# Can you ruin your print head by....



## anewbeginning (Oct 11, 2007)

injecting cleaning solution directly into and through the printhead with a syringe which is able to fit over where the damper goes to flush it out?
Its probably too late if it is bad because ive already done it. Normal head cleans werent clearing my blocked black so i took matters into my own hands. Im just curious as to weather i should be doing this or not 
I just figured it might be detrimental to the little print nozzles because i was forcing the solution through the head at probably alot higher preasure than what would normally go through...
Regardless i unblocked the printhead and saved myself $250 on a new one...


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

I have done this many times and the key like you say is to watch the pressure that you are applying, you can also suck backwards to help clear the nozzles, make sure all electrical connections are dry before reinstalling and turning on the power  
Dan


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## anewbeginning (Oct 11, 2007)

YoDan said:


> I have done this many times and the key like you say is to watch the pressure that you are applying, you can also suck backwards to help clear the nozzles, make sure all electrical connections are dry before reinstalling and turning on the power
> Dan



I didnt even think about sucking stuff up ...
thanks for the tip


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Here is a link to a post that goes into a little more detailed as to what Dan means by not using to much force when pushing the cleaning solution through the print head - Screenprinting and Digital Garment Printing University. People like Dan, Michelle, Marc and Kevin provide some advice on what they do. Also make sure that you contact your tech support first to see what their recommendations are. Good luck with clearing your clog!

Mark


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## sodrisc (Apr 6, 2006)

be very careful, i just killed my 1800 printhead by trying to force it through, it now squirts out the side......... then again it was blocked solid for days anyway and that was following every single tip i could find to get it clear for days, i must have gone through a litre of cleaning fluid.........so technically it was kindof dead anyway. I think i will disconnect it take it out in the garden and smash it to pieces with a mallet, sure helps releive some stress...........


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

It is adviseable to remove the printhead from the machine prior to doing this for the reason Dan states, a wet ribbon connection to the printhead can spell $$$$$$ - new printhead, ribbon cable and potentially a new motherboard. Depending on your machine, you may be better to invest in some empty cartridges and place them in the machine and run head cleanings with them in place.


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## kevrokr (Feb 26, 2007)

With some stubborn clogs, I've taken printheads out and soaked only the nozzle plate portion in some of our Clog Protection Solution (CPS) for a couple of hours before trying to flush it with Cleaning Solution. If it seems to start loosening up some of the clog, I'll use a syringe with CPS and flush it that way also. Again, be extra cautious when pushing the fluid.

O
o
<*(((><


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## Mistewoods (Jul 7, 2007)

YoDan said:


> I have done this many times and the key like you say is to watch the pressure that you are applying, you can also suck backwards to help clear the nozzles, make sure all electrical connections are dry before reinstalling and turning on the power
> Dan


Dan's help allowed us to clear our print head of a stubborn clog- a little glob of drie dink got into our system

we set the print head in a very very shallow pool of cleaning fluid and sucked it backward with a syringe. it worked great. 

In fact I wonder if doing it that way might help prevent that risk of delaminating the print head with too much pressure while pushing fluid through.


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## zhenjie (Aug 27, 2006)

I think you'll need to use both methods, flush and backflush in order to remove most clogs.

If you just backflush, wouldnt' be able to totally clear the debris stuck between the nozzles and internal mesh. However, if you just flush it, you could be just pushing more debris from the tips into the printhead.


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

x2 - Both methods are useful!


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

I would reccomend that you keep a spare printhead in stock so you can immediately get back to work and then attempt the salvation methods discussed above. Not to belittle the value of a new printhead, but, time is money, so better to get printing now and then worry about recovering the clogged head. Doing this with also guarantee that you remove the head from the machine prior to trying to save it. 

As a note - I have spoken with many of our competitors regarding printhead consumption and the concensus is (for the Epson based machines) that the average machine seems to use about 2 printheads per year, on average. Printheads, capping stations, dampers, cartridges, wipers and pumps are all consumables of a printer - some with much longer life (especially if properly maintained) than others, but they will ultimately need to be replaced. We now replace the capping station, pump assembly, wiper and encoder strip on every machine we service as part of the initial hour's service charge. This helps to eliminate 80-90% of the previous problems caused by lack of/poor maintenance.

Happy Printing!


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Don-SWF East said:


> As a note - I have spoken with many of our competitors regarding printhead consumption and the concensus is (for the Epson based machines) that the average machine seems to use about 2 printheads per year
> Happy Printing!


