flushing solution

[The Hat]

@stratman The mongoose are banned, but foxes aren’t...

@zepat The Hat

@PeterBJ Your price is better than mine so Sláinte..

 

[CakeHole]

I plan on putting together @pharmacist witches brew of cleaning/flushing solution in the future. I just thought i would mention some places you should be able to get the required ingredients off the shelf at least in the UK.

Isopropyl Alcohol you can get in various strength percents from Maplins. Large Jessops which still dealt with film before they went belly up also sold it, so and independent photography places near you are also worth a try.

Propylene glycol it appears is probably the hardest ingredient to get i thought it worth mentioning to UK users some larger Boots stores (those with a decent sized pharmacy and cosmetics counters) sell it, although it may be an order item only. I believe the standard bottle sized is 500ml from them, cost i do not recall.

Glycerin is much more readily available and sold in various chemists for a solution to all types of aliments a bit like the days of quack medical devicees. Everything from sore throats to stuff for your skin. Just be sure to buy the stuff that is not mixed with any other solutions or flavourings.

Ammonia likewise in the UK you can get from Homebase stores i believe when i saw it a week or so ago it was something like a 250ml bottle for only a few pounds. Comes in their own brand bottle. Normally on a top shelf either near other cleaning products or just before you get to the outdoors garden stuff.

NOTE: None of the above are going to be the cheapest ways to get the stuff, fleabay is probably the place to go if you want cheap, what the above is for is a guide to be able to just walk into these old things called shops and buy it over this thing people used to buy goods over called a counter

Reading this thread also made me think of another query that some may have tried or what @pharmacist may be able to advise on....
Has anyone tried using a small amount of methylated spirits in a solution? Like isopropyl alcohol for the most part it evaporates but is also very good at cleaning. Ive used the stuff on electronics to dirty car parts in my time. While it like isopropyl alcohol can be flammable as long as you treat it with respect it is also a great cleaning solution...... Im not sure if it would react with the plastic used in some printer cartridges though. Im pretty sure years ago flush from jettec (it may not have been them) or another well known generic ink manufacturer basically used a dilluted down version for their ink flush product used to be the exact same colour and smell though please people don't go sniffing methylated spirit for fun. In recent years its gone from a purple colour to a more pink so obviously they have changed it. Its also cheaper than isopropyl alcohol so "could" perhaps be a good cheap skate alternative.

 

[PeterBJ]

According to other posts by pharmacist the 3% of propylene glycol can be substituted by 2% of glycerine = glycerol. Potable alcohol = ethanol can be used instead of isopropyl alcohol. A cheap vodka might be the cheapest source of potable alcohol. I think vodka is the best liquor to prepare the cleaning solution from, as vodka is 40% ethanol and 60% distilled water and not much of anything else. See an alternative recipe using vodka here.

I would not recommend the use of methylated spirits or other denatured ethanol, as the methanol and possibly other denaturants might harm the print head or cartridges.

 

[stratman]

I paid ~$5, or ~ 3€, for 6 oz, or ~177 ml, of glycerin in the USA from a drugstore chain (CVS) online. I thought that was expensive.

@CakeHole :
Good job on helping others to source the components for pharmacist's solution. However, I agree with @PeterBJ 's post, especially about avoiding methylated alcohol.

 

[CakeHole]

The only thing i think methylated spirit could/may affect is the plastic of the print head and/or cartridges. If it does not affect the plastic of the carts it should be fine as a 20% replacement. It evaporates quicker than isopropyl alcohol in most cases from my experience. Typically as you mention it contains methanol this should not affect anything as methanol when exposed to oxygen evaporates/burns into carbon dioxide and water, neither of which should harm things.

Other additives it can contain are... isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and denatonium most of them i am not familiar with although acetone can melt/warp certain plastics. Again however i would imagine it is in such a small quantity and being mixed with 80-100% distilled water i imagine would nullify that worry.

Personally as you say i would not use it to flush a print head just in case of damage, but it may be worth a go on flushing a cartridge, especially one with a pigment sponge for cleaning. I imagine it would do quiet a good cleaning job. I may buy a £2 throw away non-oem PGI cart, drain the ink and give it a try on that just to get an idea of the results. (at least visually). Ive used it on electronics for years, and never had an issue, you can soak a microchip in the stuff and it will not kill it. other additives in it could maybe block a print head but i personally would not think it likely.

 

[pharmacist]

Methylated alcohol is toxic, but not harmful to plastics. Most glycerine is sold as a 70-80% solution. Glycerol (waterfree glycerine) is 100%, so take into account for the difference in concentration when mixing.

What alchohols can be used:

ethanol 96%: totally acceptable, but liquor taxes will kill your wallet.....
denaturated alcohol 70%: ok, but calculate back to 100% and dilute accordingly. Now the nature of the denaturant can be a problem. Here in Belgium denaturated alcohol (ontsmettingsalohol) is mixed with 3% ether, which is no problem, but in the Netherlands denatonium chloride (a quartenary ammonium compound) can precipitate with some ingredients in refill inks, so be careful. the poisonous methanol is often used as a denaturant, but it is totally compatible to refill inks. in the USA rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl alcohol) can be used, taking into account the concentration difference.

So I hope this will clear things.

 

[turbguy]

The only thing i think methylated spirit could/may affect is the plastic of the print head and/or cartridges. If it does not affect the plastic of the carts it should be fine as a 20% replacement. It evaporates quicker than isopropyl alcohol in most cases from my experience. Typically as you mention it contains methanol this should not affect anything as methanol when exposed to oxygen evaporates/burns into carbon dioxide and water, neither of which should harm things.

Other additives it can contain are... isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and denatonium most of them i am not familiar with although acetone can melt/warp certain plastics. Again however i would imagine it is in such a small quantity and being mixed with 80-100% distilled water i imagine would nullify that worry.

Personally as you say i would not use it to flush a print head just in case of damage, but it may be worth a go on flushing a cartridge, especially one with a pigment sponge for cleaning. I imagine it would do quiet a good cleaning job. I may buy a £2 throw away non-oem PGI cart, drain the ink and give it a try on that just to get an idea of the results. (at least visually). Ive used it on electronics for years, and never had an issue, you can soak a microchip in the stuff and it will not kill it. other additives in it could maybe block a print head but i personally would not think it likely.

The microelectronic chip that is used in a thermal printhead has no encapsulation that most integrated circuit chips are packaged with, so I would be carefull with your experience with cleaning of microchips...

 

[CakeHole]

The microelectronic chip that is used in a thermal printhead has no encapsulation that most integrated circuit chips are packaged with, so I would be carefull with your experience with cleaning of microchips...

Well i learned something there i did not know. If that is the case i personally would not recommend even though it has also been used successfully dish soap or as we call it in the UK Fairy/Washing up liquid for print head cleaning. That can contain all types of perfume and sodiums/salt which left long term would cause corrosion and probably a clumpy/gooey substance all over your print head. Requiring even more time soaking in water just to get rid of the build up.

@pharmacist thanks for confirming most forms of denatured alcohol are fine and just require an extra step of maths involved when calculating the solution quantity Ill give some methylated spirits a try on a cart i can afford to lose as an experiment at some point Its massively cheaper than high concentrate isopropyl alcohol here in the UK, typically can be found for almost half the price.