Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (
More info?)
Actually, my experience doesn't really bare this out. And I haven't
heard of any cases yet of a head burn out due to lack of ink, other than
one claim that I am suspicious of.
The nature of the piezo head design on Epson printers doesn't appear to
generate very much heat. Piezo actuators are designed to change shape
based upon an electrical voltage change applied to the piezo material.
When the charge is removed, the material returns to its original dimensions.
The main areas I see that can cause damage to the head are: Leaving old
ink in the head that dries up. This can cause two problems, one, the
ink may become very difficult to remove from the very fine chambers and
nozzles if it gets dry and hard enough. And secondly, I suppose n that
dried residue were to impede the proper movement of the piezo material
it could damage the piezo or its mounting.
What I have suggested to people who are not going to use the color heads
of their printer is to:
1) If you have no plan to print color from the beginning, you are best
off not installing the color cartridges that come with the printer, but
instead buy a set of virgin (empty) cartridges and a chip resetter. You
can either use those virgins empty, which, as I stated seems unlikely to
cause damage, especially since the color heads will basically not be
activated when printing, if you are setting the printer for monochrome
printing, or if you are concerned about the heads "burning out" fill
those cartridges with something similar to non-ammoniated window
cleaner, or a water glycol mix.
2) If you have already used color cartridges on the printer, I suggest
again getting some virgin empties and fill them with ammoniated window
cleaner and flush the color heads by printing until the heads print
totally clean (no color), Then either use the cleaning cartridges until
they run out of cleaner, or refill with a non-ammoniated window cleaning
or glycol and water mix. Refill as required with the same mix, and use
a chip resetter each time.
You cannot do the same thing with Canon, Lexmark or HP heads that are
based upon thermal operation. Those do heat up for each dot of ink and
they will burn out if the heads are run without liquids going through.
Art
Art
pete wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 18:08:08 +0000 (UTC), £ukasz Ledóchowski <lukled@tlen.pl>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Hi!
>>
>>Is it dangerous for Epson printers to work with empty cartridge? What
>>if I have a printer that uses color cartridges only to clean head, It
>>used whole color cartridge and I have to buy new. What if I use
>>resetter and cheat the printer to think the cartridge is full??
>
>
> You'll then be the proud owner of a printer with a burnt out printhead.
> Read previous posts on this subject.
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