Tough clog in Epson R220

[RWP]

I searched the forums first but didn't find any very recent info Re: my print engine...

Wouldn't you know it... out of all my R200/R220 printers, the one that I bought new in the box and has the least use is giving me problems.
Three thrift store cheapies still work fine.

In this R220 I run Precision Colors ink through auto-reset compatible refillables (both from Mikling) and do routine cleanings every few weeks during idle periods to prevent clogs. During yesterday's routine cleaning I noticed the black test pattern was 95% missing, and 8 clean cycles later showed no improvement. Although the ink level shows nearly 1/2 full, I topped off the cart just to be sure after the first few clean cycles. I let it sit overnight to allow the after-effects of cleaning set in and today there is no improvement.

I've been absent from this forum for a long time and wanted to know if windex ammonia was still the preferred Epson printhead cleaning solvent, or is there something better? I also have isopropyl alcohol and glycerin available, too.

* Should i squirt some cleaner into the clogged print head port, reinstall the ink tank and let it soak a few hours/overnight before running a clean cycle?

* Can I fill the ink tank with solvent and run that?

* Could the clog be at the print screen and respond well to a windex soaked parking/cleaning pad treatment?

* What were the proper percentages of purified water/glycerin/isopropyl alcohol in Pharmacist's cartridge flushing formula, or has that been modified?

Thanks in advance from you guys! I just wanted to get the latest info before starting advanced cleaning measures.

 

[mikling]

Just fill the black cart with windex with ammonia , do a couple head cleanings and let it sit for a day. Each day do a test pattern and see what happens. If it does not go away, wait and let it sit again. Let time be your friend here and you can with it out. While the windex takes its time to reach the clog.

While doing the above, attack it from the bottom as well. While printing, disconnect the power cord. On the right hand bottom of the printer, fill the rectangular frame where the printhead rests over with windex till it is about to overflow. Then slide the printhead to the far right. Let the printhead sit there.

Between these two techniques most clogs will be gone. Patience is the key here.

If this technique fails then moving onto a syringe with a rubber tube that fits over the printhead spigot is the next move. Here we simply use windex and pressure flush the head.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

R220 w/pigment refills here. A lot of refill ink companies out there say that you shouldn't run cleaning cycles, but run purge sheets (with ICM disabled) and nozzle checks. I've never really had the purge sheets work, for me when I refill I get air locks and major banding (I still take the carts out and use/reset the original chips because I'm paranoid about running them dry). I've never been able to fix this, it just takes days before the printer "settles down" and works. If I need to print something good, it usually still works on photo mode. This is weird to me, since you would think the "precision" nozzles used for photo mode would clog easier, but maybe because they're so small, the ink doesn't fall out when you refill.

I think the cleaning carts and lots of nozzle checks would be a good idea. No print setting uses all the nozzles at once so using the nozzle check is one way to force ink through all of them. If the print head is actually clogged and it's not due to air in the lines, you can also put the Windex cleaning solution on the parking pad, and turn the printer off to let it soak for awhile. Some people say don't do this for long periods of time since ammonia is corrosive, I've seen other people mention days of soaking to get the clog to soften.

 

[RWP]

Thanks for the help guys!

Will post back with results in a few days.

 

[RWP]

Looks like this printer is ready for the recycling center now...

In trying to clear an assumed clog for the black nozzle section of my R220:

* Tried a different, known-good black cart - no difference.

* Drained the refillable black cart and refilled with windex w/ammonia, did numerous clean cycles over several days - no difference.

* Filled the print head parking well with windex a few times over a couple of days letting the head park on it overnight - no improvement.

* Used a syringe of windex with 3/16" ID tube to force-flush black print head spigot - no flow at all with pressure or suction - not even after leaving the syringe on it for a few hours with a column of windex over the port spigot to soak.

* Up to this point, the five other colors had a perfect nozzle pattern while the black was totally blank through each procedure -- not a single nozzle of flow. Never seen an entire section of nozzles totally dead if there was any ink feeding it.

* Finally, from a tip I read elsewhere, out of desperation, I placed a windex soaked paper towel pad on top of the parking pad and let the print head park on that for awhile. Lots of black ink was loosened and I thought I might be getting somewhere. Unfortunately, next nozzle check indicated still no black plus now 4 of the other colors are missing! Looks like I might have ruined the print head with that last trick. All carts are nearly full. A partial dark cyan remained and a few more cleanings improved that one to a perfect nozzle pattern, but all other colors are totally missing.