Don,
I agree that we should consider and account for this, Though I've never heard this wisdom on the sales floor. How would you suggest we amortize this on a shirt to shirt basis and in your opinion, does this change wether one uses white ink or not?


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

Well, I am not Don, however, you can only amortize the price when you have a forecast of how many shirts you are going to print. If it is 3 shirts it is alot more than if it is 3,000. The issue is you never know how many shirts you will get out of a head.

The old white ink used to cause more issues, but it seems the newer white is less prone to causing head issues.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

zoom_monster said:


> Don,
> I agree that we should consider and account for this, Though I've never heard this wisdom on the sales floor. How would you suggest we amortize this on a shirt to shirt basis and in your opinion, does this change wether one uses white ink or not?



Print head life is shorter if you are using white ink. Don is correct that changing the print head once or twice a year is not an uncommon occurance if you are running white ink. If you do not use white ink but rather just use colors then your print head life is longer. I have had several T-Jet users running 7 colors on their T-Jet who have had print head lives of over 2 years.

Harry


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## dr8ggnbomb (Mar 7, 2008)

you should be ok. just as long as you're very careful and don't force the cleaner through or you'll ruin the print head.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

> How would you suggest we amortize this on a shirt to shirt basis and in your opinion, does this change wether one uses white ink or not?


Re: Amortize - I usually suggest that you add 10 cents to your costs per print (meaning 20 cents on two pass prints) to cover the cost of "non-ink consumables" like printheads, wipers, dampers, capping stations and pump assemblies. At that rate, with a Kiosk or Kiosk II, you would have accounted for a new wiper, printhead, set of dampers, capping station and pump assembly after about 4500 prints.

Re: White ink question - no doubt your printhead life is shorter (in regards to time) when printing white ink, but not because it is tougher to manage. The RIP Pro software that comes with our machines calculates the amount of ink laid down for each color. Typical white ink prints will consume 10-12 times as much white ink as colored ink. What does this mean, it roughly translates into a white channel printing 3.7 times as much ink as any of the C,M,Y,K channels, if you were to figure in liters of ink printed per channel - I doubt you would see a huge difference of printhead life on no-white vs. white ink systems.



> I've never heard this wisdom on the sales floor


I have seldom heard the question asked by a potential client either. Sales people (in all markets) are trained to listen and respond to a potential client's needs and wants. I doubt that a car salesman would go out of his way to mention expected tire, belt and battery life unless he were prompted to do so.

Hope this helps.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

> Well, I am not Don


You can only dream zilla, you can only dream!


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Ummm ... getting back to the actual content of this thread ...

I learned about the pushing fluid method (alcohol, as it dries faster and less apt to cause any internal damage if a tube pops out, spewing liquid all around the place), carefully through the print head to clear out a clog, last year. Unfortunately, it was after I had purchased a new print head (oh well, now I have a back up). Last I heard from tech support at US SCREEN, the preferred method was sucking it out, not pushing. I have been doing both, as part of monthly maintenance. Either way, I have never ruined a print head by doing this.

But, after reading Michele's post, I believe that method would be the safest route to take, all around. No chance of an error with the print head out of the machine.


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

I always remove it from the machine. Only take a few minutes.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

One word of caution. Extended exposure to alcohol can cause head delamination, I would not recommend it as a routine practice (unless diluted 75%+) - but more as an emergency procedure.


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

I am not sure what qualifies as extended exposure, but we have been doing it since 2005 on DTG's, and since 2000 on sublimation, and wide format based Epsons, and have had no issues. We routinely remove the heads from all of our machines, flush them with alcohol, follow that up with a quick shot of cleaning fluid, reinstall them, run a head clean and a nozzle check, then resume printing.

With that said, I am sure Don has much more experience with people fouling up their heads than me, so I would certainly heed his advice.
_*
USE ALCOHOL AT YOUR OWN RISK!!*_


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Printzilla said:


> _*USE ALCOHOL AT YOUR OWN RISK!!*_


'zilla, Do you use regular rubbing Isopropyl or something stronger?


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

Regular 91%. 

For stubborn clogs, I have used ammonia, followed by alcohol, followed by cleaning solution. But that stuff is CRAZY strong, and the fumes will just about knock you out!

Once again :

_*USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!*_


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Read the *RED* in Zilla's posts. These are emergency measures for the most part. If you do routine maintenance they will seldom be needed. If it is a matter of replacing the head if it doesn't work - there is really no reason not to try it though.


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

There is nothing emergency about my use of alcohol. Of any kind! 

HMMMMM - Jack Daniels brand cleaning solution.


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