Epson 1400 - Print Head Black Ink channel extremely clogged - Attempts to unclog it.

rajhlinux

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Hello,

I am going to present some information on my attempts to unclog the Epson 1400 printhead using proven methods, such as using solvents like Isopropyl Alcohol (70-91%) and Propylene Glycol (Brand: SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze).

My first attempt strategy:

My first attempt was based on the fact that the black ink channel was extremely clogged. I left the printhead to sit in a bath of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol for 24 hours. While it did not do much to unclog the black ink channel, it did an excellent job of unclogging the other ink channels, such as the magenta. I made sure to apply the bath solution only to the nozzle area and not the entire printhead device to avoid having the solution leak into the printhead's complex PCB circuitry.

After 24 hours in the 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, I used a syringe with a rubber hose connected to the black ink channel to see if any negative pressure was being built up, creating a vacuum. When I pulled the syringe plunger out, it indeed created a great negative force. It also created positive pressure when I pressed down the syringe plunger. This led me to conclude that the black ink channel was still extremely clogged with dried ink. I need to implement other possible effective solutions...

My second attempt strategy:

Now, I will try using a 50/50 mixture solution of Propylene Glycol (Brand: SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze) and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol to see how this works out...

Update:
The printhead allows the cleaning solution to be drawn inside from the external micro nozzles into the syringe when I create negative pressure by pulling the syringe plunger outwards. However, creating positive pressure to force the cleaning solution through the micro nozzles is not effective and encounters immense resistance. Initially, it was impossible to force any cleaning solution through the micro nozzles, but I have managed to clear about 20% of this resistance. The good news is that some cleaning solution can now pass through the micro nozzles, but there is still about 80% resistance of positive pressure.

What's going on here? I can easily draw the cleaning solution into the syringe, but I can't easily force the cleaning solution out through the micro nozzles. Is there some internal one-way valve system in the printhead for the black ink channel that disengages during print operation? This wouldn't make sense since all other ink channels easily pass cleaning solutions in both directions.
 
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rajhlinux

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Alright, here is my update on this.

My objective is 100% successful in unclogging the black ink channel. I've learned a lot, and much of the information I gained is not available on the internet. I've unclogged every single nozzle, totaling 90 nozzles cleared for the black ink channel.

Stage-1:My initial formula recommendation for an impossible unclogging operation for the ink channel:100% "SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze" (Contains a certain percentage of Propylene Glycol which is not 100% by weight or volume).

I would like to caution that 100% SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze will clog your nozzles because there are other impurities; however, these can easily be cleaned out after the next stage. In the first stage, the Propylene Glycol in the "SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze" does the ultra MVP work, dissolving the dried ink which was impossible to clean.

Clean out all ink with 100% "SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze".

Stage-2:Make a mixture of a 50/50 solution of Propylene Glycol (Brand: SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze) and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Have the print head sit and bathe in this solution, covered with a bag or plastic wrap, for a minimum of 24 hours in a warm environment.

Stage-3:Create a new batch of fresh, clean 50/50 mixture solution of Propylene Glycol (Brand: SPLASH RV & Marine Antifreeze) and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and keep clearing the nozzles both ways. Liquid going inside the nozzle out and out into the nozzles; read my previous post on how I did this. Keep doing this until 90% of each color channel's nozzles are cleared.Note: You'll have to do this in incremental amounts, like 2mm/cl of volume of solution. Use a tiny syringe. Because the 50/50 solution will have impurities and will clog the print head.When it gets clogged, just release the liquid in the opposite direction. Do this about 80 to 100 times for each nozzle until the nozzles are completely cleared. It sucks but is the safest way to clean a messed-up print head.

Stage-4:Flush the print head with 100% of 70-91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Simply have the solution enter into the nozzles and then throw out the extracted liquid. Then take fresh solution and inject it back into the print head. Keep doing this about 50-100 times until the nozzles are 100% unclogged.

So, I am in stage 4 now.Next, I cleared every other channel. The only channel I'm dealing with now is the cyan. Out of 90 nozzles in the Cyan, 2 nozzles are being stubborn. I haven't put much effort into cleaning the cyan when I was in the 1st stage since I was more focused on cleaning the black ink channel.

Rule #1: Must use the strictest clean environment. A single small particulate, literally a fraction of the thickness of a single strand of hair, if it ends up entering the nozzles during the cleaning procedure, will clog the nozzle even further.

