Alcohol & Printheads... what do you think?

[arcon5]

Searching google terms like 'clogged printhead' or 'cleaning printheads' yields many many results describing how the use of 'isopropyl alcohol' will help with such.

A search like 'has alcohol damaged my printhead' yields many results about how its not recommended..

it can damage essential components
it causes ink to dry up so has extremely short-term benefits
ect

So whats correct?

Does alcohol damage printheads or is it a reputable method of cleaning?

I have been trying it on my printheads for the last few weeks and unsure as to whether it has helped or damaged the printhead. They are used for printing 2-3hrs constantly/day but since using alcohol they are wearing faster/need replacing more often than usual. Looking today one that needs replacing has dried ink underneath... is this possible since the printers are used so much?

I have large format printers (HP Z2100s and 3100) which take 4 (6 for the 3100) printheads.


So your views???

 

[qwertydude]

Cleaning with alcohol is just fine. Most cleaning solutions are made of a mix of alcohol, water and a soap or surfactant. If your print heads are wearing out faster than usual I'd suspect more something else like what ink you're using, whether OEM or a refill. Some refills may not be as compatible. They may work but what can happen is something called kogation, the ink turns into a hard substance that can crystallize on the thermal element reducing it's effectiveness and can eventually lead to print head burn out. Alcohol works pretty well but I find Windex with ammonia works even better and has even reversed what I believed to be light kogation on my Canon's print head. Regular cleaning didn't work but soaking the printhead in a tray warm windex for about half an hour cleared up some "clogs" that no other method did.

 

[raval]

You'd want to use 50/50 mix of clear rubbing alcohol.

What SHOULD work better is warm bottle water. Inkjet ink reacts to heated solutions better thank ones at room temp. as hot as coffee is fine but do not use boiling hot water. You can boil the water, take it off the stove and waite 2 minutes.

You have to use distilled water. minerals in tap water can destabilize ink.

I read somewhere Windex works great so maybe you can heat some of that.

 

[Wondering_Mike]

I use a 5% alcohol solution in demineralized water to clean. However when i use ink and i think the ink mix might cause clogs I use a 5-10% windex solution in ink. 5-10 parts windex in 95-90 parts ink resp.

Good luck!

 

[arcon5]

So you use non-HP inks and mix it yourself with Windex?

 

[Wondering_Mike]

I'm sorry I was not complete when I wrote my message.

I use Canon compabitle ink mixed 1:1 with universal ink. Recipe for clogs I know, but it works for me. If we call this mixed ink, formula A than mix formula A with windex in the prementioned parts (5 parts windex, 95 parts formula A).

Good luck with your printheads.

 

[printfan1138]

So Mike!
Your mixing 2 different brands of ink and adding 5% windex? Now that's a new one on me, I never knew something like that would work, is this a joke or on the level? Also just wondering, is this dye based or pigment based ink?

 

[printfan1138]

Alcohol and printheads, Yes I can see that working if I don't drink too much Alcohol!

 

[RMM]

I've been known to put a few drops (not sure of the actual percentages) in my refilled HP 02 cartridges. I have pints of each color left of this cheap ink that I bought about two years ago... about every three months it would clog the printer even with frequent usage. With a bit of Windex there is no clogging anymore.

Obviously the colors are a bit off. You can't tell in normal plain document printing and faxes (which is all that I do with this printer) but you can definitely tell that the colors are off when printing a photo. It is really just a band-aid solution for the cheap ink I am using. If I cared about output quality I would buy a new inkset.

 

[Wondering_Mike]

So Mike!
Your mixing 2 different brands of ink and adding 5% windex? Now that's a new one on me, I never knew something like that would work, is this a joke or on the level? Also just wondering, is this dye based or pigment based ink?

I'm on the level. I never knew this worked either but i just tried it once in moderate ratios of ink A:ink B 2:8 and work my way down to 1:1 mix of the 2 inks. Adding windex is something I only do to prevent clogs and clean a bit.

Dye or pigment? Ink A smells like solvent when I print with pure ink A (so I assume dye) and Ink B does not smell at all when I print with pure Ink B (I assume pigment).

I'm always experimenting with ink mixtures but I agree with the general opinion of this forum to use only one type of ink and always purge. But yeah, I had these inks from my early days and I wasn't about to toss either ink out.