• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Cleaning fluid question.

MachServTech

New Member
Artbot is correct. This formula will not damage your machines and can be used with any solvent printer.

DO NOT USE THIS WITH UV CURABLE INKJET. :doh:
 

AUTO-FX

New Member
ask for...

you bought a bottle of butyl carbitol and acetone. i understand. i'll use my stuff for the next few months and do a final assessment of the properties. i've got a lot of experience working with coatings and chemicals developing my printing systems so it's a bit less mysterious. until then i'll be happy to be the guinea pig.

and acetone.
 

artbot

New Member
the sherwin william stock #:

R6 K 25 for butyl cellosolve

R6 K 28 for butyl carbitol

i use butyl cellosolve to acetone about 6:1

also this is a recipe i saw on the jv3 yahoo board

3 parts butyl cellosolve
1 part butyl carbitol
2 parts acetone."
 

FKAT

New Member
If your time is not worth that much, spend the time to make your cleaning solution. A print head can cost you between $800-$1000. How could saving a few dollars be worth it...and again, the time to do this.

If you throw off the viscosity of the ink inside the print head, you will have to purge a bunch of ink to regain composure of the system. Not that big of an expense...but again, you are trying to save $30-$40....????

Where is the logic in this?
 

jwright350

New Member
homemade cleaning solution... now thats awesome! I was always told cleaning solution was just ink without the pigment... is that not true?
 

flormage333

New Member
Thread Resurrection: Home Brewed Solvents

I am not sure if there is a more relevant thread that was started since this one, but this is the one I came across first.

I was wondering if anyone has tested these homemade solvents for a considerable amount of time on any solvent/e-solvent wide format printers.

I was going to make some of my own. Does including a surfactant in the solution make a big difference for ‘de-griming’ ink? If so I would be curious as to what surfactants would be prudent to use if introducing into ink lines for cleaning purposes.

Thanks.
 

MikePro

New Member
I was wondering if anyone has tested these homemade solvents for a considerable amount of time on any solvent/e-solvent wide format printers.
welcome to s101
4 years and counting on my mimaki jv3... zero issues and hundreds of $$$ in savings.
I dial-in the percentage of acetone in my mixtures based on what I intend to use it for. Lower %'s in ink lines/printheads but higher %'s for wiping gunked-up capping station/wiper parts, much like I water-down isopropyl alcohol when I want to clean acrylics and not burn the finish, but have higher % iso for cutting through gunk on windows before vinyl application.
 

artbot

New Member
latest and best blend is just the carbitol with the acetone. OEMs use the cellosolve as a filler solvent because the carbitol costs twice as much. i've seen vutek msds show that a head maintenance fluid was
100% carbitol. as for the logic in making your own fluid.
 

rjssigns

Active Member
Through my S-W account I get butyl-carbitol for 23 bucks a gallon.:cool: For well over a year we've been using it straight up to clean. We clean waaay more now(many times per week) since it's so cheap to do so. Our printer sparkles.

It also cleans ink drops off banners like it was never there. Roland cleaning solution would just smear it around.
 

artbot

New Member
i would not bring up to that SW location that the correct price is around $60 a gallon. it also can be wiped on the front of old paper backing that won't come off of acrylic. and is great at removing adhesive. ....turns it into rolly polly rubber.
 

rjssigns

Active Member
i would not bring up to that SW location that the correct price is around $60 a gallon. it also can be wiped on the front of old paper backing that won't come off of acrylic. and is great at removing adhesive. ....turns it into rolly polly rubber.

No worries artbot. Retail is $58. I get WD pricing through my business account. I know what you're saying though. Almost tipped over when they said 23 bucks.
 

netsol

Premium Subscriber

vondegroot

New Member
latest and best blend is just the carbitol with the acetone. OEMs use the cellosolve as a filler solvent because the carbitol costs twice as much. i've seen vutek msds show that a head maintenance fluid was
100% carbitol. as for the logic in making your own fluid.
Hey hey! Just wanted to confirm the "latest best blend" was 1:2 of carbitol : acetone ?
Finally gonna grab these chems and mix up a batch before I pay the Roland dealer $100/litre.

Cheers!
 
Last edited:

Inks

New Member
I work for an ink manufacturer and where we are located we are not aloud to have acetone in our facility.
We produce many ink lines and acetone is in none of our thinners, press washes, digital ink flush or washups.
It is a class 3 dangerous good for shipping due to the flash point. Are you sure its not Butyl Cellosolve Acetate
you bought a bottle of butyl carbitol and acetone. i understand. i'll use my stuff for the next few months and do a final assessment of the properties. i've got a lot of experience working with coatings and chemicals developing my printing systems so it's a bit less mysterious. until then i'll be happy to be the guinea pig.
 
Last edited:
Top