?? Recommendations for preventing purge unit problems ??

[ehuesman]

Considering the problems I had with my MP620, I thought I would ask if there were any precautions I should take to prevent the same problems with the new MX870. I know that there is some debate on whether or not the clogging was caused by my choice of refill ink (Hobbi Colors, pigment black was the problem), but independent of that is there anything I can do? I know that ghwellsjr has stated that he occasionally sprays some Windex on the purge pads. How often is this done? Should I apply it with a syringe, versus spraying from a distance and getting Windex all over everything else?

Any other tips?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ghwellsjr]

Don't spray it, use a syringe. I used to do it everytime I changed a cartridge, but that lead to premature filling of the waste ink absorbant pads and overflowing out the bottom of my printer shortly after the printer indicated that the waste tank was full. Most people report they can reset the waste tank counter 2 or 3 times with no problem. My recommendation is to use a pigment black ink that doesn't have the clogging problem and then you shouldn't need to use Windex. I no longer use it except as an aid to unclogging nozzles.

 

[Tin Ho]

The best practice of clogging prevention is to use the printer frequently. It keeps the ink system moist constantly. It was the ink drying up from the print head due to infrequent use of the printer that caused the clogging. OEM PGI cartridges with OEM ink will clog too if the printer is not used frequently. If it is unavoidable to leave the printer unused for lengthy period you can do htis little trick before you start up a print job after it is sitting there unused for a long while. Take the print head out of the printer. Dab it with a wet stack of folded tissue paper moistened with clean water. This gives the nozzles the water it needs to dissolve any ink dye that may be dried up in the nozzles. You can actually leave it sitting on the wet tissue paper for a minute and let the print head wick up some water to rejuvenate the internal ink conduit. You can do a cleaning cycle or two after installing the print head back to the printer. This procedure is not the same as soaking the print head. It onlu let the print head sitting on the top of a wet stack of tissue paper.

The printer normally will run a cleaning cycle automatically if it finds that you did not power up o use it for a long while, usually many days of no usage. However if the internal conduit is dried up severely it may not be enough to prime the print head before accepting the next print job. Don't over do it though. You should not need it if you let the printer idle unused for less than a month.

If your pigment ink channel of nozzles are clogged it usually can be recovered. I have been able to unclog them almost 100% of the time. If clogging occurs to dye ink channels it will be difficult. In many cases the print head is destroyed by the owner of the printer before it can be saved.

Ghwellsjr, I have read your thread about your ink test. It is unrelated to print head clogging. It is wrong to imply your test to print head clogging. I have to question the waste ink pad that you used for testing. How did you come up with those material?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Ghwellsjr, I have read your thread about your ink test. It is unrelated to print head clogging. It is wrong to imply your test to print head clogging. I have to question the waste ink pad that you used for testing. How did you come up with those material?

Where did you get the idea I ever said it was related to print head clogging?

The material I used for the clog test is part of the actual waste ink pad material. It is from the left hand side of the printer which usually never gets any waste ink since it is so far away from the purge pump. I have purchased a lot of waste pad kits from Canon.