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Safely store your Epson printers for the Summer with InkjetMall's exclusive PiezoFlush®!
This is the time of year that many schools, universities, and private studios shut down their Epson printers for the Summer. The idea is to take time off, or close up shop, or to go on creative expeditions. No matter the reason, any Epson printer that is turned off and allowed to sit with pigment inks will not be the same when you return to it. The pigment can settle in the ink lines, ink dampers, and print heads resulting in a long lengthy battle to restore the printer to printability.
Epson advises to throw away any unused portions of ink within six months of first installing the ink cartridge (to avoid pigment settling). But, what about the pigment ink that is left in the ink lines and dampers of large format printers? Pigment ink left standing in inkjet heads of desktop and large format printers can compact within the print head. Returning to a printer left sitting with pigment in it is usually a recipe for frustration.
We always suggest that if you have to leave your printer with Epson pigment inks in it for more than three weeks that you should flush the printer and let it sit with PiezoFlush fluid in it. The same can be said for printers left sitting with ConeColor and Piezography inks, or any other brand of pigment inks.
All of these inks share the same essential ingredient: pigment. Because pigments are solid matters suspended within the ink base, they are subject to gravity and atmospheric pressure changes. They will either gradually fall out of suspension, but can be shocked out of suspension by strong changes in atmospheric pressure.
In fact, pigment left in large format printers can eventually line the ink tubing with a impenetrable layer of solid matter. If you envision shutting down a printer for a year will kill it, doing so with PiezoFlush will preserve it. It takes so little time and is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of restoring a printer allowed to sit with pigment ink for a year or more.
PiezoFlush is the highest standard product of its kind on the market today
We developed PiezoFlush at InkjetMall in early 2000s to safely store some of our printer fleet when we were not using certain models of printers in development or testing. With a dozen large format printers and up to thirty desktop printers in the R&D lab, we needed instant access to a printer model and we could not spare the time to struggle with clogs and dropped nozzles. PiezoFlush needed to be strong enough to blast through clogged print heads as well as safe enough to sit inside a print head. It is one of the most highly recommended products on our website.
This is how we recommend you use PiezoFlush
A set of cartridges should be filled with PiezoFlush and replace the ink cartridges currently in your printer. You then perform two POWER CLEAN functions in large format printers or two regular head cleanings in desktop printers. Then turn off the printer. At this point, you can either leave the flushing carts in place and close the vent tabs. Or if you prefer, you can actually remove the flushing cartridges and use them in another printer if it is the same model or uses the same cartridges. In fact, one set of large format carts filled with PiezoFlush can prepare six to eight printers for a long summer slumber. The printers which have just been flushed can be stored without cartridges in place.
When you return in the Fall, or a month later, the ink cartridges should be gently shaken and re-installed. Two POWER CLEANS for large format or two regular head cleans for desktop printers will restore ink to the print heads. Your printer will be ready for immediate use. The PiezoFlush carts can be used for years as long as the vents are closed so that the fluid does not evaporate.
PiezoFlush is stained pink
And if you have a small format printer and are looking for a simple way to clean it or maintain it, we make a small format printer kit that allows you to inject PiezoFlush directly into the print head. You can click here for our $29.95 small format cleaning kit. Watch this video to see how we use it.
How to buy PiezoFlush kits
The easiest way to buy is by printer model and you can access that by clicking here.
Five liters can treat many many printers. If your organization has a fleet of printers, you need only a set of refillable cartridges for each model family and you can use this cartridge set to treat as many of those similar models that you have. The only thing you may need a lot of is PiezoFlush. We economically provide it in a strong jug with a spigot that you can attach. It's convenient to use this way.
You can click here for five liter jugs of PiezoFlush. At $425.00 for 5,000ml it costs less than $30.00 to completely flush out the average 44" large format printer with two POWER CLEAN operations. You could waste many more times that in ink and media trying to restore a large format printer allowed to sit with pigment inks over a long length of time.
For 125ml, 250ml and 500ml bottles of PiezoFlush, please click here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED OUR NEW PROFESSIONAL DYE INK ANNOUCEMENT:
It is hard to imagine in a world in which higher and higher fade resistance ratings are delivered month after month, that a high-tech ink company like Vermont PhotoInkjet would develop a dye based product. Well, we are and the reason is quite simple.
Low Costs
Pigment inks, especially high-tech pigment inks, are very expensive for us to make and for customers to buy. The simple reality is that many users of expensive inkjet printers do not actually require pigment ink because they produce short-life graphics. Ink•Thrift dye ink is 1/10 the cost of Epson pigment ink. In this type of economy, it is wise to be frugal with materials if the application supports using a dye based solution. Ink•Thrift can dramatically reduce your square foot printing costs while providing print head performance, the likes of which you may have never experienced before.
