Humidity sock.

[Some Guy]

I keep a couple of 3880's under some clear vinyl covers, but they will plug up a nozzle (dried ink) in 3-4 days if I don't use them.  Such is living with an Epson in hot environemnt with A/C.

I was wondering if those water-soakable "cool collars" maybe stored under the vinyl would keep the humidity high enough so they might not dry out as fast?  I've seen them in farmer's hardware stores and some welding and motorcycle shops.  They sell the "gel beads" in a small bottle in the fertilizer section of some hardware stores for keeping the soil moist in potted plants too that might be made into some sock somehow and tossed under the cover.

Any thoughts?

SG

[jrsforums]

I would not worry about the 3880.  Just turned mine on after 2 months.....one cleaning and worked fine.

[John Caldwell]

I think he's saying that he has basis for worry - that he's having what he perceives to be clogs that develop after a few days of non-use.

But like jsr says, this is counter to what we hear about the 3880. How hot and dry is your room?

I think the idea of a local humidifier - the equivalent of an acoustic guitar humidifier - may make sense.

John Caldwell

[Some Guy]

I think he's saying that he has basis for worry - that he's having what he perceives to be clogs that develop after a few days of non-use.

But like jsr says, this is counter to what we hear about the 3880. How hot and dry is your room?

I think the idea of a local humidifier - the equivalent of an acoustic guitar humidifier - may make sense.

John Caldwell

Never heard of an acoustic guitar humidifier.  Probably because I can't play one.  However, I did find them on Amazon for $10.  Some plastic bucket with holes and a sponge.

I have some of those potting soil gel beads and they seem to hold water a lot longer than a sponge.  We had a couple of those cool collars and they hold moisture for maybe 3 days.  I teaspoon of the beads holds a lot of water.  Might sew up a teaspoons worth in a cotton sock and toss it in the print tray under the vinyl cover and see what happens.

And yes, my 3880 clogs.  I don't know where that rumor started about them not clogging, but most any printer is capable of doing it.  I don't use the MK much, but it probably is clogged right now.  Had the MK and Cyan both dry up and clog too within a week.  Our room gets warm, maybe 84 degrees and A/C rarely shuts down.  Very dry air so I try and keep the 3880's covered else they'll plug in few days.  Local photo printer had their older Epson wide-bed plug solid once they re-opened on Monday.  Had to go into Epson and found out it would cost them $2,200 to fix (Pump, head, some circuit board.), but turns out they no longer made parts for it so they bought a 9900 and junked the old one.

We tried two room humidifiers and air moves too much to make any difference (No doorways and open hallways).  Seemed a big waste of electricity for little change it made in the hygrometer meter, maybe 3% is all.

SG

[smjphoto]

I think you might want to think about this a little differently.
Ability to hold water longer is counter to your needs. You need to be concerned with how much water will it hold at the start and the rate of evaporation ( weight them to see how much water has evaporated). Holding water longer just implies low evaporation rates, which probably means its not really helping your problem. Evaporation is usually a matter of surface area and how much air moves across it and how dry the air is.
I do realize I'm not telling you anything you don't already know... I just find it useful to sometimes go back to  basics when analyzing a problem. Then look for the simpler solutions, like a bucket of water w a sponge under a plastic cover w the printer.
Best of luck
Stuart