Leaning on this amazing group for some ideas.
I promised my wife I would sublimate some mugs for christmas, and I hadn’t used the ecotank sublimation printer in a year, and there is ink in it, but the head is clogged. I watched some videos, tried to push warm rubbing alcohol through the head, but only 2 of the 4 would spray out from the head. Tried a warm water double boiler with the head in alcohol. No luck.
Now I have the head in an ultrasonic jewelery cleaner with rubbing alcohol, I am about to give up.
Anyone on Oahu with a sublimation ink printer or have any great ideas?
Mahalo!
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Ultrasonic was gonna be my recommendation. I hope it works.
Are you sure that the inks are soluble in alcohol?
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That is a great question! I have no idea.
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In theory if you have something that’s printed and you spilled alcohol on it… You’d find out pretty quickly. But then again I don’t really know how the tech works like maybe it cures after it is deposited.
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Now you have a great reason to get a new one. You can tell your honey if was all bought just to make her happy!
I’m using Glowforge may. We spent thousands of dollars to make mostly cheap little things you can buy at the Hobby store for pennies, right?
Good luck.
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True but I would need to surgically extract the ink, since I’m not buying any local sublimation ink here… i’m contemplating it.
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My daugher reached out because their ecotank printer was not printing, I had her go thru the full “purgw” process, and that solved it.
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As long as there are no plastic parts, methanol or acetone would be more powerful. Let it run for a week or more in the ultrasonic, and even if a few molecules at a time it could get there. High pressure, if possible, might get there.
Considering, perhaps a 12th-night present might work better. Then again, with time enough, just a new printer head would work best. In the meantime, a packaged promise might be the ultimate fallback.
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We run off of fumes and results here, I think I may need to head to the store and buy a printer! (then do a surgical ink extraction)
(I also bought way too many mugs from Amazon for this project…)
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The Eco-Iron-On ? Also veneer with the 3M sticky-back
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It is photos of people, I don’t think I could do it with an iron on. If it was some funny catchphrases or clipart I think it would be different. It’s a great idea though.
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Engraved veneer could look great! If the grain is vertical it should follow the curve easily.
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I assume you did the built in “power cleaning” instead of just the normal head cleaning?
Also, after doing a head cleaning or power cleaning, wait at least 12 hours before you worry about the results. I didn’t believe it, but it can make a difference.
Lastly, I read that you should not do more than 3x head cleanings in a row without waiting overnight, too.
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I did the power cleaning, tried to print multiple things, then watch a YouTube video about removing the head, used a drillbit to modify a syringe, and started trying to flush with warm alcohol. When that only worked for one I threw it in a ultrasonic cleaner with alcohol. Hopefully it revises it, I found a replacement head on eBay that I’m considering buying. It seems like it’s pretty packed in there.
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I wish you luck. Please let us know how it goes, I know there are other EcoTank users here.
I need to work on my own printer… The heads are good, but my sublimation inks have gotten old and I cannot get accurate colors any more. I am going to have to somehow remove all the old ink, which looks like a huge pain.
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Not sure which Ecotank you have …
I usually do a purge print … all 4 colors on one sheet. Even if you print this to plain copy paper … you tell it premium presentation matte, best quality, and bi-directional turned off.
Run 10 of them. You probably will get nothing after so long. Most will tell you to print as many as you need to see ink. My feeling is after so long you should do a head cleaning at that point. Mine will prompt you to print a nozzle check after.
After such a long period of non-use, you still may not have flow. If still nothing, print another 10 (or more) purge sheets.
You don’t want to do multiple head cleanings in a day. Most people avoid them at all costs. Printing purge sheets pushes ink.
If you don’t have a purge sheet, I can send you one.
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I have a calendar reminder to print a CMYB test page every week.
I lived for decades with “ink cartridges” that had to be replaced every time I really needed them, so the eco-tank solution is MUCH better for me - but it does require “regular maintenance”… A sheet of paper costs nothing.
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I found that I didn’t print enough photos to justify buying yet another inkjet and switched to a color laser.
I can (and have) let it sit idle for very long stretches, 6 months? A year? Tbh I don’t even know. It fires up and prints perfectly every time. Toner can’t dry out, it’s a powder.
That said sublimation and uv printing looks super cool.
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good luck. i was lucky enough to be able to get mine on track with the power cleaning. now i have a schedule monthly to print a few things even if I don’t need them to keep it functioning properly.
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