BCI-6 Starvation - Won't drip

[Grandad35]

Interesting anecdote and a potential cause. I don't want to change the thread to whose ink is "best", but is Atlantic Ink good quality or has that been problematic for others? I had used MIS inks in the long distant past, but went with Atlantic a few years back when I bought the i860 based on recommendations in a newsgroup.

It sounds like you have been using the AIJ ink for a while without problems. Was it formulated for BCI-6 carts? If so, it's doubtful that its formulation would be that far off to cause your present problem.

 

[mikling]

If your ink is over three years old, I would advise you to simply get new ink. Why go through the hassle when it is not that expensive...compared to the cost of a new head. Cyan ink is quite reactive and ages the fastest. Depending on handling and storage, it is hard to predict if it is still good. Considering the risk of head damage due to starvation, even when it is not totally detectable, are you sure it's worth trying to recover the value of old aged ink?

 

[Tin Ho]

Ink being too old is a potential problem. Ink may be too sticky (high viscosity) to flow through dense sponge soaked with ink? Or does it become too sticky because being too old? My ip4300 in my cube is almost 2 years old now and it has been refilled almost all the time. I do not recall how many times it has been refilled by my colleagues and abused by coworkers nearby on the same floor. I am responsible for the health of the printer since it is in my cube. I am not aware that it ever needed a purge on its CLI8 ink cartridges. I had to do the purge myself for the PGI5 once every few months. I just looked underneath the printer in the drawer. There are several different brands of refill ink bottles in there. It is beyond my believe that BCI-6 or CLI8 ever needs purge on a regular basis. Purging could be a good thing but you really should not need it too often.

 

[pharmacist]

Lin wrote:
Hi pharmacist, wonder where can I find propylene glycol or glycerol?

Gycerol=glycerine. Available at the drug stores for about $2.50 for a 4 oz bottle in my area of PA.

My question for pharmacist is whether denatured alcohol could be substituted since I have some of that on hand. Not sure what's in it to denature it although I've read that it may include xylene and gasoline, albeit in very small amounts. Looking over pharmacist's comments, I suspect the glycerine may be very helpful even if I didn't use alcohol since that was in some inkjet inks many years ago - think original bubble jet printers and Canon BJ-1 carts. I imagine that the alcohol aids in dissolving old ink and also evaporates more quickly than water allowing faster drying of the sponge.

I'm not sure what the denaturing agent is in the US ? Here in Belgium ether is used and in Holland denatonium chloride. Ether should not be a great problem, but denatonium chloride can cause precipitation with some types of dyes, especially negatively charged ions. If you can use pure alcohol, this would be even better, but this is very expensive to use (due to the heavy taxes, since it is drinkable). Xylene and gasoline should be absent in denatured alcohol used for my rinsing solution.

 

[lin]

Lin wrote:
Hi pharmacist, wonder where can I find propylene glycol or glycerol?

Gycerol=glycerine. Available at the drug stores for about $2.50 for a 4 oz bottle in my area of PA.

RWL

Hi Thanks. But I already had glycerin which is too moisturizing to be used. I am more interested in propylene glycol. I am not too sure if propylene glycol and glycerine is the same. I am not trying to get this to make it into a solution as suggested pharmacist by for washing cartridges.

 

[RWL]

The trick is to rinse the cartridge the last time with distilled water, let the sponge saturate completely with it, blow this water out and then use the following solution:

-78 % distilled water
-20 % isopropyl alcohol
-2 % propylene glycol or glycerol

Let the sponge saturate completely again but this time with this solution an let it remain there for several minutes. This solution also kills most of the germs which might be growing in the sponge and the propylene glycol will lower the surface tension in the sponge, facilitating the penetration degree of the ink used to refill the cartridge. Then blow away most of the solution out of the cartridge (mouth above the breathing hole) and put the cartridge in the vacuum jar and vacuum dry the cartridge several times until completely dry (open the jar after each vacuum pulling to let the vapours to escape).
What wil happen that most of th water and the isopropyl alcohol will be evaporated but the propylene glycol not and this minute amount of propylene glycol is very beneficial for the penetration of the ink and acts as an surfactant agent and helps to reduce the amount of stationary air bubbles in the sponge, which might cause clogging.

