Epson Printers print-head clogging and other issues

I just wanted to post this thread with the only objective of helping those experiencing problems with their Epson printers and dry ink / clogging issues (which I'm sure are many). I own a R1900 model and I'm very very careful with it as far as doing as much as I can in trying to prevent ink from drying but still .....

Let me warn you by saying that there seem to be as many "theories" about the best method to clean heads as there are printer owners so I basically will mention or describe those which seem to be the most used and or that have actually worked for me.
Do's to prevent clogged print heads / dry ink: (in order of relevance)

1.- print as often as possible avoiding numerous days of idle time. Print both color with gloss optimizer on and also off and photo quality to use PK black. Print also text in black to use the MK black ink (or you can also use a matte finish profile)

2.- If you have nothing to print download color profile targets or similar patterns to make sure ALL colors are used during "preventive" printing. If you print photos everyday or every other day you may not need to purge the system using color target patterns.

3.- When turning OFF the printer (try to do this every night) use the ON/OFF button on the printer instead of let's say a power strip on/off switch. Turning your printer OFF from its power button allows for each ink line to be properly pressurized while also sealing the print heads against the resting pads (allowing them to stay moist).

If you detect the quality of your prints decreasing....

from the printer Utility program you have two ways of cleaning nozzles,

AUTO mode.. DO NOT EVER USE THIS METHOD AS IT WILL WASTE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN INK AND MOST LIKELY WILL MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE !!

How do I know this ? well because I have done it and it solved absolutely nothing while going through about 300 ml of ink (imagine each of Epson's cartridges contains only 11 ml or so...)
RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO USE THIS METHOD.

The other method is using the Nozzle check which will print a pattern for each color and then, if you see they are not correct (one or several colors) will give you a chance to run a cleaning cycle. If that's the case then run 1 cleaning cycle and print the nozzle pattern again.

You should try this process NO MORE than 3 times. DO NOT CLICK ON THE FINISH button until either you have done the cycle 3 times or the heads are clean, whichever occurs first. It seems this cleaning cycle "gets more powerful" each time you run through it AS LONG AS you have NOT opted to click on the FINISH button.

After 30 minutes to 1 hour, print color patterns and see if there is any improvement if not.... is time to do some other type of cleaning (or waste thousands of dollars using the printer's Utility program)

Best chemical solution that worked for me:
85% distilled water
10% Isopropyl alcohol
5% ammonia

First, press the INK button on the printer so as to position the cartridges' carriage in the 'replacement or service" position. UNPLUG the printer directly from the back or from the power outlet to turn it off. Now you should be able to move the cartridge carriage freely.

Place a paper towel along the foam pad .... basically in that space that exists between the printer and the ink carriage . You will have to fold the paper towel thin in order to allow the carriage to slide above it without touching it (otherwise it will drag the towel against the side of the printer when you move the cartridge carriage)

Pull either the individual color cartridge that is giving you a problem off the carriage as if you were going to replace it (or if you have a CIS you will need to pull all of them at once since all the cartridges are interconnected).

Once you pull off the cartridge you will be able to see the specific COLOR print head port at the base of the cartridge carriage (you will see some ink at the very tip of the printhead port).
SLIDE THE CARTRIDGE CARRIAGE MECHANISM UNTIL IS ABOVE THE PAPER TOWEL

Then get a 5 ml or 10ml plastic syringe and procure some plastic tubing (I found out that the standard size used for model airplane fuel lines works perfect... you need about 4" to 5" pieces ..preferably one per color you are trying to clean to avoid cross contamination).

Connect the tubing to the tip of the syringe (No needle) and fill up the syringe with the cleaning solution described above (about 1ml to 2ml). Press the syringe plunger until the tubing gets full of fluid but does not drip off (create back pressure by "pulling back the syringe plunger) this will minimize injecting air into the color port.

Connect the free end of the tubing to the color port you are working on making sure the tubing is tight and sealed around the port (make sure you slide the tubing down until is all the way to the bottom of the port).
SLOWLY inject the solution through the port ... all of it....

In order to make sure ALL the fluid is has gone through and that none will spill when pulling the hose off the color nozzle I disconnected the syringe, filled it up with air and reconnected. Then I pressed the plunger down while watching all the fluid going through BUT stopping before injecting air. Have a Q-tip ready to clean up just in case some fluid spills when pulling back the tubing off the port.

FOR THOSE USING A CIS:

TRY TO MAKE THE ABOVE EXPLAINED PROCESS A QUICK ONE SINCE THE OPEN PORTS MAY TEND TO DRY QUICKLY .. IF YOU WANT TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING YOU MAY CHOOSE TO PUT A DROP OR TWO OF THE CLEANING SOLUTION ON EACH OF THE PORTS YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE WORKING ON BY USING THE SYRINGE PLUS A NEEDLE.

Once the cleaning process is complete, put all the cartridges back in place. Move the cartridge carriage to its "rest" position) all the way to the right. Remove the paper towel. Re-connect the printer (plug in).

let the printer re-set itself and run one or two Nozzle check / cleaning cycle as explained in the beginning....

Cheers,
Alex