Blocked Nozzles...

[Jon H]

I have an Epson Stylus C40 Plus ink jet printer which has been left for rather a long time without cartridges in it. This has allowed the printing nozzles to become blocked and now it doesn't work.
Is there any way of cleaning it out (what sort of solvent do they use in inks?), or should I just take it to the tip?

[ozzy72]

A soak in some solvent should do the trick, takes a wee while. I personally use the Hammerite thinners (comes in a nice tin available from all good DIY stores) as they seem to be a wee bit stronger than most. Then leave it to dry out for a couple of hours so all the solvent evaporates and you should be good to go

[Jon H]

Cheers for that - I'll give it a go.

[ozzy72]

I forgot to mention but leave the window OPEN! Otherwise you'll get whacked out of your head on the fumes

[Mushroom_Farmer]

A soak in some solvent should do the trick, takes a wee while. I personally use the Hammerite thinners (comes in a nice tin available from all good DIY stores) as they seem to be a wee bit stronger than most. Then leave it to dry out for a couple of hours so all the solvent evaporates and you should be good to go

Hey Ozzy, that's a good tip. Most off-the-shelf cleaning kits contain only isoproyl alcohol, which is usually too weak for the job of cleaning serious clogs.

[Jon H]

I forgot to mention but leave the window OPEN! Otherwise you'll get whacked out of your head on the fumes

I'll bare that in mind...