Do Cleaning carts really work

[Trigger 37]

It has been a long time since I've posted to this thread, and there have been a few changes in the process that I use to clean printheads. After many discussions on this thread and from other experts on this web site, I still feel that the process I use for type #2 and #3 are correct. However I have modified the process for those clogs that I feel are very difficult.

If I attempt to clean the head via step number one and still get no results, I now resort to what I call the hot process. I have prepared cleaning carts that contain about 5% of the original color of ink. To this I refill the ink cart with Hot water, but only as hot as one would drink a cup of coffee. I install the ink carts and head and run deep cleaning cycles and then ONLY print nozzle check patterns. Any other printing when there is not sufficient cooling ink near the heating elements of the printhead can overheat them and burn them out. So I use the "Fantastic cleaning ability of the Canon Purge Unit" to suck the hot Water/Ink mixture through the printhead. After a couple of deep cleaning cycles I let the printer set for a couple of hours. The hot water mixture tends to loosen up the dried up ink. Then I start the Deep cleaning process again followed by a nozzle check. In my opinion there is no safter way to clean a head. I also think that a mixture of 5% ink, Windex, and Isopropyl Alcohol would make a great cleaning solution, but I have not confirmed that it is any better than the hot water.

I have also not tested putting the refilled ink carts into the microwave to re-heat them. I've had such good success with this that I have not had to do this. However, I will admit that I have been lucky in that I have not seen a really bad clogged printhead on the last 10 printers,.. so I've not had a way to test this to the extreme.

I have also been envolved with other things and not messing with printers for several months. I also just got out of the Hospital after having a new "Stint" put into my LAD artery. All told, this is my 5th stint in my heart arteries. I feel as good as new.

 

[Smile]

Well I heard that a very good method is to use water enriched with oxygen, it should unclog very hard clogs very easy. Just can't find a place to buy some.


About cleaning carts - they do work if your clog very weak. Hot cartridges a something new will try this route next time, but isn't there danger to overhead the head? If the water is hot how can the printhead not overheat?

 

[Trigger 37]

Smile,... The hot water is not a problem since it cools very rapidly once you put it into the printer and by the time you get it ready to print. Also all you are printing is the nozzle text and that is only firing each nozzle for a very sort period.

To create a inkjet bubble, the heater elements heat the ink to a very high temperature, enough to force the ink bubble to expand. This pushes or ejects the ink drop out of the nozzle in a very fast pulse. What will really over heat a head is trying to print something when there is no "Wet" ink near the nozzles, but only dried up ink. This ink is going to try to expand but it can't since it is locked in the walls of the nozzle. The ejection of ink in a good head causes a micro-vacuum as the inkjet bubble leaves the nozzle. This must be replaced and the vacuum pulls the ink down from the ink cart. In a good working head, there is a continous channel of wet ink (with no air gaps) all the way from the ink cart to the nozzle. As one bubble is ejected it is replaced immediately. This keeps the printhead full of ink all the time and it keeps each nozzle cool.

The water or Windex temperature that I'm suggesting is not any hotter than a cup of coffee you would drink and by the time you get it into the ink cart and the printhead cycled through a deep cleaning cycle it will be much cooler.

The only down side to this type of cleaning is that it will put much more liquid down into the waste ink pads. This is not a problem because 95% of this is just water and will evaporate over time. It may cause the Waste Ink Error signal to come up sooner than normal but this is always easy to reset.

If others get a chance to try this method I would really like to hear some more feedback on difficult printheads and how they came out.

 

[canonfodder]

Well I heard that a very good method is to use water enriched with oxygen, it should unclog very hard clogs very easy. Just can't find a place to buy some.

Smile,

One commom form of "water enriched with oxygen" is Hydrogen Peroxide. This is available at almost any drugstore or pharmacist.

I don't know that it will dissolve ink any faster than hot water, but it does have a bleaching property.

 

[Smile]

Well I heard that a very good method is to use water enriched with oxygen, it should unclog very hard clogs very easy. Just can't find a place to buy some.

Smile,

One commom form of "water enriched with oxygen" is Hydrogen Peroxide. This is available at almost any drugstore or pharmacist.

I don't know that it will dissolve ink any faster than hot water, but it does have a bleaching property.

Well I know that special shops that sell sports supplements do have drinks that are enriched with oxygen, but becasue it's not pure water I doubt it will work.

I'm outsourcing special spray that should be 500 times to 1 enriched with oxygen used in dermatology. That should be pure water.

I think you could buy a container from a hospital etc, and dissolve it in water yourself. They do use small containers like 3 or 5 liters.