I think we have a winner!!!! The quick take is that after doing one treatment of this, the cartridge began to drip when the fill screw was removed. It's not filled with ink yet, so the proof won't come for another day or so when I get around to filling it with ink.

I began by dripping a drop or two of the "wetting solution" on the sponge of the outlet port - it just sat there like the sponge was repelling the water. Finally it began to soak in. Then the sponge began to accept the solution readily when it was dropped on the outlet port. After I could see the sponge beginning to fill along the side nearest the outlet port, I capped the port and put the fluid into the tank side. It just sat there not being absorbed for awhile, but then the level went down and it began to be absorbed by the sponge like it used to do before I had the problem. Although the sponge was predominantly white before I started, the solution leached more cyan from the sponges and turned the solution blue. There were parts of the sponge that still looked white as though they weren't absorbing the fluid. I removed this fluid with the usual method and replaced it with fresh fluid. I'm letting it soak over night with the thought that I want to get the sponge fully saturated with this stuff. I'll report back in a day or so when I have time to play with it again.

Thanks pharmacist

RWL

 

[RWL]

Hi Thanks. But I already had glycerin which is too moisturizing to be used. I am more interested in propylene glycol. I am not too sure if propylene glycol and glycerine is the same. I am not trying to get this to make it into a solution as suggested pharmacist by for washing cartridges.

Ethylene glycol is very similar to propylene glycol and is the main ingredient of antifreeze. Pharmacist may be able to tell us if that could be used as a substitute. Glycerol is not the same as either of the glycols.

RWL

 

[lin]

Hi Thanks. But I already had glycerin which is too moisturizing to be used. I am more interested in propylene glycol. I am not too sure if propylene glycol and glycerine is the same. I am not trying to get this to make it into a solution as suggested pharmacist by for washing cartridges.

Ethylene glycol is very similar to propylene glycol and is the main ingredient of antifreeze. Pharmacist may be able to tell us if that could be used as a substitute. Glycerol is not the same as either of the glycols.

RWL

Hi, that is why when you suggested Glycerol =glycerine from drug stores, this is not something I am looking for since I had it. As said, I am more interested in propylene glycol. Ethylene glycol I think will do just fine as well. Does anyone know where can Ethylene glycol or propylene glycol be found? I am looking for them for my own purpose not to make them to a solution to wash to cartridges.

I am not really familar with chemicals. Can anyone let me know what the feel or texture of the propylene glycol/Ethylene glycol? Does it has a more of drying properties or moisturizing properties?

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Thanks. But I already had glycerin which is too moisturizing to be used. I am more interested in propylene glycol. I am not too sure if propylene glycol and glycerine is the same. I am not trying to get this to make it into a solution as suggested pharmacist by for washing cartridges.

Ethylene glycol is very similar to propylene glycol and is the main ingredient of antifreeze. Pharmacist may be able to tell us if that could be used as a substitute. Glycerol is not the same as either of the glycols.

RWL

RWL, you're right about the glycols. Propylene glycol is preferred since it is less hygroscopic than glycerol. Take care that antifreeze contains ethylene glycol which is highly poisonous (is converted to formic acid in the body when taken which is a powerfull nerve poison). Both propylene glycol and glycerol are potable and completely harmless.

I mentioned glycerol just in case you can not get propylene glycol as an second choice. Maybe you can reduce the amount of glycerol (about -30 to -50 % compared to propylene glycol). Don't use to much of this glycol since at higher concentrations it will affect the flowing properties of your ink........The idea is to cover the surface of the sponge with a very minute amount of this glycol for the ink to flow better into it.

 

[RWL]

I purged the cartridge of the glycerol solution after letting the sponge soak in that for 24 hours, and refilled it with ink this evening. It doesn't drip ink like it did the water/alcohol/glycerol solution. I may experiment a little more out of curiosity, but I think it's time to buy a couple of new cartridges and some new ink.

RWL