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  • #2104608

    What dissolves printer ink?

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    by geikko ·

    The black ink on my Epson Color 400 printer was recently plugged up by using one of the cheaper brands of ink. The jets are attatched to a circuit board module. My color works great but when I try to blow out the black I get only one small little drop of ink. I believe that this cheaper ink has dried itself up inside this one small area on this module.

    It would be a waste to throw away this printer knowing that printers are alot cheaper now than they used to be, and it would be more expensive to purchase this module from Epson.

    I hve tried acetone, gasoline, and high pressure air and to no avail of releasing the blockage.

    Does anyone have a suggestion to dissolve this ink blockage? Or what the ingredients are for this type of ink?

    thank you

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    • #3758073

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by microsloth ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      If printhead is not cleared by head cleanings, try this: Remove the cartridge, drip several drops of isopropyl alcohol or windex into the nozzle that accepts the ink from cartridge.

      Replace cartridge and immediately perform 5 head cleanings. Do a nozzle check – if no
      success, repeat the process.

      If it still doesn’t work, open the window and… (see if it flies)!

      Otherwise … here’s a website you might want to check for a product that is pretty nifty

      http://www.bestinko.com/cleaning-fluid.htm

      GOOD LUCK! (:

    • #3758038

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by sparent ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      Milk is great for removing ink stains.

    • #3758014

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by jwilczyn ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      The best (from my experience) is pure water.
      Using acetone, alcohol or gasoline can only damage your print head because it may dissolve plastic elements, etc. I’m afraid, now is too late to do anything.

      • #3725440

        What dissolves printer ink?

        by geikko ·

        In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

        I would except the fact that water may do it but I didn’t put gasoline or acetone in there…I tried it on my hands first to see if it was able to take away the stain…printer is damaged enough…I’m not trying to make it worse

    • #3672625

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by jereg ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      I’m not sure I understand your situation, but it sounds like you are refilling the Epson print cartridge. If that’s the case, you are making a big mistake. Don’t refill print cartridges, (at least no more than once if you have to). Ink jet printers were developed many, many years ago. The problem was, over time, the print heads got clogged and couldn’t be cleaned. The technology almost disappeared. Then a smart guy figured out if you put the print head on a disposable cartridge the problem goesaway. Use it once and chuck it. If you do that, you won’t have these problems. Yes, it costs more, but it’s that or spend time cleaning printers. Good Luck.

      • #3725442

        What dissolves printer ink?

        by geikko ·

        In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

        I’m not re-filling the cartridges….it’s the black head that is plugged and it is a printer that is still very good and no sense in buying a new one as it is only the head that is bad.
        thanks for trying though

    • #3725686

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by freetech ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      distilled water.

    • #3725504

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by the scruffy1 ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      epson are reknown for having this problem but i,ve got no solutions for except it you get it going again you must clean the heads every day.

      Sorry 🙂

    • #3758676

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by gshantz ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      I too have a similar problem. Of the 64 or so nozzles or jets, only ONE is clogged. I have been able to clear all others by turning the printer off, and carefully moving the heads to the left and then soaking the rest pads with water until there is a puddle of water. Then move the head back into the rest position and move the cam into the closed position. (There is a plastic lever just to the left of the heads that rotates down, thus lowering the rest pads away from the heads.)

      I was given this tip from an authorized Epson service technician after I told him I would buy a new printer before paying the service fee.

      I also checked out the web page mentioned by one of the other respondents, and it is up and quite interesting. I think I will try it.

      Please email me if you find a solution. I would email to you, but for a lack of address.

    • #3725826

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by cascom ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      As most ink jet printer inks contain a drying agent (some form of alcohol) a carrier (water) and a head cleaning agent (ammonia) it would make sense that a solution containing all three should clear the blockage.
      Using an empty cartridge, flush it thoroughly to remove all traces of ink, refill it with the cleaning solution and perform several (10 – 50) head clean cycles.
      If this does not work, replace the print head.

    • #3691832

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by grandhighdruid ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      I don’t know if this will help, but I’ll offer my experience with Epson (shudder) printers. The first thing that Epson will tell you is to never take the cartridge out once it is put in unless the cartridge needs replaced. I hgave learned from experience that this will confuse the printer. Another thing that Epson will tell you is, before you send a printer in to them with this kind of problem is to do 6 head cleanings in a row. I have found that sometimes it takes more, and have resurrected some printers from a similar state after about 10-12 such cleanings. If you do this, I would recommend using a new cartridge, as some of the dried ink will go into the cartridge. Use up your current one first, though. The ONLY thing that will loosen up ink easily is isopropyl alcohol. Also, try cleaning around the ‘spike’ that the cartridge is impaled upon. This sometimes helps. Hope this helps you!!

    • #3617027

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by tazmania ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      Do a test first. I know that cheap hairspray dissolves pen ink. It’s an old clothes cleaners tip. You should put a drop of ink on a piece of plastic, spread it a bit and let it dry till it’s hard, use the hairspray and see how much of it dissolves.If that works to your satisfaction then use a q-tip or what works for you to get to the plugged jet, and make sure after you are finished you remove the residue.

    • #3625114

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by estebandelatorre ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      Use hot water for the first 2 washes, then clean an empty cartridge ink and fill it with isoprophilic alcohol. Then make the printer perform it’s clean routine as usual. You may have to repeat more times.

    • #3625111

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by estebandelatorre ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      If you are able to dismount the head device, put it inside a hot water (not boiling, but hot). Let the water dissolve the ink for about 30 minutes. The electronic will not be damaged if you remove the head from water and let it about 24 hours.
      You can use compressed air in order to help to remove ink or water.

      Godd luck

    • #3624670

      What dissolves printer ink?

      by geikko ·

      In reply to What dissolves printer ink?

      This question was auto closed due to inactivity

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