Soak Pro-100 Head

[PalaDolphin]

I was really hoping for the best knowledge on how to soak my head. Canon Pro-100, that is.
I have had a problem ever since I started using Precision Colors ink in that my Cyan printhead shows pretty dead on a nozzle check. I kind of want to just soak the head in distilled water and see if that fixes the problem. Is there a video that shows how to do this with the Pro-100?

 

[PalaDolphin]

Cyan is much better, but I have strips. Any suggestions? Should I just find another print head?

 

[John R]

I fixed the striping I was having using a solution of 88cc distilled water, 2cc of clear ammonia, 4cc of glycerol, and 26cc of isopropyl alcohol. I wedged a 1 in length of 1/4" tube over the ports the cartridges attach to, and rinsed the entry ports without applying any pressure to the internal plumbing of the print head. After the entry port (and whatever is immediately beyond the screen) was clear, I let the printhead sit with tubes on it with solution in them and essentially let atmospheric pressure slowly push the solution through over the course of a week. YMMV.

 

[PalaDolphin]

I fixed the striping I was having using a solution of 88cc distilled water, 2cc of clear ammonia, 4cc of glycerol, and 26cc of isopropyl alcohol. I wedged a 1 in length of 1/4" tube over the ports the cartridges attach to, and rinsed the entry ports without applying any pressure to the internal plumbing of the print head. After the entry port (and whatever is immediately beyond the screen) was clear, I let the printhead sit with tubes on it with solution in them and essentially let atmospheric pressure slowly push the solution through over the course of a week. YMMV.

That's a strange mixture. Okay, first I just did a lot of software flushing and got an almost perfect test print. And Cyan is getting better, but I must think there's something going on with Cyan inkjet.
But, I was wondering about what I could use to clear and clean and soak the printhead. I just used distilled water because I was scared. But I've always wanted to use isopropyl alcohol. And I've used ammonia to clear the ink cartridges but didn't want to use it on the print head. But glycerol? I have glycerin in my cabinet and have used it for raindrop photos. But, do I need glycerol?
And I'm wondering if I need to pull the print head and soak it for a week?

 

[John R]

I worked up to doing what I did. I would skip the glycerol if you don't have it. It helps keep things wet and slick.

I initially didn't want to use ammonium hydroxide or isopropyl alcohol either, but if it's broken then I wasn't concerned with it getting more broken. I've also used hot distilled water and hydrogen peroxide. Those aren't mentioned much around here, and for what I was trying to clear out it didn't work. So yes, failure is a possibility.

 

[PalaDolphin]

I fixed it! It took a week of soaking. I first used glass cleaner then isopropanol alcohol. The alcohol pushed a ton of cyan ink out of the print head. I could see it keep coming out; just little droplets of blue at the print head. I'm always using a syringe to push fluids thru. I kept switching between alcohol and water. Eventually, no more blue came out. So, I soaked the printhead for two more days and planned my installation. I drank enough whiskey to do it. Then I refilled all my carts; I wanted fresh ones. Then I opened the Pro-100 and found a ton of cyan ink all over the place; it's like it all backed up. So, I used alcohol to clean it up and when I was done, I was ready. I set the ink carts near the printer, started it up, and installed the head, carts, and sent up the useless prayer.

 

[PalaDolphin]

...and I did a cleaning, then printed my first nozzle check. It was perfect the first time. I almost screamed. I kept doing test prints then I printed a portrait of a model. There was nothing wrong; it's like I have a new printer. I looked at the photos with a loop; it's so clean.

 

[PalaDolphin]

Perfect.

 

[PalaDolphin]

Everyone was telling me to buy a new printer. I say screw that, DIY!

 

[stratman]

I drank enough whiskey to do it.

Obviously, the most important step.

sent up the useless prayer

Given the results you might want to reconsider this.