At 10:12 PM 4/19/99 , bdecker wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>
>   I have an HP 1120C which uses same black cartridge 51645A as your 1600C.
>Ran out of black over the week end and unable to find one in stock anywhere
>started casting about for alternatives.

> Have you had experience with the
>drying out factor and do you think it worth trying to rescue the older
>cartridge.  I think the later one may still have a little ink, since it
>weighs a small fraction more than the earlier one and the indicator has a
>very narrow green streak, instead of all black and the warning light did not
>come on.  However it would not print continuously with bands in the solid
>areas and characters striated.

On a friend's machine, I have had mixed success with restoring dried out
cartridges.  The trick is to get the ink flowing and then keep ink in the
cartridge.  On the MIS site you probably saw the trick of using zip-lock
bags to keep empty cartridges from drying out. The other thing is that I
now re-fill cartridges when they get less than 1/4 full.  I have refilled
and re-used a black cartridge 15-20 times that way.

I have used two different methods to unclog the nozzles.

The easiest is to use white board cleaner!!  This is a spray bottle that
has some sort of solvent (I use Sanford Expo brand). *CAUTION* It is
combustible. Just spray it on the nozzle openings and wipe gently with a
tissue or napkin.  Fill the cartridge with a little ink and try it.  If it
doesn't print, then spray and wipe again.

The drastic method is to heat water to boiling, remove from heat and then
stick the nozzle end of the cartridge in the water for a minute or so, wipe
the nozzles with tissue, and repeat until all the junk is off.

I usually make the cartridges that I have unclogged print a lot just after
unclogging. I have a Word document with big color bars that I call up and
then print a couple of copies of it. Seems that the ink flow is the best
thing to keep the nozzles clear.

HTH

Doug Simmons

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