Cleaning Cartridges for Epson Pro Printers

Ink2image manufactures cleaning cartridges that are filled with our powerful Dead Head cleaning fluid. This fluid can also be purchased in bulk bottles for use in refillable cartridge kits. Designed to clean both aqueous pigment and dye based inks, cleaning cartridges are installed in a printer just like a normal cartridge, and can be used for three purposes. Firstly, they provide an excellent method on unblocking clogged jets on a printer. Secondly, they are an invaluable routine maintenance aid and regular use will ensure that a printer is kept in top working order by cleaning dried ink deposits from the print head, capping station and wiper blade. Thirdly, they should always be used when changing ink types on a printer if the two ink sets cannot be mixed with each other. Using cleaning cartridges in between the two ink types will ensure that the new ink is not affected by the previous ink. It is absolutely essential that cleaning cartridges are used when changing from dye inks to pigment inks, or visa versa, as dyes and pigments don't generally mix together well and can create gel which will block a machine's print heads. Using cleaning cartridges is very simple – after installation, the printer’s built in ‘initial fill’ routine or power cleaning function is used to purge cleaning fluid throughout the ink system and print heads. Leaving the printer to then sit and ‘soak’ overnight will allow the cleaning fluid to fully dissolve any dried ink. The next day, install ink cartridges and repeat the purging process. Full instructions for the use of cleaning cartridges can be found on our support pages.

Cleaning cartridges are sometimes required when converting a printer to run our Absolute Black inks for making screen separations. Full instructions for installing Absolute Black can be found at out support pages but here are some basic guidelines on when cleaning is required:-

Note: If you intend to use one of our refillable cartridge kits and Absolute Black ink in bulk, then the refillable cartridges can be used with bulk cleaning fluid instead of cleaning cartridges to complete the flushing process. The refillable cartridges can then be drained and refilled with ink.

1. If you are installing Absolute Black inks on a brand new printer that has never run inks before then cleaning cartridges are not required. Simply install our ink cartridges in the printer and it will automatically prime itself with ink.

2. If you are installing Absolute Black inks in the black channels on a printer that has previously been using Epson original black inks, then cleaning cartridges are not required. We do recommend that an initial fill routine or power cleanings are run to get the new ink through to the print head so that you are not printing with a mixture of black inks.

3. If you are installing Absolute Black inks in channels other than black that have previously been running Epson original inks then we strongly recommend that the printer be flushed with cleaning cartridges before Absolute Black is installed. Epson color pigment or dye inks do not mix well with Absolute Black and head clogging can occur without cleaning out the original inks first.

4. If you are installing Absolute Black inks on a printer that was previously running another brand of dye based black ink for making screen separations then cleaning cartridges are normally not needed. However, ink2image cannot be held responsible for possible reactions with inks from another manufacturer, so we recommend cleaning out the printer before installing Absolute Black to be on the safe side.

5. If you are installing Absolute Clear inks in any channel on a printer that has previously been running Epson original inks then cleaning is not required. Absolute Clear inks are fully mixable with Epson original inks.

To find cleaning cartridges for your printer, click on the printer models links below ‘Cleaning cartridges for Epson Pro printers’ in the category menu to the left.