This is a simple report of a personal experience with the American Inkjet Systems cleaning fluid in our 4900 and 9900 machines. I don't misrepresent this as a randomized, double-blind, clinical trial. The experience has impressed me enough that I wanted to offer it as a data point to the group.
I've been applying the CLF007P fluid to the 4900 & 9900 capping station ~ 3 times weekly on both machines, for the last several months. I've had mixed feelings about this process, based upon a lingering concern over the lack of general discussion about the cleaning product, and why Epson would not themselves offer a similar product if the idea had such genuine merit. Having said that, my rate of head clogs really has appeared to decline, and I'm inclined to point to the fluid application as a possible source of the improvement in clogs. Still though, I felt reluctance given a bad experience many months ago with a 4900 channel dropout when I first began fluid application, and for which my 4900 machine was replaced under warranty. I now believe, in retrospect, that that channel failure may have represented air entrainment rather than a clog, but I can't say that with certainty. I don't know what role, if any, the cleaning fluid played in that channel dropout.
What I did want to report today is that our 4900 and 9900 sat completely unused, idle and not turned on, an entire 9 week period - ending two days ago. Knowing that I would not be not able to operate the printers, I did apply the CLF007P solution to the capping stations before final shutdown. The period of non-use was associated with a change to early Pittsburgh winter weather, with humidity levels falling in a typical way. On rebooting the printers two days ago, the 9900 nozzle check was 95% intact before any cleaning; 100% intact after a single regular cleaning. The 4900 nozzle check was only 15% clean on reboot, but about 98% clean after a single regular cleaning. I began printing with both machines after these regular cleanings, and prints show no banding.
To me this is news. In the pre-cleaning solution days, I'd scarcely get away with two or three days of non-use, let alone 9 weeks. I am inclined to point to the use of the cleaning solution as a benefit here, but I insist that this is simply my personal anecdote to share. I have no angle whatsoever with American Inkjet, and share here only because I felt some might be interested.
Any and all comments are welcomed, of course.
John Caldwell
Pittsburgh, PA