Based on how suddenly I lost output from the black nozzle section (as my first post indicated), and with absolutely no improvement in flow with very many cleanings and every specialized cleaning procedure, I think this print head simply had an internal failure and wasn't merely clogged with ink. I don't think the last cleaning procedure I did (parking it on a windex soaked paper towel pad) should have caused 4 other nozzle sections to simultaneously fail in an otherwise normal and healthy print head.

 

[RWP]

UPDATE:

Since I thought this printer was beyond hope I decided to remove the print head, just to see what failed if possible. I swore I'd read many times over the years it was a very difficult job, but found a site that gave a simple tutoral and found the task to be very easy. When taking the carts out I noticed they were all completely empty! They had been nearly full earlier in the day... I know Epsons are notorious for high ink consumption during cleaning cycles but this time I was caught off-guard. But at least I had a partial explanation why the printer suddenly lost 4 colors during the last clean cycle -- although I've never seen a color suddenly vanish while running out of ink; usually the color gradually disappears.

So, removed the print head, saw no signs of physical damage or external ink buildup, and proceeded to pressure flush each ink port with windex from a syringe with a 3/16" ID tube at the end. As expected, there was absolutely no flow through the black port. The other ports flowed well and gave a uniform nozzle spray pattern.

Spent the next hour alternating between soaking the print head nozzle plate in a tub of windex and then power flushing the black port with pressure then suction. Then I finally started to see some flow from the black nozzles! After another 1/2 hour of soaking/flushing the black nozzles had as good a spray pattern as the other colors. Used canned air to gentily dry off the print head and it's electronics.

Reinstalled the print head, refilled the carts, did a few clean cycles... and thankfully I had a nearly normal nozzle test pattern for each color. There were a few missing segments for each color while the black had uneven spacing of its nozzle parade and banding in text, but I think some or all of that is due to air bubbles in the print head due to most of the carts running dry and letting air in the regulator channels. After the carts stabilize overnight and with a few more cleaning cycles there should be a return to a perfect nozzle test for each color (as it was earlier today before they ran out of ink) and hopefully the black, too.

Perhaps this thread can help others with similar Epson printers with a seemingly impossible to cure ink head clog.

 

[stratman]

Congratulations!

 

[msmart]

Perhaps this thread can help others with similar Epson printers with a seemingly impossible to cure ink head clog.

For me, you're a few years too late. If my R200 hadn't died (clogged), I wouldn't have had a reason to join, much less look for, this forum after I got my first Canon iP4500.

 

[RWP]

Congratulations!

Thank you.

My only remaining issue is an irregular black nozzle test pattern. Parts of the stair step parade have an inconsistant drop and the black text has unprinted areas. I suppose there could still be some clogged nozzles, which hopefully will clear with use. Also, the Precision Colors dye ink is a year past its 'best by' date (but the other colors still work fine) and there may be some residual windex and water remaining in the black cart which is affecting its performance. (Filled the black cart with windex a few days ago to help unclog the black print head channel and then flushed it once with H2O before refilling with ink.)

Please click on the thumbnail for a full sized image. Saw no other way to post an image without creating a link to a image host.

 

[elerouxx]

Thank you for this thread. I know it's been about 2 years now, but Epson printers still clog

I've tried every possible way to unclog 3 of the 6 color nozzles on my R220 (black, light cyan, light magenta) but they are stuck at the same pattern, missing some 2 or 3 lines on the bottom of the nozzle check pattern. My next move will be to remove the print head assembly and clean it because I already tried all the other solutions.

My R220 still prints perfectly at photo/best photo quality. But at normal quality it fails to print music scores because some lines of the staves will be missing. Music scores is the thing I print most. So if I just could have the black nozzles clean that would solve it.

Then I'll have to improve the paper feeding too.

The reason I bother so much with this printer is the fact it prints DVDs, some rare feature nowadays. Replacements seem expensive. For the price of a T50 or another printer that prints CDs I can get an awesome multi-functional.

Congratulations on getting your printer nozzle clean. As for your last post (the irregular black nozzle print) I think you probably have already figured out that you need to run the calibration routine in Maintenance.