an easy clog to clear on one cleaning but still a nuisance

[Paul W.]

I have a 1400, set up for b/w printing with the Eboni6 inkset developed by Paul Roark. After a few days of non-use, sometimes even just one day, the nozzle check for the Eboni (black position) shows a clog. All the other five are always perfect. With just one cleaning cycle, the clog clears up perfectly with zero hassle. Once in a great while two cleanings are needed. (This has nothing to do with Paul's generous help to the digital b/w community. I'm very happy with the results of his approach to quality b/w prints.)

Not serious, but it's getting to be a bit of a pain, and a cause for a little concern. I've tried the "shoe-shine" under head cleaning with Piezoflush, and this helps by extending the clog free period to a few more days but then its back to the usual pattern. Have also applied the cleaning fluid to the parking pad, the print head nipples, the wiper blade, etc. - no luck there.

Thanks to all...

 

[The Hat]

@Paul W., Wouldn’t it be far easier and more economical for you to just print a small test image every day or so to alleviate the clog in Eboni part of the head, it would save you time, effort, Piezoflush and lots of wasted inks...

 

[Paul W.]

Thanks for the suggestion, @The Hat, that would probably work. The thing that's helpful about the nozzle check is that it tells me which nozzle(s) have a clog. With a test image I don't think I'd know. The five cartridges testing as not clogged are various dilutions of Eboni. The base fluid for those dilutions is a home brew suggested by Paul, it consists of distilled water, glycerine, Photo-Flo and LFN. Consequently it is very inexpensive. Maybe the fact that they are diluted Eboni is why they are always clog-free.

Anyway... I do appreciate your thoughts! Oh, one more thing. For me to do that every day, well, let's just say I'm not that disciplined. My dentist tells me to floss every day. Do I? Well...

 

[Borut]

The Hat say ,if you use test print image after one day it prevents head clog,becose all nozzles do job......But i belive that you leave printer some more days not only one or 2.Printer Head clogs after 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[The Hat]

@Paul W., The fact that it’s the same cart that gives you the problem each time, you could take out that cart and agitate it for 10 seconds and that might stop it clogging up, or better still just before you attempt to use the printer agitate the cart then..

 

[martin0reg]

@Paul W.
After you have already tried the "passive" soaking, you could try to push and pull: with cleaning solution in a syringe, and a short piece of tube on the tip, which fits on the spike of the printhead. Then you can push the cleaner into the ink channel (while there is paper towel underneath) and also pull the mix of cleaner and ink back into the syringe..

Another idea is to fill a cleaning cartridge, e.g. with your cheap ink diluant or with the gray mix for Y (which is more than 90% of diluant I think) Then print some purging patterns of K only until it will print only the very light gray of Y, which means the channell is filled. Leave it for some days and print some purging patterns every day. Hoping that the returning clog would be dissolved over time.

Doing this with your actual cartridge for K would clean the cart too, but afterwards you might get some lighter black with the first refill...

 

[Paul W.]

@The Hat: you gave me an idea... my set of refillable carts came with two carts for black. Apparently there are printers (not mine) that will do either gloss or matt, and you can choose which cart to use depending on the paper. My printer has only one position that can be used for black. I only use matt paper and therefore have just one black installed... the other cart has never been used. Why don't I put my extra cart to use in the black position. I'm about due for a fresh set of ink anyway (I mix my own dilutions so it's not expensive.)

@martin0reg: (between martin and reg... I hope that's a zero!) I'm familiar with that "push and pull" technique, I even have a special adapter between the syringe and the nipple on the head. Got it at Injet Mall... along with it was a very small syringe, only 2ml capacity. I've tried it but there are so many warnings about how too much pressure can damage the head that I've been reluctant to use it. You're correct on how dilute the Y is, in fact I think it's 98% base fluid!
Sorry, but I don't quite understand how purging K only would affect the Y...

Thanks, both of you!

 

[martin0reg]

My second method was basically to use cleaning cartridges, which you can make yourself by filling an extra set of carts with cleaning solution.
Now while it's only the K channel, and if you have no extra set of refillables at hand - or at least one refillable K cart of another set - you could flush your actual K cartridge, and fill it with cleaning solution. The diluted gray for the Y position may act as such cleaning solution, with the advantage to better see the output than with clear cleaning solution. And after filling only the K cartridge, you may purge the K channel more than the other channels by printing the color bar referring to the channel...

 

[Paul W.]

It so happens that I have an extra set, in fact two extra sets, of refillable carts. They have just a touch of ink in them, they were cleaned best I and the previous owner could. I'll dedicate a set for cleaning and I'll use Piezoflush. I've had very good luck with this fluid, whatever it is. It's a bit pricey but clearing clogs is worth it. There's a side benefit to this fluid... it's tinted a light red, expressly for viewing nozzle checks. So I won't need to use the 2% black dilution in the Y position.

Please help me with something very basic. Exactly how do we use cleaning fluids? Do we run a few cycles of cleaning (no more than three at a time, I've heard) using the cleaning routine in the Epson software? And how do we "purge"? I've seen purging charts, aren't they a set of six (in my case) vertical columns, one for each cart position? And how many times do we do it? Then do we do a nozzle check afterwards? I'm just guessing... enlighten me!

An aside: I'm impressed with the sense of a global community here. You're in Germany, The Hat is from Ireland... one member simply lists "Europe". Different time zones, different languages... I like that. I lived in Geneva for two years when I was a kid and it affected me profoundly... in a very positive way I must say. And my own ancestry is a typical American stew, a little bit of everything - including Irish and German!

 

[martin0reg]

Some time ago I've bought two epson R285, both with many missing nozzles. I paid around 20-30€ each, so there was nothing to loose, and I tried all methods I knew.
In this thread you can read about it, but note: it is still kind of trial and error for me, there is no method which is totally safe or succesful, I think.
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/easy-unclogging-of-epson-printhead.5057/page-2

After i've noticed that you have one refillable cartridge for K still unused, I would try at first this cart as a single cleaning cart. You can fill it with piezo flush or any other cleaning fluid, and add a small amount of color ink to better recognize what's happening on nozzle checks or purge pattern prints. You can also use the diluted gray from your B&W ink set (the one for Y position), the diluent is certainly good for flushing too, no need to add color.

Put it in the K channel, leave it for some days and print some nozzle checks and purging patterns every day. Hoping that the returning clog would be dissolved over time.


PS: Geneva must be a nice place to be... Suisse is one of the richest countries in europe, famous for expensive clocks, infamous for black money in discreet bank accounts..
My hometown is well known only for its soccer team "Schalke 04", which name is a district of Gelsenkirchen, part of the "Ruhrgebiet" area... rather poor cities still suffering from lost cole mining industry and the decline in population..