Cleaning print heads

[Justin]

I'm looking at having a go with this kit.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260529607052&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

to clear a blocked head on my D120. I'm not 100% sure it would work with my printer, the seller simply states "Magic Bullet is suitable for Epson desktop printers where you can reach the printerhead as shown in the video" The video shows a larger printer. When i remove the cart's I can obv. get to the nozzles that stick up, do you think the tubes they supply would just go straight onto those?

I wonder how eefective the actual cleaning fluid is, I suspect that it's the fact that it's being 'gently' pushed through the head that makes the difference!

Justin

[accdave]

I recently tried this on an Epson 1400, no joy

[Justin]

Just reading their feedback on eBay and a lot of folk seem to agree. I've never found a 'magic' solution to clearing a blocked nozzle, I guess this solution or other will work on some blockages but not all
You start to wonder, on a £50/£60 printer when you start to pay out on cleaning kits and the amount of ink you waste is it really worth it?

[voicis]

If priter price is 50 pounds, then cheapest solution is to buy new printer. But as I know, You have 1400, this costs about 200 pounds, then Yes, cheaper is to clean printhead. As I told You, there is many ways how to do that.

BTW it is not hard to take out whole printhead, then it is easier to clean/unclogg it.

New printhead cost is about 50 pounds (shipping included) from HongKong, for printer which costs 50 pounds, it is not profitable, but for 1400 i think it is. If You are not able to clean it.

[Justin]

This is my D120, still wating for the 1400 to arrive.

[voicis]

This is my D120, still wating for the 1400 to arrive.

I understand, dont know how much it costs in UK, but if it is 4 color, so i think about 60 pounds..

[Justin]

Not worth the time I'm spending on it I reckon, cut my losses. May get myself an R285 instead!

[JSR]

It starts by saying that ink used in a head clean "fills up your maintenance tank, greatly reducing the life of your printer". So where does this 60ml of "magic bullet" go, then?

The big question is - do you have a blockage, or trapped air? I'd wager that most people who think they have a blockage actually have a trapped air bubble.

The linked page states "unique formulation actually dissolves ink from inside the printer head" - but anyone who's ever dismantled an Epson printer and dragged out the waste sponges will tell you that these inks don't suddenly dry in a fraction of a second and block your nozzles.

I took my first 1290 apart when it claimed the waste sponges were full. I'd had this thing for several years and I can tell you that the sponges were *soaking* with wet ink. Not dried up. The reason sponges are in the waste tank is because the ink doesn't magically dry up in a heartbeat. And if it doesn't dry that quickly, there's not much chance of a wedge of ink blocking your nozzles is there?

The chances are that your blockage will be trapped air. No amount of squirting some magic dissolving solution down there will solve that. (Of course, if you're using unknown cheap ink then the formulation of it might be conducive to blockage due to impurities - in which case something like this solution may help.)

If the printer can't be saved by standard practices for trapped air bubbles, then it might be time to give it the big E.

[Justin]

Cheers for that, good post Maybe I can practice at taking this one apart seeing as it's going in the bin anyway! LOL

[JSR]

Cheers for that, good post Maybe I can practice at taking this one apart seeing as it's going in the bin anyway! LOL

That's kind of why I took mine apart. I had replaced it with a 1290S and decided to take the 1290 apart to learn a bit more about what goes on - with a vague hope of possibly getting it working again (that didn't happen! ).

It's quite an eye-opener to see how big these waste sponges were. People say it's safe to reset the waste counter once before having to replace the sponges and my 1290 confirmed that. The ink had soaked through from the two key areas to the lower sponge and was probably about a third to a half saturated. Now, an A4 printer will have smaller sponges and I don't know if the counter limit is reduced accordingly but, if it is, then the same would apply.

However, as I say, the ink had not dried. There was no indication of ink having dried in the entire life of the printer (although I'm sure some must have). The point being is that, if the sponges do get fully saturated then any additional waste ink will just float on top. It'll eventually pile up and overflow - probably getting into the electronics but certainly flowing out onto your nice new carpet.

In either case, it's worth knowing that the waste sponges are not a bottomless pit.