I used to do what you are describing, putting a wet sponge inside the printer close to the head assembly, or even put a little plastic cup of water there with a sponge when not in use. It did something to minimize clogs but not nearly enough. On my 9890 I started to directly moisten the cap station with distilled water and that has been a dream solution for me for the last three years. No clogs, and this printer has a k7 inkset of pure carbon and sometimes goes a month without use. And I only use cotton matte papers on it.
My procedure is:
While starting up the printer wait until the head comes out from the cap assembly area toward a the middle of the printer.
Quickly open the front cover.
Move the head to the far left side and put a flashlight inside the printer shining on the cap assembly at far right side.
Take some distilled water by sucking into a straw while holding your finger over the end of the straw.
Drip the distilled water over the ink absorption pads on the cap station. There is one for each nozzle.
I also clean any dried ink on wiper blade every week. .
You could also just run a lint free clothe soaked with distilled water over those sponges.
I do that anyway to clean dried ink off of the cap area.
I usually place a lint free white cotton glove under the cap assembly while doing this to catch any excess drips.
When they are soaked quickly put the head back on the cap station and shut the front cover.
At this point the printer will do a short startup cleaning.
Now turn off the printer.
I do this about once a week whether the printer is being used or not.
By doing this once a week your capping pads never dry out and loose shape that fits the print head. That is one of the main reasons clogs occur , poor fit of the print nozzles on the cap station because when the printer does a cleaning the contact is not tight. This is especially important if your printer doesn't get used every day or every week. Once the pads get deformed with ink dried on them it can be impossible to reshape them. This is one of the main reasons people have to replace the whole head cap assembly which is half the cost of the printer or more . I wish I had known this 15 years ago. I could have had much less headache with several piezo printers and they would have lasted a lot longer.
The other thing I do with all my printers is keep a heavy cover over them when not in use. I use large muslin painters drop cloths from Home Depot. They cover the entire 44" printers down to the floor.
John
Hello all,
Now working with a P7000 at home. At my former place of business I used a humidifier close to the 9900 and that seemed to do a good job. Of course I could do the same here at home, but I've been pondering a somewhat different approach recently. The procedure would be rather simple, and I believe possibly quite effective. I would place a small tray in the left end of the printer, behind the ink bay. In that tray I would then put a wet sponge. Not sopping wet of course, but enough moisture to perhaps keep the printer happy. In many ways this procedure is based on a humidifier for an acoustic guitar, which I use for my instruments during the winter months. Any wood body instrument requires some sort of humidity control during the dry months. My initial idea was to place this combination in the right end of the printer, but there simply isn't enough room there, although I could use a smaller instrument humidifier there as well I suppose.
Any thoughts?
Gary