Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Printer cartridge cleaning fluid

Printer cartridge cleaning fluid

wotaen - 19-12-2017 at 07:10

Hi all, this is very specialized, but maybe someone came across this. I've got a special carbon-based printing ink that I use as a replacement for a regular ink in an ink-jet printer (Epson P600). My printer has 9 heads and one of the cartridges does not contain an ink but a cleaning solution.

The problem is that this solution runs out very quickly (much quicker than the ink itself) and is not cheap.
According to the seller this is to prevent head clogging and of course they won't disclose what is it made of.

To your best experience, what could this be? The liquid does not add to the picture in any way, so it really is just to prevent clogging. I've smelled it and it resembles isopropyl alcohol...but it's a wild shot.

I want to mix my own solution.

Thanks

Bert - 19-12-2017 at 08:32

Start by Googling the product name/number and SDS/MSDS/PSDS. Won't give you everything usually, but it will give any hazardous ingredients (flammable? Poisonous? Irritant?).

(Safety Data Sheet, Material Safety Data Sheet, Product Safety Data Sheet)

wotaen - 20-12-2017 at 02:12

Unfortunately it has no MSDS or any other ID attached. I was curious if there are any people with this specific domain knowledge

DrP - 20-12-2017 at 02:57

Quote: Originally posted by wotaen

To your best experience, what could this be? The liquid does not add to the picture in any way, so it really is just to prevent clogging. I've smelled it and it resembles isopropyl alcohol...but it's a wild shot.

I want to mix my own solution.

Thanks

IPA sounds feasible, especially if it smells like it. It could be blended with something else... but why not just try some IPA?

If the heads get blocked I have wiped them with an acetone dipped tissue before - that seemed to work. IPA would be fine too... maybe acetone would be too volatile for the actual solution, but it should help remove dried gunk. So should the IPA, but the IPA will dry out slower in the solution but probably wont be as effective when using it for cleaning.

Just thoughts - It sounds like IPA and it is probably a component. Try it and see.

NedsHead - 20-12-2017 at 03:15

I would have guessed xylene since it's commonly used as a solvent for ink, or maybe toluene

DrP - 20-12-2017 at 03:24

Quote: Originally posted by NedsHead

I would have guessed xylene since it's commonly used as a solvent for ink, or maybe toluene

Except that Xylene and toluene have distinctive smells and are both hazardous... IPA also has a distinctive smell and is non haz. I would expect that toluene and xylene are being used less and less due to more stringent labelling requirements and improvements in H&S laws.

Bert - 20-12-2017 at 05:31

Quote: Originally posted by wotaen

Unfortunately it has no MSDS or any other ID attached. I was curious if there are any people with this specific domain knowledge

If it comes in a package with the manufacturer/distributors name and a prouduct number, the information should be available. Post manufacturer and/or brand name along with any available product information here if you would?

woelen - 20-12-2017 at 06:45

If it smells like IPA, then try IPA. IPA is non-toxic and non-corrosive. You will not kill your printer with it.

I hardly can believe it is toluene or xylene. The use of these compounds is banned almost completely for indoor uses and I cannot imagine that it is allowed as a cleaning agent for ink-jet printer heads, which are allowed to evaporater each time you switch on your printer or do some forced cleanup.

DrP - 20-12-2017 at 06:53

Quote: Originally posted by woelen

If it smells like IPA, then try IPA. IPA is non-toxic and non-corrosive. You will not kill your printer with it.

I hardly can believe it is toluene or xylene. The use of these compounds is banned almost completely for indoor uses and I cannot imagine that it is allowed as a cleaning agent for ink-jet printer heads, which are allowed to evaporater each time you switch on your printer or do some forced cleanup.

This were my thoughts exactly - the only reason I mentioned acetone to wipe and clean with is because I have used acetone for exactly this purpose and it works very well. IPA is less harmful though, even if it isn't quite as powerful as acetone and it should still work.

OldNubbins - 20-12-2017 at 09:41

If the print head is piezoelectric like the direct-to-garment printers then the cleaning solution is a mix of approximately 4 parts water, 3 parts polyethylene glycol (PEG 600), and about 1 part each of IPA, glycerin, and propylene glycol. I have an Anajet printer that would clog if you turned your back to it.

aga - 20-12-2017 at 13:01

Occam's Razor : It smells like IPA. What might it be ?

Most likely IPA.

wotaen - 21-12-2017 at 02:16

Thanks for the suggestions. This are the inks I'm using (https://www.farbenwerk.com/Carbonprint-Museum-Ink, looks awesome btw for BW photographers). There is really no usable information on the bottles...it's just home-printed label

I've already asked them for MSDS, but they have not answered.

IPA is probably diluted, does not smell like the kind 98% I have in a bottle. Can you give me your best educated guess as to how much?

DrP - 21-12-2017 at 02:31

Quote: Originally posted by wotaen

Thanks for the suggestions.
IPA is probably diluted, does not smell like the kind 98% I have in a bottle. Can you give me your best educated guess as to how much?

To revitalise the solution in the cartridge you could just try a few drops of neat IPA... or I'd just use it neat on a wipe to clear the heads.

