Printer serious head cleaning - thoughts?

Undervalued

I was recently given an Epson photo printer (five individual colour cartridges plus black) plus a couple of dozen assorted cartridges for it. Unfortunately there are several of most colours but none of two! Also the majority are compatibles and not genuine Epson

It had not been used for a long while so it was fairly well blocked. Certainly beyond the point that its so called "head clean" would shift.

So, I removed the head and spent ages flushing it through with iso propyl alcohol and a syringe. After reassembly and "charging" (a third of each cartridge gone" it is vastly better, about 95% OK but not perfect.

Am I realistically going to get much further given that it has been used with third party ink of questionable quality? Also, to do much more i am going to have to buy a couple of cartridges as I don't have spares of two colours.

Any similar experiences would be of interest.

Thanks

warehouse

I put up with this for years and years until I saw the light and got a laser printer.

Undervalued

warehouse wrote: »

I put up with this for years and years until I saw the light and got a laser printer.

I have one but they don't give anything like as good photos as these things!

S0litaire

Printers are so cheap these days it's cheaper to buy a new printer and get free ink with it than to buy "official" ink cartages separately! ;-)

But try the flushing again, it can't hurt too much, and leave them to dry a bit longer before "charging" them again. It might be a blockage that wasn't shifted first time.

Undervalued

S0litaire wrote: »

Printers are so cheap these days it's cheaper to buy a new printer and get free ink with it than to buy "official" ink cartages separately! ;-)

But try the flushing again, it can't hurt too much, and leave them to dry a bit longer before "charging" them again. It might be a blockage that wasn't shifted first time.

Thanks.

The only thing to lose, apart from the effort, is probably having to buy a couple of cartridges as I doubt there is enough left in at least one to recharge the head after cleaning.

Any views on the effect of the compatible cartridges. Obviously Epson would have you believe it is instant death....

This was a fairly high end printer. Most of the cheaper offering don't have the additional weak colours.

I used to use A3+ sized earlier versions of their photo printers and they were fine as long as they were used at least a couple of times every week. We got through dozens of genuine Epson cartridges but I wasn't paying. Lovely results though.....

ballyblack

it's cheaper to buy a new printer and get free ink with it than to buy "official" ink cartages separately!

Not entirely true, the ink cartridges that come with the printer are only 1 third filled and are designed to 'charge' the printer which is wasteful

Buy XL fully filled for best value

coffeehound

Undervalued wrote: »

So, I removed the head and spent ages flushing it through with iso propyl alcohol and a syringe. After reassembly and "charging" (a third of each cartridge gone" it is vastly better, about 95% OK but not perfect.

Am I realistically going to get much further given that it has been used with third party ink of questionable quality?

I don't have experience with your printer but could the head be put in an ultrasonic bath? That might help dislodge/dissolve any remaining solids. Can't use neat IPA in a USB though so a water-IPA mixture or a detergent solution would be needed.

Neil_Jones

Compatible cartridges will be fine. Never mind what Epson says. In fact all the major brands complain about compatible cartridges, but the Epson printers flash messages up on every print about it.

The only time you need to worry about compatible cartridges is if the printer needs to go back to Epson under warranty, at that point you take them out otherwise your warranty will be declared (by them) as null and void.

It's fairly common on inkjets that aren't used regularly for the ink to dry up due to the way the technology works, you're forcing ink down a narrow "pipe" and it only requires a small bit of dried ink to block the entire flow.

AndyPix

+1 for the ultrasonic clean ..


https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/252476301225?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=44158024220&rlsatarget=pla-324287130386&abcId=1128926&adtype=pla&merchantid=109797754&poi=&googleloc=1007105&device=c&campaignid=856227250&crdt=0


(Others are available)

Undervalued

coffeehound wrote: »

I don't have experience with your printer but could the head be put in an ultrasonic bath? That might help dislodge/dissolve any remaining solids. Can't use neat IPA in a USB though so a water-IPA mixture or a detergent solution would be needed.

I do have access to an ultrasonic cleaner but was bothered about impurities / scale in water. I happened to have a large bottle of laboratory grade IPA. Can that not be used in an US cleaner?

Undervalued

AndyPix wrote: »

+1 for the ultrasonic clean ..


https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/252476301225?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=44158024220&rlsatarget=pla-324287130386&abcId=1128926&adtype=pla&merchantid=109797754&poi=&googleloc=1007105&device=c&campaignid=856227250&crdt=0


(Others are available)

Yes very similar to the one I could use. OK or dangerous with IPA?