Epsons Yes.....but, but,but...

[pharmacist]

A few drops of propylene glycol is not enough to kill of germs. The minimum amount is 15% weight to have a preservative action. The few drops would be ok, but adding 20% isopropanol has a much better effect and will make the addition of wetting agents obsolete. Some wetting agents can cause excessive foaming and those tiny air bubbles can be very difficult to remove from the print head cavities.

 

[Bo Wrangborg]

I have a strong feeling that it's time for me to leave this very place.
People feeling sick and all!


Well done and how appropriate.
(Moderator)..

 

[Bo Wrangborg]

Who has left their printers in for germs?

Can You see them with a loupe close to the print?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

the material safety data sheets don't tell you everything but the basic ingredients of an ink, there is no real secret , but it is not clear whether a standard ink is the best suitable preservation liquid for the printhead, is it water, water with something, or something else ? And there are additional considerations necessary - the printhead is sitting on the cleaning station, on a piece of foam, and all that is slowly drying out as well, leaving an ink smear. I had it long time ago, cleaning a Canon printhead, parts of the foam from the cleaning station were stuck/glued to the nozzle plate, dry, very dry, Some went off after soaking but lots of nozzles could not be recovered anmore.
Just do your thing with water and let us know after 6 or more months how that worked out for you

 

[Bo Wrangborg]

Haven’t You seen - I hate EP:s and buy a new one every other year!

Soon I'll sketch by hand with watercolour AND make big money!

 

[berttheghost]

First, let me apologize for the rude comments from some of my fellow forum members. They mostly mean well.

The gaskets and seals in the ink path will dry out and age prematurely without a sufficient amount of glycol or glycerol in the storage fluid. That's a show stopper for me.

Don't dismiss the problems of microbial growth in contaminated ink. The microbes can form insoluble colonies that will more or less irreversibly plug printheads. This may well be the cause of death of your previous printers. I would take steps to minimize the likelihood of such problems.

I think that your plan of flushing and storing your printer is still viable so long as you use an appropriate storage solution. Fresh ink might be as good a flushing/storage solution as any.

BTW, pure deionized water still contains dissolved gases and is substantially corrosive.