Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "robert49brake" <robert49brake@...> wrote:
>
> 
> > I've just upgraded to an Epson 3800 and want to put the 2200 in storage for 
> >  the time being. I'll keep it as a back up for my color printing needs.
> >  
> > What do I need to do to insure that the 2200 will remain in good shape  and 
> > printing order for the next year or more? Should I remove all the ink  
> > cartridges that are now in the rig? Should I flush out the heads? If I need to  
> > flush, how can I go about this? Do I need to buy empty cartridges from a  
> > supplier such as MIS and fill them with cleaning solution?
> 
> Rob, just one experience here and others may have differing...  I had a pair of R220s that I put into deep storage.  I used refillable carts and used MIS cleaning solution.  I ran purge patterns that covered entire sheets of plain paper with both Heavyweight Matte settings and Premium Glossy settings until those purge patterns had absolutely no tint in them.  The plain paper will become very wet as it is overloaded but I think that is a good thing overall.  I also ran the patterns over a period of about a week giving the cleaning fluid a good bit of time just sitting in the nozzles.
> 
> It took a great deal of paper to get all of the nozzles to clear especially the matte black.  I was using UT3D in one and MISPRO in the other.  Most colors cleared after about 50 full 8.5x11pages of purges, the mattes may have taken more.   I then left the cartridges out. 
> 
> After about a year and a half I sent one to my mother when her printer died.   After a half dozen head cleanings around a head alignment (probably from the shipping) it was printing fine and six months later still is. 
> 
> I still think letting the cleaning cartridges remain in would probably be a better way but at the time I changed chips and used the same cartridges in another printer.
>

Robert's advice seems sound to me.  I agree, I'd leave the cartridges in the printer after cleaning, and then store with cartridges in the printer, full of cleaning solution.  Unless the heads are clean as a whistle, drying tends to be the enemy.  

Another option, if you have the room, is to leave your 2200 hooked up and use it for routine desktop printing of letters, web pages, etc., reserving your big printer for your photos.  That's what I do.  I use my 2200 infrequently (sometimes it sits for a month or two).  Occasionally, it needs a nozzle cleaning, but even after a month it usually prints just fine.  I'd rather do that than put it into storage.  

Lou