Rule #2: Never ever reuse an extracted solution back into the print head during Stage-4. Every time liquid is extracted, throw it out; there are impurities in it, and you don't want it to go back inside the print head.

Rule #3: Every time the print head will sit in a fresh solution of 100% of 70-91% Isopropyl Alcohol during stage 4, make sure to spray and clean its bathing tub and the print head itself with 100% of 70-91% Isopropyl Alcohol to remove and wash away contaminants it somehow dispersed. This is the key which really helped me to unclog the ridiculously stubborn print head.

I obtained these concepts from common sense and my decent understanding of how semiconductor integrated chips are made. They are manufactured with the most utmost strictest clean environment. To give some idea how serious this is:

Semiconductor fabs, or fabrication plants, are some of the cleanest cleanrooms in the world and are 10,000 times cleaner than a hospital operating room. They are required to meet strict cleanliness standards to ensure the quality and reliability of the products they produce.

Ultra-low particulate air (ULPA) is a type of air filter. A ULPA filter can remove from the air at least 99.999% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a minimum particle penetration size of 120 nanometers (0.12 microns, ultrafine particles).

Why does all of this cleanliness matter?...You guessed it, Epson and Canon produce their state-of-the-art print heads in nearly identical semiconductor fab facilities as discussed above. They use advanced lithography etched onto silicon wafers to create the ultra-small nozzles, thus needing an ultra-clean environment. The similar exact procedure used to make advanced CPU/GPU chips.

I was cleaning the print head at stage-4 in the bathroom, since it is a small space and is fairly clean.

Stage-5:
Once you are satisfied with the nozzle unclogging, inject air into the nozzles about 5 times for each nozzle. This is to remove any alcohol and allow the print head to dry up for at least 4 hours to 24 hours.

Hope my information helps.

I'll post pictures and videos for a better intuitive understanding later.
 
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rajhlinux

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Alright, the printer simply crashed and then died; it does not turn on at all.

It seems like the power supply unit or motherboard is fried...

I was a bit impatient during the second attempt and did not allow the print head to dry for 4-24 hours. Instead, I air-dried it with a high velocity electric air blower for about 4 minutes and then hooked it up to the printer. I only used 70% alcohol during the last stage and injected empty air numerous times into each nozzle to ensure no fluid was left inside.

So, I'm not too sure what caused the printer to simply get fried... This printer did often turn off on its own and stall arbitrarily when I first got it during test prints.

Anyhow, I'll further investigate what caused the printer to malfunction. No LED light status indications are given, nor is there any motion from the printer; it's completely dead...

I'll test the print head's conductive pins for their ohm readings and other various operations based on its pins using a digital multimeter. If I find that the print head is completely fine, I might hook it up to my second Epson 1400 and test it on that one...

Just for assurance, I used a high-force air blower to dry the print head, then attached it back to the printer. It worked fine initially, but then it died during a test print operation. Weird...

I highly doubt that the tiny fraction of alcohol could have caused the print head to short... then again I think it possibly did short it. Anyhow my 1st attempt I only used 90% alcohol and only allowed the printhead to dry about 30 mins and it did not short the printer. The 2nd attempt I used 70% alcohol since the 90% ran out, and only allowed it to dry for 5 mins with a high velocity air blower.
 

rajhlinux

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Alright, the cause to the print head issue frying my printer is because the printhead was shorted and wasn't let to completely dry.

I confirmed this checking its ohm values of the resistors. The are all high around 15 Million Ohms to infinity. This leads to the possibility that the print head was shorted.

IMG_6630.jpg


IMG_6631.jpg


Not sure if replacing the resistor is worth it...
Just for fun, I also plugged this print head to my other Epson 1400, and it also fried that Epson as well. So now I have two fried Epson 1400 printers as well as one print head fried and other print head in working condition.

Maybe sometime in the future I will try to reverse engineer the circuity and repair the shorted components in the printer and in the print head.

So what could be said from here?

Always allow the print head to dry, at least 4 hours to 24 hours to be safe.
Use at least 90-99% alcohol during the 4th stage of cleaning.
Never connect a damaged/shorted print head to a working printer because it will fry it.

Hope anyone else can learn from my experience.

Now its time to work on with the Epson P600.
 
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