Big Al
01-28-2013, 12:37 PM
After some years of fighting with the clogged plotter heads, especially the black heads, I may have a solution. When checking on plotter heads we needed to order I discovered that refurbished heads were out there for sale. This planted the seed in my mind that cleaning the clogged heads should be possible.
The Epson All-In-One units use a similar printing technology. These tend to clog up if left powered up and unused for a long time. We ordered a cleaning kit and got a diluted solution of propylene glycol, a one C.C. syringe and a small piece of tubing. This worked so well on the Epson units that I tried it on the plotter heads. The results were mixed, depending on how badly it was clogged and how long it sat powered off. The 1 C.C. syringe fits onto the ink port on the HP 4000/4020 heads perfectly.
When the propylene glycol ran out I bought a gallon at Tractor Supply for about $22.00. It was very thick and did not work. I diluted it 1:1 with tap water and it worked better. In desperation I diluted it 1:2 and it was much less viscous and worked even better.
I injected three C.C. s of this in the head then shook it well to mix it with the ink in the head. Two more factors came in play. It seems the ink port on the head has a check valve in it to keep the ink from flowing back into the supply tubes. On top of the head, near the back area where the contacts are, is a relief valve that lets air into the ink chamber of the head but will not let air back out. Once I figured this out I used the syringe empty to inject air into the head after injecting the propylene glycol.
Now the thinned ink begins to flow out of the tiny orifices. I set the head on a clean red rag and let the ink flow out. Every few minutes I picked the head up and wiped it off. When the flow stopped, maybe after thirty minutes or so, I injected two more C.C.s and some air and let it bleed onto the rag some more. When the flow stopped I cleaned the head and the contacts on the back and put it in the plotter.
After running six to eight Head Recovery cycles, and cleaning the head after each cycle, the ink flow out of the head stopped. Then I ran the DEMO print and the head test (rectangles of each head and color) and more Head Recoveries and DEMO prints until the head was acceptable.
This should work on Z2100/Z2300 heads because they look the same. Go to the Internet and search Propylene Glycol, it is a surfactant made from natural gas and is not poisonous or flamable.
Please let us know if you give this a try and what results you had.
Al
Footnote: The heads that were clogged are slowly coming around. These printers are sitting around powered up but not being used. I have been injecting 1 C.C. of the glycol/water mix each day and running the demo print. The heads are looking better each day.
Al
The Epson All-In-One units use a similar printing technology. These tend to clog up if left powered up and unused for a long time. We ordered a cleaning kit and got a diluted solution of propylene glycol, a one C.C. syringe and a small piece of tubing. This worked so well on the Epson units that I tried it on the plotter heads. The results were mixed, depending on how badly it was clogged and how long it sat powered off. The 1 C.C. syringe fits onto the ink port on the HP 4000/4020 heads perfectly.
When the propylene glycol ran out I bought a gallon at Tractor Supply for about $22.00. It was very thick and did not work. I diluted it 1:1 with tap water and it worked better. In desperation I diluted it 1:2 and it was much less viscous and worked even better.
I injected three C.C. s of this in the head then shook it well to mix it with the ink in the head. Two more factors came in play. It seems the ink port on the head has a check valve in it to keep the ink from flowing back into the supply tubes. On top of the head, near the back area where the contacts are, is a relief valve that lets air into the ink chamber of the head but will not let air back out. Once I figured this out I used the syringe empty to inject air into the head after injecting the propylene glycol.
Now the thinned ink begins to flow out of the tiny orifices. I set the head on a clean red rag and let the ink flow out. Every few minutes I picked the head up and wiped it off. When the flow stopped, maybe after thirty minutes or so, I injected two more C.C.s and some air and let it bleed onto the rag some more. When the flow stopped I cleaned the head and the contacts on the back and put it in the plotter.
After running six to eight Head Recovery cycles, and cleaning the head after each cycle, the ink flow out of the head stopped. Then I ran the DEMO print and the head test (rectangles of each head and color) and more Head Recoveries and DEMO prints until the head was acceptable.
This should work on Z2100/Z2300 heads because they look the same. Go to the Internet and search Propylene Glycol, it is a surfactant made from natural gas and is not poisonous or flamable.
Please let us know if you give this a try and what results you had.
Al
Footnote: The heads that were clogged are slowly coming around. These printers are sitting around powered up but not being used. I have been injecting 1 C.C. of the glycol/water mix each day and running the demo print. The heads are looking better each day.
Al