Photofrost "power flush" printhead cleaner

[inkoholic]

This is some kind of adaptor that will connect your printhead to the hot tap. The printhead is flushed with a steady flow of water. You'll know when the printhead is clean, because Photofrost claims a perfect printhead will produce a nice and tidy fan of needle shaped rays of water.
-Step 1 is to soften up the clogs like most people here are used to: let the printhead sit in a Windex-like solution for several hours.
-Step 2 is to flush with the powerflush adaptor to blow out the clogs. I've tried step 1 a dozen times but never number 2.

Forcing water down the printhead with what essentially is a garden hose, looked like lunacy to me at first. But the narrator sounds like a knowledgable guy and especially the result with the fan of needle shaped water rays looks logical to me. Only a properly cleaned printhead will produce such a tidy pattern.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tydjteB1xNU
http://www.photofrost.com/catalog_new/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=284

The Powerflush costs $50, but maybe you can make one yourself with the garden hose...? I wouldn't believe it if it weren't for the video. So any ideas: is this guy joking or is "power flushing" the way to go when cleaning printheads?

 

[stratman]

From the video part 1:

"This is an example of a blown seal inside the print head."

Why yes indeed, and may be caused by your Powerflusher.

The Powerflush costs $50, but maybe you can make one yourself with the garden hose...? I wouldn't believe it if it weren't for the video. So any ideas: is this guy joking or is "power flushing" the way to go when cleaning printheads?

Looks like a decent tool, but $50 seems exorbitant. People have made contraptions to perform this operation for much less money. Whether it is a good idea or not - to force pressurized fluid through the print head - depends on your opinion and the amount of force used. Irreparable damage is always a concern.

Thanks for the post on this unique appearing tool. If you give it a try, let us know your results.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

What is the water pressure in your house? That is the pressure you will get in the print head if you're not careful. I'd say about 60 psi, or 4 bars. There is very little water going through the head, so it doesn't matter how much you throttle it down at the tap, it can go in a LOT faster than it can come out through the head. You'll get almost the full pressure of the water line, unless maybe it's cut down a bit by flow through capillaries. And if it's completely clogged, you WILL get the full pressure of the water line -- unless you blow a seal or blow the tube loose and drop the head in the sink.

You probably don't believe me. After all, I don't know how much pressure your print head can take. Judging from the leak in that video, I'd guess maybe not that much, but you can never be entirely sure of these things. Give it a try and let us know.

P.S. The static pressure is about 0.08 psi (0.005 bar) in normal use.

 

[websnail]

Erm... I have to admit I've wondered about using something like this to clean out a printhead but I can't help but think that it's like so many of the Epson printhead cleaning kits out there... Almost every one involves an "Active" component where cleaning solution or fluid is forced through the printhead nozzles, etc... risking de-lamination, blown seals and more besides but it appeals to users because it looks like you're doing something.

Personally I've approached things in a more passive manner using a cleaning solution on a pad, and allowing the printhead to sit on that so it wicks the solution up into the nozzles and breaks things down that way. Marcel's approach is something I've adopted recently as a tag on and makes even more sense as you're not forcing anything through the nozzles but drawing it back up the way it came. The critical ingredient throughout is patience though.

Powerflush? I'll pass thanks...

 

[pagebooks]

I've used a contraption of my own (plastic tubing connected to a water faucet) for several years without any apparent damage to a printhead and succeeded in clearing problems that did not respond to various solvent soaking solutions.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Speaking of Marcel's approach, someone else also posted another gentle alternative, attaching short tubes (maybe 2-3 cm long) and filling the tubes with cleaning solution. And if a nuclear option is needed, how about the alternative of drawing some solution back through a syringe? It would be slightly more forceful than the gentle methods, but less forceful than a water hose. Like Marcel's approach, it would also back the clogs out, instead of forcing them further into the head.

 

[inkoholic]

Erm... I have to admit I've wondered about using something like this to clean out a printhead but I can't help but think that it's like so many of the Epson printhead cleaning kits out there... Almost every one involves an "Active" component where cleaning solution or fluid is forced through the printhead nozzles, etc... risking de-lamination, blown seals and more besides but it appeals to users because it looks like you're doing something.

Personally I've approached things in a more passive manner using a cleaning solution on a pad, and allowing the printhead to sit on that so it wicks the solution up into the nozzles and breaks things down that way. Marcel's approach is something I've adopted recently as a tag on and makes even more sense as you're not forcing anything through the nozzles but drawing it back up the way it came. The critical ingredient throughout is patience though.

Powerflush? I'll pass thanks...

I'll save Powerflushing for a last resort option then. The nozzles are half as thick as a hair I've heard, so I guess it's too easy to wreck them. Thanks for pointing out Marcel's idea, I'm going to try that first!

 

[mikling]

The following are three methods of flushing that have pretty much worked when flushing would solve a problem.
the first is the reverse flush using water from the tap. The pressure can be as gentle as desired by varying the height and thus the velocity of the water as it falls.

The second is a power flush. Using a 3/16 OD solid tube and flexible aquarium tubing. You can use this two ways. Just putting liquid into the column or tube and let gravity do its thing. Or you can attach a syringe and draw liquid up through the nozzles NOT PUSH IT OUT. If you want to truly clear out everything, draw the liquid up, detach the syringe and let the column of liquid drain back out via gravity.

the above eliminates the need for cleaning carts and won't use up the waste ink counter.

 

[inkoholic]

Wow, thanks for the input

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Using a 3/16 OD solid tube

What's the ID?