly about 0.2microns
http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=hilltopreview

So that means that 0.45micron syringe filter would make your ink very good if there are particles that would pass the filter, otherwise you will just clog you filter.

The idea is to filter mostly DYE ink because you never know if the bottles were clean, ink top quality, no residue after a while, no oxidation occurred, no impurities go into the ink etc.

Suggested filter process:
Take 50cc syringe and suck ink into it.
Attach syringe filter and inject ink into virgin cart, cis system etc.
wash the filter reversed with distilled water. Dry filter, reuse if possible.

It seems that 0.45micron filter diameter 25mm can filter 70ml of liquid with unknows particles (claimed by manufacturer) and cost is about 1-1.5$ for a filter, not that bad.

Nice article about ultrasonic used to grind particles of ink:
http://www.hielscher.com/inkjet_ink_01.htm



Work diagram


Ink before


Ink after

I've never thought about filtering ink.
But in the Microbiology lab I worked in, we routinely shot different solutions that needed to be sterilized but could be sterilized in a common autoclave due to the amount of bovine serum they contained. The head would coagulate the proteins. So filtering was the only option. A 2 micron filter unit ( 500ml capacity ) would be used under vacuum. certain filtering membranes would have more or less affinity to proteins. They would clog up long before you had filtered the 500ml.
Not because of particulates but the proteins would bind to the membrane.
In the case of dye inks, you wan to use about a 4.5 micron to 2 micron syringe filter. Anything larger and you would have to purchase filtering units in whatever volume you would need. Keep in mind that you will need one per color.

A sub micron membrane will clog up quite readily. The finest I ever has to use was 1 um.

Again as far as pigment inks, is the pigments are ground to different sizes, you will need a pore size that exceeds the maximum particle size you want to allow through the membrane. Any large clumping of other contaminants that happen to be larger than the average pore sizes of the membrane would be trapped. Anything smaller will pass through. Eventually the filer clogs anyway.
Our practice was to filter one batch and toss it as medical waste which would be autoclaved before proper disposal through a medical waste disposal company. Yes, we specially boxed, barcoded, and scanned out waste.
So much "FUN" I'll never miss again!

Joe

Are you sure about 4.5 micron to 2 micron syringe filter my drinking water filters are 1micron. And no it's simple filter cartridge not reverse osmosis. As I said it's stated that PIGMENTS are 0.5microns maximum.

1.There are PTFE, MCE, NYLON filters what would fit best for ink filtering?
2.What would fit for inkjet printhead cleaning fluid filtering that could be a solvent?

I would say PTFE but it's said that it's very hard to use dues to membrane not wanting to pass the liquid, also the membrane could actually leave deposits small pieces of itself?
http://kb.mtc-usa.com/article/AA-00952/0/

The nylon filters should be better then, but it's stated that strong bases or acids can't be used. While I will not use strong acids but ink is like Ph 12 ? isn't that a base that would not be compatible with nylon filters?

Then again there MCE filters (what is that?) -
http://www.membrane-solutions.com/mce_syringe_filters.htm

What about PES filters?

Are there any other types that would be better?

I am sorry I meant 0.45um and 0.1um NOT 4.5 or 1.0um.
It's been a while and my head is not really there any longer.
So you would need at least a 0.8um filter for most pigment inks. You might still end up with some clumping which would cascade to a clogged filter membrane.
Sometimes I had to use two - three filters to be able to shoot a 60ml syringe full of material to be sterile filtered.