125ml is less than $9.00 and 1000ml is less than $40.00
Click here to go to the InkjetMall Ink•Thrift web pages
Significantly Better Gloss than Epson Ultrachrome and HDR
Most short life graphics are unnecessarily printed with pigments, when Ink•Thrift dye ink would be sufficient and actually quite superior for many applications. In fact, if you need to produce short-term glossy photographs, trade show graphics, or posters we can absolutely knock your socks off with glossiness. Ink•Thrift inks deliver a glossiness that Epson pigment inks cannot. Pigment is a solid material that must compete against the glossiness of the paper it is printed on. Ink•Thrift not only produces significantly better glossiness, but it achieves higher dMax, and is far less prone to metamerism. This is the deal-sealer and you can see for yourself by ordering up an 8.5″ x 11″ sample. You can print the comparative image on your own system with your own Epson inks. One look side-by-side, and you’ll be convinced. You can download the test image from the Instructions tab on the sample page.
Longevity
Short-life graphics do not need to last three years outdoors or over 100 years indoors. Typical short-term graphics are printed for temporary display in trade shows, for presentations, for head shots, for menus, flyers, for books and catalogues, posters for dormitory rooms, signage, hand outs and scrapbooks. Short-term graphics rarely need to be displayed outdoors for more than three months, or displayed indoors for more than 30 years. Many in fact, need only last a few days, weeks or months for a presentation or trade show. Pigment is totally over-qualified for short-term graphics. If you need to display artwork or photography indoors for a few decades, Ink•Thrift is now an option for your work. If your work is destined to be exhibited in a museum, Ink•Thrift is 100% archival and can have better longevity than C-print and Ilfachrome in these conditions.
Hardware
Ink•Thrift is certainly less prone to clogging print heads than is pigment! Ink•Thrift can also be jetted at extremely high speed. Ink•Thrift dye inks are not suspended particles as are pigment inks, so it has incredibly long shelf life and can be kept in printers for much longer than pigment inks. You can buy cheap dye inkjet printers, but these are not built for professional use nor have the desirable three blacks nor HDR options. Epson builds extraordinary large format professional printers, but does not offer a dye option. Ink•Thrift is now the high standard dye ink option for Epson large format printers.
Ink Technology
Ink•Thrift is a very high-tech ink that is formulated around an encapsulated dye molecule. Encapsulation of dye molecules is rare. Vermont PhotoInkjet already offers an encapsulated pigment particle. Ink•Thrift is a breakthrough in technology that allows us to offer a strong dye formulation that is more resistant to fading than ordinary dye ink. The reason that dye inks fade so quickly is because the dye molecules are prone to breaking apart. When a molecule breaks and free radicals are produced, rapid fading results. By encapsulating the dye molecules, we greatly slow the formation of free radicals from disturbing other molecules. The end result is that Ink•Thrift is a very strong dye ink and with very good water resistance when dry.
Color strength
Further, the color strength is enormous. But, color strength has always favored dye over pigment. We suspect that artists will find favor with Ink•Thrift. We’re very serious about it ourselves. We designed ink sets for the latest of Epson large format printers. We can supply dye based inks for the Epson 4900, 7900 and 9900 as Ink•Thrift HDR and we supply an Ink•Thrift K3 system for use in Epson Ultrachrome printers. We also have a ton of desktop products coming your way.
Waterfast
Dye inks have historically been water soluble and therefore inappropriate for outdoor use. But, Ink•Thrift dye ink utilizes an encapsulated dye molecule so that is highly waterfast. We’re not suggesting that you place your prints under water for display. But, you might accidentally submerge Ink•Thrift dye ink, or unintentionally expose it to water and it will not run.
Whatever your experience has been in the past, Ink•Thrift dye ink should not be lumped in with cheap China inks. It may be priced low, but Ink•Thrift is a strong, high-tech product that deserves a place in your large format arsenal. It may not only be perfect for cutting costs and saving money. It may also allow you to get the jobs requiring higher gloss or better dMax or better shadow separation in high chroma areas.
Available for the following printers:
Epson 1900 click here
Epson 2400 click here
Epson 2880 click here
Epson R2000 coming soon
Epson R3000 click here
Epson 3800/3880 click here
Epson 4800 click here
Epson 4880 click here
Epson 4900 click here
Epson 7800/9800 click here
Epson 7880/9880 click here
Epson 7890/9890 click here
Epson 7700/9700 click here
Epson 7900/9900 click here
Epson Claria desktop printers (coming soon)
Epson Durabrite printers (coming soon)
Customer Reviews is now live at InkjetMall
We've added some tabbed functionality to the website when you drill down on items. You will see Customer Reviews and we encourage you to add your own. So far everyone (save a few) have been very positive in their reviews about the products we sell. We think they're the best, but it really comes down to user experience. We pride ourselves on technical support. Below is a screen grab of the more info screen of an item on the website. Please review the products you use! Just go to your favorite product and click on the more product info link for it. It will bring you to the Reviews section.
Please feel free to write me with any comments or suggestions.
Happy Printing!
Best regards,
Jon Cone
President
InkjetMall
17 Powder Spring Road
East Topsham, Vermont
(802) 439-3127
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