Ultrasonic cleaner??

[George in Georgia]

The search results for using an ultrasonic cleaner on Canon heads seem inconclusive. Anyone have recent experiences to share in this area? I've got a little problem with my Pro 100. Thanks in advance!

 

[The Hat]

I am not one for doing any more to a print head than is necessary so I wouldn’t use an ultrasonic on any of mine.

If you have a problem that can’t be resolved with the head still in the printer then spray liberal amounts of Windex into the inlets where the carts usually sits and just soak it in 2” of warm water with plenty of Dreft in it for at least 24 hours.

Next day run it under some flowing water till you get most of the remaining ink out then place it on a kitchen paper towel and spray a bit more Windex onto the inlets again, next leave it to allow the Windex to flow through to the paper towel.

Now before attempting to put it back into the printer give it a good shake, I use a sock for that and spin it around for 30 seconds then leave in a warm place for an hour or two to dry completely, then reinstall it.

Put a couple of drops of Windex into each inlet (use a Syringe) and then install the carts and run a normal head clean and check the results, it may need a couple of head cleans and a rest between cleans before all of the nozzles are 100 % again..

 

[martin0reg]

I once tried ultrasonic with a canon printhead that I had cleaned and soaked without success, this did not help either. And more important: I have read several postings on druckerchannel reporting that ultrasonic would have destroyed the printhead - I don't remember any posting that reported success...

 

[George in Georgia]

Thanks for the replies. I'll reserve the ultrasonic for a last resort effort....

 

[Łukasz]

Ultrasonic cleaner is widely used by sellers of so-called "refurbished" printheads.

It allow to clean printhead visually, and even remove some trapped ink. In practice it allow to remove short-circuit condition in some cases of U052/1403 or B200 errors.

In my country it is used mostly by unauthorized service technicians because it allow relatively fast and unattended cleaning. But it have to be run at low power, but still some of printheads dies.

I found stream of steam from boiling kettle very effective unclogger, but someday I will try ultrasonic cleaner.

Ł.

 

[Smile]

General ultrasonics 42-48khz does not work, it damages the nozzles. I tried it myself.

Higher frequency cleans more gentle and can enter smaller spaces like nozzles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMVpt1JuyV8
http://www.ausjetinks.com.au/p/Clea...ency-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-2L/30-Ultrasonic68KHz

They use 68KHz, but the product is very overpriced. DIY should be used to get such transducer and electronics I think.

 

[Smile]

Therefore I had an idea to buy this and try it first on integrated cart, then if all goes well, on real print head:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultrasound-...039948390?pt=US_Skin_Care&hash=item3cc7318266

 

[Tudor]

This is an aggressive way of cleaning a printhead and is using tiny explosions to do it. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqSc25OhHA

 

[PeterBJ]

The Canon print head is actually a special form of integrated circuit made from very tiny and thin structures, I would not recommend using an ultrasonic cleaner for print heads.

The ultrasonic cleaner works by creating cavitation. Cavitation is the mechanism that eats away pump impellers, ships' propellers etc.

 

[Smile]

The foil test is good one. At Mhz frequencies like the device I posted more energy goes to heat that means less damage and cleaning action. So it would be interesting test if somebody buys similar device and tests it by using foil first then an integrated print head.

Frequencies are 1Mhz to 3Mhz for these devices, I posted 1Mhz version as it's cheaper and we do need some cleaning action. At these frequencies do no expect to see wild cavitation.

The method of testing is important as one could put the device on the print head nozzles directly, or use a small glass container on the transducer (with water layer between them) then insert nozzles into the container. Results would be way different I think.