Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 12:07:33 -0500
From: Gary Bradshaw
Subject: Ink-jet Printers ---> FYI
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One of the major problems with all ink-jet printers (that's not in your
owner's manual) is that if you don't use them about twice-each-week, the
print head nozzles MIGHT STOP UP from dried ink left over from your last
printing job. You can pretty well eliminate this problem by running a
print head test AT LEAST twice each week, which not only shows you the
condition on the print head, but it also uses ALL of the ports. Most of
the newer printers have a "button press combination" somewhere on the
printer itself to run the head test so that you can do it without even
turning on your computer. I didn't use my Epson Photo 700 enough, the
print head clogged up, and that's the reason I'm typing this....
Some printers have the nozzles built into the cartridge (I think Hewlett
Pukard does), so if it stops up, you can easily fix the problem by simply
replacing the cartridges, but some (like Epson) doesn't, and if it stops
up, the company will tell you that you must sent it to a repair shop for
cleaning, with a probable head replacement ...but you don't have to, if
you are patient and have more time than you have money, like me. Here's
what you do:
Take a set of YOUR OLD CARTRIDGES (I acquired mine, over FORTY DOLLARS
down the drain, from running the cleaning cycle over again, trying to
clear the nozzles!), a small medical syringe, and fill them with common
isopropyl alcohol, preferably the 91% kind that you can only find in a
drug store. Keep pumping the alcohol into each chamber until it runs out
everywhere, but don't flush out all of the old ink. You'll need a little
color in the alcohol in order to be able to see your test pattern, which
is going to be very light anyway.
TAKE NOTE: This is a very messy job, so you might want to wear rubber
gloves ...AND after the cartridges are completely full, wipe away all of
the access ink/alcohol from the outside, especially from the top (where
the vents are) ...and also keep wiping the ports until you stop getting
any ink on the paper towel. Then the alcohol shouldn't leak out while in
your printer (or in storage should you care to keep them as I did)...
Now simply put those alcohol filled cartridges in your printer, as you
would when normally replacing them, and run the head-cleaning cycle over
and over again until the test pattern shows that all of the nozzles are
clear....
DON'T EXPECT THE NOZZLES TO OPEN UP IMMEDIATELY! (The alcohol might take
quite a long time in soaking through the dried ink...)
You might have to run the cleaning cycle several times, then let it sit
for a day or two before all of the nozzles will open up. Mine was really
clogged up. It took THREE DAYS of using the alcohol, now and then running
the cleaning cycle again and letting it sit again, before I finally got a
full test pattern back ...then I cautiously took two more days of running
the head-test occasionally, without the cleaning cycles, and confirming
that all of the nozzles were STAYING open before I got brave enough to
install my spare, EXPENSIVE cartridges ...but it WORKED beautifully and
now it's back to it's original photo-quality, and now I'm going to make
running a test-pattern a part of my every-morning routine! The head-test
doesn't use much ink, but it does use ALL of the nozzles, and I can only
hope that I don't have anymore problems....
I hope all of this typing either prevents you from having a problem like
this, or it helps you to solve this problem if you already have it. One
thing for sure, alcohol is a lot cheaper than a repair job!
---
Brought to you from the "For Your Information" department...
Gary Bradshaw's personal experiences...
Have a GREAT day!
Feel free to use and/or forward this information....