Digital BW, The Print

Is there a favorite cleaning solution that everyone uses on their printers? I have  read windex, simple green and RV antifreeze. Is there a best choice?  thank you Dan

Mark
http://www.stillrivereditions.com

On May 11, 2011, at 9:29 PM, Susan Koons wrote:

> simple green

"Susan Koons" <hackberrytree@...> wrote:
>
>   Is there a favorite cleaning solution that everyone uses on their printers? I have  read windex, simple green and RV antifreeze. Is there a best choice?  

I use Windex (the version with ammonia, there may be one without) on the pads overnight, but do not allow it to be on  or  in the head for too long.  Ammonia will dissolve the binder but might, I'm told, damage the head if left on too long or if too strong.

For a fluid in the carts, the generic base C6b with the Edwal surfactant is excellent.  See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Ink-Mixing.pdf

I as amazed at how much carbon floated off the inside walls of my pipettes when I started to experiment with the Edwal.  The surfactant mix has been used for a long time in cleaning solutions.  If I were to mix a base just for cleaning, I'd  decrease the glycerol percentage and increase the glycol percentage.

MIS makes a fine cleaning fluid, as  do others, I'm sure.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

On May 11, 2011, at 6:29 PM, Susan Koons wrote:

> Is there a favorite cleaning solution that everyone uses on their  
> printers? I have  read windex, simple green and RV antifreeze. Is  
> there a best choice?

In re "RV antifreeze":

If it's any good as a cleaning fluid, I'm curious to know more about  
it only if the antifreeze I'm already stocking is "RV". It's a now  
nearly obsolete Toyota antifreeze they call "Factory Red Fluid". It's  
called "Toyota Red" by early-1990's Land Cruiser fans. Some of them  
are devoted to the older brass-core radiators which I believe were  
last OEM on 1994 Land Cruisers but still available several years ago,  
when I needed to replace the all-plastic radiator on my 1997 Land  
Cruiser. So I got a new 1994 brass-cored radiator from the factory and  
"Toyota Red" from a dealer to go along with it.

My Land Cruiser hasn't overheated since then, but just in case, I  
carry a gallon of Toyota Red when I go on long road and off-road photo  
excursions in the southwestern United States. Then I use it in the  
radiator when I routinely replace its coolant every two years. But I  
would be glad to have another use for it if it's appropriate. Toyota's  
one-gallon bottles (Part No. 00272-1LLAC) list its ingredients as:  
"Ethylene Glycol (107-21-1), Diethylene Glycol (111-46-6), Water  
(7732--18-5), Organic Acid Salt (532-32-1), Hydrated Inorganic Salt  
(1310-58-3)".

As far as I know, Toyota Red and other antifreezes are useless for  
anything else and poisonous to both plants and animals to boot.
--
Sam

I think the RV antifreeze mentioned is for the potable water system in a RV home, not the radiator stuff. Comes in blue too.

Mark
http://www.stillrivereditions.com

On May 12, 2011, at 12:11 PM, Sam McCandless wrote:

> On May 11, 2011, at 6:29 PM, Susan Koons wrote:
> 
>> Is there a favorite cleaning solution that everyone uses on their  
>> printers? I have  read windex, simple green and RV antifreeze. Is  
>> there a best choice?
> 
> In re "RV antifreeze":
> 
> If it's any good as a cleaning fluid, I'm curious to know more about  
> it only if the antifreeze I'm already stocking is "RV". It's a now  
> nearly obsolete Toyota antifreeze they call "Factory Red Fluid". It's  
> called "Toyota Red" by early-1990's Land Cruiser fans. Some of them  
> are devoted to the older brass-core radiators which I believe were  
> last OEM on 1994 Land Cruisers but still available several years ago,  
> when I needed to replace the all-plastic radiator on my 1997 Land  
> Cruiser. So I got a new 1994 brass-cored radiator from the factory and  
> "Toyota Red" from a dealer to go along with it.
> 
> My Land Cruiser hasn't overheated since then, but just in case, I  
> carry a gallon of Toyota Red when I go on long road and off-road photo  
> excursions in the southwestern United States. Then I use it in the  
> radiator when I routinely replace its coolant every two years. But I  
> would be glad to have another use for it if it's appropriate. Toyota's  
> one-gallon bottles (Part No. 00272-1LLAC) list its ingredients as:  
> "Ethylene Glycol (107-21-1), Diethylene Glycol (111-46-6), Water  
> (7732--18-5), Organic Acid Salt (532-32-1), Hydrated Inorganic Salt  
> (1310-58-3)".
> 
> As far as I know, Toyota Red and other antifreezes are useless for  
> anything else and poisonous to both plants and animals to boot.
> --
> Sam
>

Cone makes a pinkish flush fluid that is the best I've ever used. I use it for putting printers in moth balls. It cleans out the system lines, heads, dampers, in an amazingly effective way. The only down side is it has that pink dye in it, which is excellent for checking nozzle condition but not so nice when you have to get it out of the light gray channels after the ink is put in. I have some of the MIS flush fluid one one printer and it is nice if you want to just have something in the system that is totally clear and easy to remove, but it doesn't do the thorough cleaning that the pink stuff does. 

I've also heard good things about the Image Specialist fluid but I haven't tried it yet.

I am continually amazed at how well the original Windex cuts the bond of these pigments though. This week I knocked the top off a bottle of black pigment and got it all over the carpet. Man was I disgusted with myself. The only thing I could find that would remove it was that Windex. But even it took nearly a whole bottle....

john

Thanks for the help  Dan

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Susan Koons" <hackberrytree@...> wrote:

>
>   Is there a favorite cleaning solution that everyone uses on their printers? I have  read windex, simple green and RV antifreeze. Is there a best choice?  thank you Dan
>