Tom,
This was a very helpful post, as many of yours are. The only complaint I
have with my two older HP Deskjets is that the black cartridge sometimes
congeals and stops printing. I had often soaked it in alcohol but that did
not help. I found that by blowing gently in the vent hole on top of the
cartridge, I could get ink to flow. Now, using your test method on the
paper, I discovered that water is a much better solvent than alcohol for HP
ink. I also looked inside the printer on the right side where the
cartridges are parked and, as you suggested, found a mess of congealed ink.
I used a small dish of water and about 25 QTips to clean that area. There
is a rubber or neoprene gasket there which I removed and cleaned. It seems
resilient and in good shape. I'm sure that my printer will be better for
this. Thanks for the suggestions.
Bob Lendrim


At 11/11/2003, you wrote:
>I used water to frequently unclog my printhead, until I discovered the 'park
>position' for the cartridge, off to the side where the cartridge goes when
>the printer is powered off, was dirty.  I cleaned that and replaced a small
>rubber gasket there that fit snugly against the print head when the
>printhead parks, and now the printhead never clogs.  You can try water on
>your ink by first wetting a printed page to see how soluble the ink is.  If
>the ink runs on the page, water will unclog the printhead.
>Tom Turak
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: E B Lund [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 3:08 AM
>
>There's info on clogged heads here:
>
>http://kalvins.com/(wihcqj3gqxs2gnewvrzkvrfj)/support/faqs.asp#q6
>
>William Closure
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>
> > Date:    Sun, 9 Nov 2003 19:30:59 -0500
> > From:    Jim Cooley <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Epson Print heads
> >
> > I live in 2 houses, 6 mos in each, and have 2 printers, Epson Stylus =
> > Photo 600 and 700.  The color heads clogged, probably due to being idle =
> > 6 months. =20
> > 1.  Is it possible or practical to replace the print heads?
> > 2.  I understand that HP cartridges include the print heads so will not =
> > give me this problem.  Is this so?
> > Thanks in advance.
> > Jim Cooley  [log in to unmask]
>
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