Possible Anti Foam technique
2005-01-15 by Stuart Goggin
Hi All, From my readings, the foam issue in Epson carts is simply that the ink residue remains coating the sponge as the liquid ink is drawn out. This ink coated sponge is then exposed to more and more air as the cartridge is emptied. Epson inks seem to contain glycerine/glycerol, which instead of drying will tend to thicken on exposure to air, which then makes it hard for the new ink to flow into the cavities. One thing I have found helpful to recover a badly foamed cartridge is to fill it with water and let it sit for an hour or so, then suck the water out. Sometimes I have let this sit overnight for really dried out cartridges. The water seems to dissolve the foam and makes the cartridge very easy to fill the next time. Obviously you need to try to get out as much water as possible, but a tiny amount should not alter the densities greatly if at all. Hope that helps someone, it seems to work for me, but then I could have "odd" cartridges. Stuart Goggin