Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Roger Smith
<rbsmith252@c...> wrote:
> DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y.../16/04 7:05
> PM1/03/2004DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...@...
> t
> 
> > Message: 17
> > Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 18:53:21 -0000
> > From: "j lichtman" <JLichtman@y...>
> > Subject: 1280 "windex" trick?
> > 
> > can anyone tell me how to use windex to clear my clogged black ink
> > head on my 1280 printer?
> > 
> > thanks in advance,
> > 
> > jimmy
> 
> 
> Try putting some Windex on a paper towel so its pretty damp - lay it
down
> under the print head and move the print head back and forth over it
several
> times.  It also helps to put a few drops of Windex on the parking pads.
> This is what I would try first.  If that doesn't work then use carts
loaded
> with Windex or cleaning carts which you can buy from MIS to run several
> purge patterns.  Hope this is helpful.
> 
> 
> Roger Smith
> E. Lansing, MI 48823--

Mine own take on it...
While the paper towel UNDER the heads trick is often cited as a way to
clear clogs, I only ever had luck with it as a cure for either
sputtering nozzles (RANDOM ink blobs on print) or misplaced lines in
nozzle pattern (they print but up or down from where they are supposed
to be). Both problems are caused by dirt/hair/garbage on bottom of
head deflecting the nozzles- not stopping them up altogether. This is
just my own experience.

Although if the ink blobs tend to show up after you've installed new
3rd party carts AND tend to blob at the left edge of print- it's
another problem, not crud under the head. In this case you need to run
three cleaning cycles in a row to "prime" the new carts (of air
pockets) you just put in. This was true for the quad/hex in using the
old solvents, I don't know if UT ink behaves in this manner in a new
3rd party cart.

My variation on the paper towel trick which I only used on 1160's-
never had to on my 1280 (I have an HEPA air cleaner in the room and
ban the cats from the room) was to use a Photo-Wipe which is very
absorbent, lint-free, lies relatively flat....and extremely
tear-resistant.

Windex on the parking pad DOES clear clogs. Actually I took to using
40% ethanol mixed with 60% distilled water. I would do this after I
had first tried three cleaning cycles to no avail. I would then apply
three or four drops to the pad, not flooding it,  and in addition run
a foam pad dipped in the ethanol/H2O solution from Radio Shack around
the rubber rim of pad if I had a swab handy. Then I would return the
head and turn the machine off for a minimum of 6 hours. Then repeat
the cleaning, etc. 

*By far and away, the most sucessfull and dramatic method I ever used
was simply re-installing Epson original color carts and printing a few
purge cycles and cleaning cycles.*

 I never went beyond this step to direct injection except once, but
others have had sucess with this as a last attempt before hauling it
in to a tech.

Jim Hayes