Epson P6000 Instructions

USING CLEANING CARTRIDGES ON THE
EPSON SURECOLOR P6000, P7000, P8000
& P9000
The following instructions explain how to use cleaning cartridges on an Epson SureColor P6000, P7000, P8000,
and P9000. Cleaning cartridges provide an ideal method of flushing out a printer when changing ink types or
preparing the machine for storage during periods of non-use. They are also a handy service aid for unblocking
partially clogged print heads. However, they will not unblock a completely clogged print head as there is no
way for the cleaning fluid to travel through the ink system to get to the dried ink in the print head. Because of
this, cleaning cartridge should only be used when some jets on each print head are working – the working jets
will allow the cleaning fluid to travel through the ink system and dissolve the dried inks in the clogged jets.
Cleaning cartridges for the Epson SureColor P6000, P7000, P8000, and P9000 are filled with Ink2image Dead
Head cleaning and are installed in a printer just like regular cartridges. Unfortunately, these models do not
have a handy built-in 'initial fill' routine that will fill the machine's ink system with cleaning fluid or ink, as with
previous Epson printers. Instead, heavy cleaning cycles must be used to draw the cleaning fluid from the
cleaning cartridges and into the print head. The number of heavy cleaning cycles required to prime the print
head with cleaning fluid varies depending on the printer model and how clogged the head may be, but at least
three heavy cleaning will be needed. You can tell when the cleaning fluid has reached the print head by
making a nozzle check print and the section for the color or colors you are cleaning will show no color on the
print, indicating that the clear cleaning fluid is printing instead of ink.
If you want to completely flush your printer for long term storage purposes or prior to installing a new type of
ink, then a full set of cleaning cartridges will be required. You would run heavy cleaning cycles on all colors to
remove all the ink from the printer's ink system and prime it with cleaning fluid.
If you are having an issue with clogged jets on a certain color or colors, then cleaning cartridges for these
problematic colors will be required. However, the P series models can only clean by color pairs and so you will
waste ink from the cartridge that is 'paired' with the problematic color when you run heavy cleaning cycles. A
way to avoid this is to use a cleaning cartridge in the paired color slot, so we recommend buying cleaning
cartridges in color pairs even though one color may be functioning correctly. This is not absolutely necessary
but please be aware of the wasted ink factor from the paired ink cartridge. The colors on the P series are
paired in the following order:-
Cyan with Vivid Magenta.
Light Black with Photo Black or Matte Black (see note below).
Light Light Black with Yellow.
Vivid Light Magenta with Light Cyan.
Orange with Green (P7000 and P9000 only)
Note: These printer models only have one black print head and the ink feed to this head comes either from
the Photo Black or Matte Black cartridge depending on which black is being used. If you are having an issue
with the LK head then buy an LK cleaning cartridge and either a PK or MK cartridge depending on which you
black you have set at the time of cleaning.