The guy above gave you a formulation for something similar if you want to formulate the solution - but I don't think you want to actually reformulate the whole solution the ink comes in.... you just need to let it down a bit once it dries out.... which you could do by adding a few drips of neat IPA, probably. Try it and see.

Bert - 21-12-2017 at 03:33

Quote:

Thanks for the suggestions. This are the inks I'm using (https://www.farbenwerk.com/Carbonprint-Museum-Ink,looks awesome btw for BW photographers). There is really no usable information on the bottles...it's just home-printed label

Send the manufacturer an email and ASK for the SDS/MSDS. You are entitled to do so.

They are in EU, they are required by law to have assembled this information for THEIR OWN WORKERS, and to furnish it on request to employees and customers as their customers are under a similar obligation to have SDS available on request for all hazardous materials used or stored to any employee working around these chemicals.

DrP - 21-12-2017 at 05:50

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

Quote:

They are in EU, they are required by law to have assembled this information for THEIR OWN WORKERS, and to furnish it on request to employees and customers as their customers are under a similar obligation to have SDS available on request for all hazardous materials used or stored to any employee working around these chemicals.

Whilst this is true - the SDS might only contain the chemicals within the product that are considered hazardous and have to be put on their by law according to the latest REACH regulations. The manufacturer is not obliged to give full formulation detail by law - just a list of what is classed as hazardous according to the latest REACH regs.

Sigmatropic - 21-12-2017 at 09:01

From what I once looked up (from a msds) printer inks are dissolved in a mixture of acetone 50-95% and methanol 5-25% with the remainder being water. If it dissolves ink, it can clean it. As to it running out, this is probably due to too low viscosity. Perhaps add several percent water, increase the amount of alcohol or just use a higher viscosity solvent such as IPA.

Mesa - 20-1-2018 at 16:18

Quote: Originally posted by woelen

I hardly can believe it is toluene or xylene. The use of these compounds is banned almost completely for indoor uses...

In Australia, the majority of permanent markers still use xylene as the solvent. Usually australia is ahead of everyone when it comes to restricting chemicals. strange.

Mr. Wizard - 21-1-2018 at 08:37

I’ve had good luck using automotive antifreeze (ethylene glycol) to clean print heads and ink cartridges. It worked very well with the HP wide format inkjet ink. It should be easy to test and it won’t dissolve plastics like some of the other solvents.

Mr. Wizard - 21-1-2018 at 11:31

I’ve had good luck using automotive antifreeze (ethylene glycol) to clean print heads and ink cartridges. It worked very well with the HP wide format inkjet ink. It should be easy to test and it won’t dissolve plastics like some of the other solvents.

NEMO-Chemistry - 22-1-2018 at 16:48

Quote: Originally posted by aga

Occam's Razor : It smells like IPA. What might it be ?

Most likely IPA.

I got a very old bottle of chloroform, its sat on the window ledge for many years. Its gone cloudy so i smelled it, just to see what it is. Smells alot like dry grass/hay.

So does my bottle now contain hay????

Actually if your grass smell like hay, get a new dealer

.

Occam's Razor while totally off topic (sorry), is interesting in its historical context. While for some things I could find loads of stuff it for crap for, when it came to less complex things it seems to work, so Occam's Razor really only works for Occam's Razor, if you see what i mean.......

Anyway, carry on. Ignore this off topic wandering, but aga made me go look up something i hadnt heard of before, so you all get to suffer.

wotaen - 30-1-2018 at 05:46

Thanks everyone for their suggestions.

Now, there's been some good suggestions on various solvents. Now I don't feel like just trying and potentially ruining.

So I'm prepared to do some experiments. I do have some basic glassware, basic chemicals. The solution is most likely diluted and I'm not able to get rid of this water (if there is anything apart from distillation, I'm happy to try it).

Can I do some basic tests over the diluted solution to find out which solvent (or solvents) it contains? Or at least eliminate some of the suggestions here?

Thanks

DrP - 31-1-2018 at 03:10

Quote: Originally posted by wotaen

Now, there's been some good suggestions on various solvents. Now I don't feel like just trying and potentially ruining.

So I'm prepared to do some experiments. I do have some basic glassware, basic chemicals. The solution is most likely diluted and I'm not able to get rid of this water (if there is anything apart from distillation, I'm happy to try it).

Can I do some basic tests over the diluted solution to find out which solvent (or solvents) it contains? Or at least eliminate some of the suggestions here?

You are WAY over thinking this. If the printer cartridge clogs then just get a few drops of IPA on a tissue wipe and clean the heads with it. The solvent will wipe it away in seconds. End of story.

If you do not have IPA then virtually any industrial solvent is going to do a similar job with ease. You don't need to re-formulate the exact make up of the solvent in the ink.

DrP - 31-1-2018 at 03:15

OK - sorry - re-reading the above suggests you want to fill the 9th cartridge which contains the cleaning solution (ot just wipe the heads). It's still probably IPA and I would guess any similar solvent will work. I'd try it neat or diluted to see what is best.

GCMS of the mix would give you an exact breakdown.... but surely not necessary when plain old IPA will clearly do the job.

I still reckon you are over thinking it - just re-fill it with IPA... if that seems too strong then dilute it. Easy.