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Cleaning (Swabbing) the Printheads

Introduction

Ink and other debris tends to accumulate on the bottom of the printhead nozzles and must be cleaned off on a weekly basis and more frequently, if needed.

Equipment

  • Safety glasses with side shields

  • Gloves (for example: Ansell Microflex 93-260)

  • Foam Tipped Swab

  • Cloth-Poly Wipe 10cm x 10cm (lint-free)

  • Isopropyl alcohol - IPA (>= 98%)

NOTE

Put some swabs into the small bottle with enough Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to cover the foam tips. Place the bottle near the maintenance door before you start. You can also prepare some lint-free cloths soaked in Isopropyl alcohol.

This procedure assumes that the Maintenance Access door is still open from the previous procedure. If not click on Move Carriage and open the door.

Procedure

  1. Select one of the swabs from the bottle of Isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Use the lip of the container to wipe away any excess alcohol from the swab. You can also use a cloth soaked in Isopropyl alcohol.

    IMPORTANT

    Keep swabs clean prior to use. Do not dip a used swab in the Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution.

    Do not let the seam on the foam contact the bottom of the printhead. This can damage the printhead. See figure below.

    Proper Swab Orientation
  2. Position the foam end of the swab or the lint-free cloth at one end of the printhead as shown in the figure below.
  3. Slowly move the swab or cloth from one end of the printhead to the other. This should take approximately 2 seconds.
  4. Rotate the swab or fold the cloth to use the clean side and repeat steps 2 and 3 for the next printhead.
  5. Use a new dry swab to clean around the openings for the printhead. Run the swab around the perimeter of the opening. See path in figure below.
  6. Use the tip of the swab for the short ends. Turn the swab to the seam side to clean the long ends.

    Take special care to remove ink from the gap between the metal plates of the printhead and carriage base plate. See area indicated by the white ellipses in the figure above.

  7. Discard the swab. Use new dry swab to clean around the second printhead.
    NOTE

    A single wet swab or cloth is used to clean the surface of two printheads. To clean the openings around the printhead a new dry swab for each printhead is used.

    IMPORTANT

    Never use the same swab on two different color channels.

    Never "scrub" the printhead with a swab as this will drag debris into other nozzles.

  8. Repeat steps 1 to 7 for the next two printheads.
  9. Continue until all printheads are cleaned.
  10. Inspect all printheads for any residual ink. Remove with a clean dry swab if necessary.
  11. Close the Maintenance Access Door.

What to do next

NOTE

If too many nozzles are still clogged after cleaning the printheads, try the procedure: Recovering Nozzles by Swabbing.

Parent topic:
Daily Maintenance
Parent topic:
Printer Maintenance
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