Cleaning Cycle Intervals

[Garnick]

Today I had a couple of channels with issues in my P7000.  After a few cleaning cycles I ran with the two channels I couldn't seem to clear them completely so I cleaned the Wiper and Flushing box, which didn't seem to do the job either.  Then there we other channels that started dropping nozzles.  Again, more cleaning cycles.  I then decided to turn the printer off for the day and hope that tomorrow will be better.  I then thought that perhaps I had run too many cycles in a short period.  Even though I've always known about the possible hazard of running too many cycles within a short period of time, for some reason it had completely slipped out my mind today.  I was sure I had some info about the minimum time between cycles, I couldn't seem to find it, so here's my question.

Is there a particular amount of time to let the printer relax between cleaning cycles?  I seem to recall that 15-20 minutes might be enough, but it could have been 30+ minutes, not sure. 

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

Gary

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

What I've heard from quite a few years ago (probably on LuLa) is that if a couple or three cleaning cycles don't clear it, leave it overnight before trying again. That scheduling has always worked for me on my (smaller) Epsons: 2200, 3800, and now P800.

[mcbroomf]

I imagine the P7000 manual is similar to the P8000 which says if 3 regular cleans do not solve a nozzle pattern problem, then do a power clean.  No info on time between cleans but the way it's worded you'd think that, that cycle of 4 cleans in a row is OK.

[Garnick]

After thinking about this issue overnight I finally realized that I hadn't cleaned the Capping Station.  Back in service mode this morning, hoping to solve this problem.  At one time I had a small bottle of the Epson Red Cleaning Fluid but it seems to have disappeared somehow. If I cannot find it I'm wondering if using distilled water could at least help cleaning the station.  Probably not as well as the Epson fluid, but perhaps better than nothing, and I believe it wouldn't cause any further damage.

Any thoughts, please send them along.

Gary 

[Jim Metzger]

If you can afford to wait, I'd check with American Inkjet Systems for cleaning solutions and maintenance recommendations. I have been using their CLF007P for many years on a still running 21 year old Epson 7600. They were the ones who cautioned me to not use Windex as a cleaner.

I am about to start loading the last set of Epson Inks I have available for this machine, I really don't want to let it go.

Good luck, I wish they spent as much time making these printers easy to maintain as they do decreasing dot size.

[dennmorr]

Re your 7600
I have a 7600 I bought on ebay for $100 ten years ago- It is still Cranking out great canvas prints. I have managed to get a lot of OEM ink on ebay and plan to run it till it croaks.
Dennis Morris