Cleaning solution: the ultimate test

Hello all, new member and apologies in advance for resurrecting an old thread: I have found the advice and content extremely useful, still highly relevant and I have a related question which I hope someone more knowledgeable than I can answer:

I have an “old” Epson 3800 which has seen infrequent use, and has now got a clogged magenta nozzle. Ignorant of this thread, I purchased a pre-mixed solution called “magic bullet” which slightly improved things. I have since ordered the ingredients so that i can prepare my own solution and procure a set of cartridges so I can flush through from beginning to end.

My question is: is there something I could sensibly add to the pharmacists solution so that I could see the result of a nozzle test? Am aware of the piezo solution sold in the states which does just this, but am UK based and wondered if there was a recommended ingredient that I could buy which would serve the same purpose.

I would really like to get my printer back up and running again, it’s only ever had OEM cartridges, but has not seen the regular use required to prevent the clogging.

Many thanks
Nige
 
Hi Nigel and welcome, it is perfectly safe to add 2% of ammonia to Pharmacists solution when flushing your system out, but it’s not recommended for long term soaking, because you don’t want to leave the ammonia solution in contact with any metal for long periods.

When using pharmacist’s solution in your carts for printing you can add a couple of drops of dye ink into the mix, pigment will work if you don’t have any dye ink, the Magenta or Cyan colour is best to use just for colourant..

You may have to remove the dampers from the print head if your soaking is not successful..
 
pharmacist said:
Many forum members have enjoyed my formula to condition the sponge of Canon cartridges.

The formula is as follows:

-3 ml propylene glycol (or 2 % glycerol)
-20 ml isopropylalcohol
-distilled water up to 100 ml

The cleaning solution to free up clogged printheads is by adding 20-25 drops of concentrated ammonia to each 100 ml of cleaning solution.

Today I suffered from a tenacious clog in my Epson Pro 3800 in the magenta and cyan channel, caused probably by long term of non-usage and the very low humidity in my room because of the high heating since it is now freezing in Belgium. Even after 3 cleaning cycles the clog did not go away. In the past one cleaning cycle is enough to clean minor clogs. So today I folded a piece of towel paper into a nice thick and even strip and drenched it with my cleaning solution and put it under my printhead and let it soak for about 1 hour. After that I executed one cleaning cycle and...all the clogs are gone. Whow it works fantastic and the formula is very cheap to make.
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This is a bit of an older thread, but it has TONS of great info, so we're adding it to be featured on the homepage!
 
I just mixed 500 ml of the famous pharmacist's cleaner. Now important question: is there an official sticker label template with name, copyright & ingredients? ;-)
 
pharmacist said:
Yup, you have to pay me royalties for the recipe :;););)
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If it cleans the print head as expected I'll be ready to send you a good quality bottle of local solvent :)

I did some serious cleaning yesterday (sponges, rest pad, printing with solvent instead of ink with driver set to use maximum amount of "ink") Then I left it over night with rest pad topped up with solvent. I'll be doing tests soon to check if that helped - please keep your fingers crossed!
 
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