Effective Cleaning Methods for Dried Inkjet Printer Nozzles at Home

How to clean dry nozzles in the heads of inkjet printers at home?
How does an inkjet printer work?
In an inkjet printer there is a print head which has an ink tank (s) and nozzles. The diameter of the nozzles of the micrometer range (not visible to the naked eye), in the number of 20 to 130 nozzles through which the ink is sprayed onto the paper by two methods: pizoelectric and thermal ... etc ... etc. The problem is keeping the head clean and not making its nozzles clogged by drying ink (longer period of non-use of the printer, where the temperature also affects) ... etc .. etc ..
Nozzle washing process.
There are many chemical solvents suitable for this type of repair. The most accessible and reliable are water and spirit (denatured alcohol can be)
After taking the head out of the printer, remove the ink container (s) from the head.
Boil about 0.5 liters of water in a preheated vessel with a capacity of approx
150-200 grams pour hot water. Add about 5% spirit 96% to the water content. When you pour it, the phenomenon will appear as if the defect is boiling.
Immerse the head into this solution (with the bottom-nozzles) no more than 0.5 cm and observe whether the nozzles of dissolved dried ink are flowing out of the nozzles. Pour into the ink container (we can rinse the bottom of the container with a brush - watch out for the hair coming out !!) and wash-rinse it.We pour out the used solution and prepare the next (the same). We blow air), thus creating pressure in the container. We dip-blow-immerse-blow ... until the colored tones stop coming out of the nozzles. After this operation, pour only pure spirit into the container and dip the entire head several times (rinse). Leave the remaining spirit from the head in a warm (not hot) place, max 30 degrees for about 3 hours until the remainder of the spirit u will evaporate. If we have dry air pressure max. 0.5-0.8 atm. (recommended) blow out. DO NOT BLOW YOUR Mouth !!! A dryer can be used but NOTE:! DO NOT SET MAX. TEMPERATURE and close proximity to the head. Higher temperature may damage the head.

I wish you all successful treatments.
Greetings.
Stanisław C.

The problem of clearing nozzles in inkjet heads has been discussed several times. I remember speaking in them myself, wanting to help many inkjet users who cannot afford to buy new cartridges. The method of unblocking the cartridges described by my friend Stanisław is perhaps a bit too complicated and not very readable. The nozzles, although small, are visible to the naked eye (unless you have very poor eyesight) and their number is not that large. In fact, ink spouts from the nozzles, which likes to dry particularly quickly at elevated ambient temperatures. I have always used a 40% solution of ethyl alcohol, ie pure consumer vodka, to wash dry nozzles, with very positive effects, and the unused part of the "preparation" can be managed differently. I was washing mostly at room temperature. Although it is known that almost all processes run faster at elevated temperatures. As for blowing the cartridge with your mouth, I do not recommend it, nor do I recommend sucking it with your mouth. This is because inks often contain substances harmful to health. The same effect can be obtained with a medical syringe and a soft drawing eraser, in which, for example, we hollow a rectangle that is somewhat adjusted to the card you have, but not too deep. Now we make a closed channel in the rubber band on the side (just a hole connecting the well made with the place where we press the tip of the syringe) and the system fully replacing the lungs is ready. You can also use factory-installed devices of this type, which are often sold with inks. Often, however, after such cleaning procedures, the cartridge pours mercilessly, and the reason is very simple, the lack of negative pressure in the inkwell itself (so-called vacum) should then be generated. How to do it and it depends on the type of the cartridge, in some it is enough to suck out some air, in others, in those with an additional internal soft reservoir, force the air in. However, unblocking the nozzles in this way is very troublesome and, to tell the truth, often unreliable. Undoubtedly, the best method is unblocking with ultrasound about which method was written by my colleague Daniel 18 and myself in the posts in 2003. It consists in literally a few seconds immersing the cartridge nozzles in the tz. ultrasonic cleaner and after the trouble. Too high power of the cleaner or too long cleaning time can even damage the cartridge. Unfortunately, cleaners are relatively expensive, I recently saw a tiny Korean cleaner in a store in Katowice, the price did not exceed PLN 300. And on the electronic market, I saw new ones, slightly smaller for PLN 150, and this price was also negotiable. However, for someone who prints a lot with an inkjet, in my opinion it is not much compared to the prices of new cartridges. By the way, maybe one of your colleagues would have access to proven ultrasonic generator systems. (frequency about 30-40kHz) The design of such a device is relatively simple: It is a vessel with a capacity of about 1000 ml made of stainless steel (it can be, for example, a small metal pot) to the bottom of which an ultrasound head is attached to the generator, and the latter to a power supply . Seems simple, but the devil is in the details, the head is an element made of sinter, has a tuned coil and, in general, difficult to make by yourself, but you can buy it from a Polish manufacturer, I know it 100% and the price is about PLN 30-50, (the price depends on the transferred power) unfortunately I do not know the manufacturer's contact information, maybe one of my colleagues will tell you. The rest of this, I guess, is for electronics to jump over. Such a cleaner is a real miracle in the hands of a DIY enthusiast, it cleans almost everything, even in water, without adding detergents. You have to see it for yourself, amazement is guaranteed.

problem raised, propose to read the Printer FAQ, sticky at the top of the page.
You will know everything, I propose to close the topic.
greetings
Peter

Hold the head for a few minutes. over the steam at the same time, every now and then press the cloth underneath the Head

Can the extraction gasoline be cleaned?

I don't know. I've never cleaned with gasoline. I also recommend hot steam from the spout of the kettle

The extraction gasoline is not suitable, but the foam for cleaning monitors and housings "ambersil" is good, dissolves the ink well and penetrates into capillary gaps (nozzles) - the foam should be filled in the container in which the head to be cleared - I have successfully used it on the head / HP containers, I also heard a lot of good about the effects of ammonia and preparations based on it, but I have no experience with it (I feel sorry to buy a whole canister) and I have no place to arrange a small amount. Maybe someone will share the knowledge about it? Is this a myth or is it effective and harmless to the nozzles?

either coca cola or hot water and pressure, blow.

Will gasoline melt the plastic from which the cartridge is made by any chance ...?

I read somewhere that the window cleaner dissolves the ink, is that true?