[ChiefGeek63]

HI All,

Noobie here and I am a Computer Scientist and not a Chemist.

I want to make a special inkjet head cleaning solution for use in my wife's printing business.  It is very specialized and the only place we can buy it charges a small fortune.  So I'm looking to make it to reduce our costs if possible.

Its name is "Super Cleaner - Print Head" and its MSDS number is WJ820.

Ingredients from MSDS:

7732-18-5 Water (Distilled water)  60-90%
111-46-6 Diethylene Glycol 15-40%
107-21-1 1,2-Ethanediol 5-20%

My question is about mixing the above ingredients.

Can I just mix these ingredients together in a glass jar or do I need to use some technique to blend them together.

Thanks for any information.

[billnotgatez]

From WIKI

Diethylene glycol
Preferred IUPAC name: 2,2'-Oxydi(ethan-1-ol)
Other names
 2,2'-Oxybis(ethan-1-ol)
 2-(2-Hydroxyethoxy)ethan-1-ol
 Diethylene glycol
 Ethylene diglycol
 Diglycol
 2,2'-Oxybisethanol
 2,2'-Oxydiethanol
 3-Oxa-1,5-pentanediol
 Dihydroxy diethyl ether
CAS Number 111-46-6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethylene_glycol

Ethylene glycol
IUPAC name: ethane-1,2-diol
Other names
 Ethylene glycol
 1,2-Ethanediol
 Ethylene alcohol
 Hypodicarbonous acid
 Monoethylene glycol
 1,2-Dihydroxyethane
CAS Number 107-21-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

Within the WIKI articles are properties such as
Solubility in water

If the company has any secrets or a special mixing process it could be proprietary.
It is interesting that they showed proportions of ingredients on the MSDS as ranges.
As noted on WIKI these compounds are toxic.


It would be of interest as to the name of the manufacturer of this product.

[ChiefGeek63]

The company we purchase it from is Omniprint International.  They produce Direct To Garment printers which we purchased from them also.

Thanks for the Wiki links.  I'm headed there now.

[billnotgatez]

Do you have a link to the MSDS.

[ChiefGeek63]

I have the MSDS sheet.

[billnotgatez]

I think the words of interest on the links are
Solubility in water Miscible

[ChiefGeek63]

Thank you Sir.  You pointed me in the right direction.

[Enthalpy]

No special precautions to mix. You get distilled or deionized water cheap for car batteries. Avoid bubbles when mixing maybe, as they can take time to buoy, depending on the mixture's viscosity.

Glycol is toxic, diglycol less. But they don't compare with novitchok. Glycol is the old antifreeze, so don't take it at breakfast, and wash your hands.

One special precaution: don't let dogs get close to it. They are known to drink glycol because of the sugar taste.

For the proportions, I's just try to match the viscosity, as observed when pouring the original and the copy.

[billnotgatez]

...
One special precaution: don't let dogs get close to it. They are known to drink glycol because of the sugar taste.
...

@Enthalpy 
Thank you for pointing that out.

[DrCMS]

If the company has any secrets or a special mixing process it could be proprietary.

I doubt there is any special mixing process for these materials.

It is interesting that they showed proportions of ingredients on the MSDS as ranges.

That is quite normal.  The actual accurate formulation will be used for the classification calculations but then to protect their proprietary formulation ranges are displayed on the final SDS.

[ChiefGeek63]

Thanks to everyone!!  I'm going to purchase the chemicals and do a test batch.  I will keep everyone updated on how things turn out.

John

[pcm81]

A word of caution:
Different printer manufacturers use different technologies to push ink out of the nozzle. Epson uses piezo electric element to create pressure, while canon uses tiny heating elements to partially boil the ink and create the pressure. The point being is: If the print head boils the ink then you need to also consider the effects of elevated temperature and what if anything the 'secret" ingredients in the cleaning solution might be for. If the print head is piezoelectric then you have fewer things to worry about.