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Clogged Print Heads
Our yellow and blue print heads seem to have clogged. We've used a printing rotation consisting of a cleaning nozzle check, a metal solution nozzle check, the actual metal print, and another cleaning nozzle check, though we've only done one metal print. The yellow and blue sectors of the nozzle check pattern are almost completely absent from the page. We've tried running the print head cleaning procedure a few times to no avail. Is there any way to more rigorously clean the print heads?
Thanks!
Update: Nitrate solutions + real inks = precipitate city(at least with iron nitrate and the blue ink). After calibrating the printer, put the cleaning cartridges in and run a nozzle check (or even a full cleaning cycle to be sure) to flush out every remaining bit of ink. It's probably also a good idea to wipe the printer's cartridge-piercing-thingies off with a kimwipe to remove all excess ink. I'll make a note of this in the online manual.
A Possible Solution
I found instructions online (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/178) for dismantling and cleaning the printer. Would there be any problems with trying this?
alternate dismantling procedure
the instructions given by that link cannot be applied to the printers we are using. the mechanism is more complex and it is impossible to remove some of the parts that those instructions say to remove.
However, if anyone is at a loss as to how to fix their clogged print heads, they might try removing the nozzle rack and print head from the carriage (as shown in the images below) and proceeding as per the online instructions in trying to pull solvent through the ink passage from the (almost invisible) opening on the print head.
print head: the fully assembled print head (remove the screws in the upper right, left, and lower left corners).
print head: the clips on the side of the carriage must be removed too and the plate taken off
print head seperated from carriage
print head removed: this is the surface you would have to pull solvent through from
Dismantling
You could try it, but it will definitely void your warranty. There's a chance you could destroy the printer, but I'll bet the procedure would work.
Definitely a last resort. Are
Definitely a last resort. Are the printers still under warranty even though we've been using the metal inks?
me too :(
The most recent nozzle check on our printer also shows two clogged nozzles. In our case, yellow and magenta. It is the same thing: the rest of the cartridges show good coverage but these two fail to show up on the pattern. I have enough films to keep me busy for a little while, but for the future it would be good to get those working again. Interesting that our ink problems would surface in such a similar manner.
Possible clog solutions
I’ve also had trouble with clogs that can’t be fixed with the cleaning cycle- here are a couple of possible solutions:
Unclog print heads by force
This will probably be messy. Be sure to wear safety goggles and maybe a lab jacket, as there is a good chance of inkbase squirting quite a way into the air.
Remove all cartridges from the carriage. To keep inkbase from getting into the base of the printer, take two pieces of paper towel, fold them in half, and then roll them up. Place these in the carriage the long way in the carriage on either side of the place that contains the spikes.
Force a piece of 1/4 inch diameter tubing onto the end of a syringe. Mix inkbase 1-1 with water and inject into the print head forcibly, with the open end of the tubing on the spike that corresponds to the clogged print head. You will need to put pressure down on the tubing to make sure that you make a seal (this is where squirting can occur). “Pump” solution into the print head by a series of pressure/ no pressure pulses. If you have a good seal, not much solution should go into the print head, and you should be able to feel the tubing swell in your fingers.
Try to release some pressure using the syringe before you move it off of the spike. Be careful, however- you don’t want to suck air in, as this may cause new print head problems. At this point, ink will spill out and need to be cleaned up.
Run nozzle checks and cleaning cycles, and repeat the procedure as needed.
Unclog print heads with Windex
A number of sources online say that dropping some Windex on the cleaning pads and leaving it overnight will resolve bad clogs. To do this, hit the paper/ trash button on the front of the printer. The carriage will move to the left and stay there for 15 seconds or so. Drop some Windex (we actually mixed up some 3% v/v ammonia in H20 in the lab) on the pads- not enough to pool up- and turn the printer off after the carriage moves back to its usual spot.
Leave the printer overnight, and run nozzle checks/ cleaning cycles in the morning.
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To date, I have successfully recovered nozzles with the first procedure but not the second. This may be because I have only tried the second on a printer that has been clogged and sitting unused for two months, or it may be because the Windex solution doesn’t work to unclog nozzles that have been printing acidic materials they were never intended to print.
Update
I have discovered that you can push the end of a Luer-lock tip syringe (with no needle) onto the "spikes" in the print carriage. You can get more pressure this way and less mess. You have to push fairly hard, and twisting as you push seems to help, but be careful not to bend or break the spike.
Re:
Thanks for the advice!
Metals?
What metal solutions were you running in the yellow and magenta slots?
metals report and promising cleaning technique
The metals that I had in the yellow and magenta cartridges were lithium and lanthanum nitrates respectively, not ones that I expected to have problems with. It does seem that exposing the printer again to the real inks is what caused the issues.
Today I started working with another way of cleaning the print heads. I irrigated the area with the spikes with DI water, then used a disposable pipet attached to a vacuum to suck up the water and manually probe the spikes. This got rid of a lot of residual ink. While I haven't seriously played around with this yet, a few washes today seemed to restore the functionality of the yellow cartridge to about 40%, although the magenta remains blocked. I think that playing around with some solvents and soaking times this may be a viable option. Plus it is always fun to use vacuum suction.
New cleaning solvent
I know we've been cautious about the continued use of acidic solutions on the print heads, but I would like to report that I have been able to restore about 80+% function on my two clogged print heads by using the suggested force-clean method with 5% v/v acetic acid solution, as well as allowing some of this solution to soak on the cleaning pads under the carriage. This method did not appear to harm the other functioning print heads. Time will tell, but I'm getting ready to start printing again.
acetic acid solution (pun *so* intended)
this worked very well, I injected every nozzle with acetic acid (5%) and let the whole thing sit over the weekend. Now we have almost completely restored the function of the cyan nozzle which before was completely clogged and seemed unfixable.
It remains to be seen if any acetic acid residue in the print head will effect the experiment, we will see. If anyone else has tried this method, please tell me if it disables you in the future.
relapse
our print head, while fixed for a brief period of time, has relapsed into its original clogged status. The same cartridge seems to be giving us problems and the acetic acid method was an impermanent fix.
does anyone have any other ideas? I looked up disassembling the print head but it seemed like the procedure was pretty much the same as what we've been doing except that you have the ability to pull cleaning solvent from below instead of just pumping it in from the needle.