GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR INKJET CARTRIDGE

 

How do I maximize the life of my Inkjet cartridges? To get the longest life out of your inkjet cartridges (and your printer), you should do the following: 1) Prevent your inkjet cartridges from drying out. If you are going to go on vacation for an extended period the Ink Cartridge left in you printer may dry out. Think of it just like leaving the lid off a paint tin, eventually the ink will thicken and cause blocking to your print-heads. Take the time to remove these cartridges before you leave. Make sure you follow the instructions provided by your original printer manufacturers manual before you do this. Wrap them in plastic and place in your refrigerator until you arrive back. Make sure that you use your maintenance software when you do re-install them to clean and prime the heads again.  You should print using the colour and black print out at least once in 2-3 weeks, but preferably once a week. If the cartridge is already dried out, do not use it to print, it will damage the print head with heat.  You can clean the print head of the cartridge 2) Cleaning Water Based Cartridge Print Heads: If  you think your print head is blocked, then there is a simple procedure to clean it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKFg0r7CXc  Don’t forget to run the print head cleaning mechanism as described in your printer manual before using it again 3) Cleaning Pigment / Oil Based Ink Cartridge Print Heads: For some oil bases pigment inks you may have to use isopropyl alcohol instead of warm water. (follow above water based cartridge maintenance instructions) 4) Cleaning My Printer? You should be aware that you have to maintain your printer on a regular basis to ensure consistent print quality. On most printer models you will notice that when you change ink cartridges or when you first turn your printer on the printer goes through what is known as a Print Head Cleaning Procedure. For the life of your printer this will happen hundreds of times. You may not have noticed that while this automatic head cleaning and alignment is taking place that old ink and paper residue is being dumped into a holding bin usually a small plastic container situated towards the right hand side of the printer under the lid. This is where your printer head sits while parked and not in use. If this Ink Dump Area gets over loaded, or generally un-maintained instead of cleaning your printer cartridges is does quite the contrary, it clogs them up with old ink and paper dust, a sticky residue almost like a Crude Oil blocks the tiny pores in your fragile print head and results poor printed output which shows print banding or print discolouration. In severe cases complete print-head blockage has been noted. The Solution: Maintain your printer by cleaning the Print Dump Container and the Cartridge Parking area. Use a cotton bud ear cleaner and some Isopropyl alcohol. Make sure that you remove as much old ink as you can, but before doing anything make sure that all electrical power has been switched off and that you are working in an environment suitable for the job in hand.   We thank our sponsers at ABC Printsupplies along with other suppliers for providing this information.

CARTRIDGE FAILURE OR PRINTER PROBLEM?

 

Getting poor quality print outs from your inkjet/toner printer? Is it the cartridge or  printer maintenance to blame?

Are you seeing smudges on the paper, colours mixing, or missing sections? Then it could pay you to have a look at the maintenance of your printer,
Here are some things you should regularly do to maintain good printer quality:
 – Use your inkjet printer regularly
When  your printer is left unused for long stretches of time, the ink in the print head and nozzles can dry and cause printing flaws such as jagged lines and incorrect colors. To prevent this,  use your printer frequently, even if just a page of printing.
– Perform nozzle checks
If you leave your printer unused for a long period of time, you should perform a nozzle check before you use it again. This will make sure your printer prints normally. The nozzle check can often be run thorough your printer’s utility function. Look at your printer’s user manual for specific directions.
 – Clean the print heads
If your nozzle is clogged, cleaning the print heads should fix any poor print quality issues. Cleaning utilities come with your printer drivers. Some printers even have a print head cleaning button on their control panel. Your printer’s user manual will have specific directions.
– Align the print heads
If your printouts have vertical lines or horizontal bands this generally means that your print head needs to be aligned. This utility can be found with your printer drivers or in your printer control panel. When you align the print heads, the printer will print a pattern on a piece of paper. You then follow prompts from your printer to adjust the pattern. Specific information for performing a print head alignment can be found in your printer’s user manual.
– Replace your inkjet cartridges
Flawed printouts can often be caused by cartridges that are low on ink. Your printer will prompt you when a black or color cartridge reaches a certain level of ink. Printer manufactures say you should replace your cartridge when you receive this warning because print quality will suffer if you don’t. When replacing your printer cartridges, be sure your purchase the correct replacement cartridge ( check the printer models on the cartridge box or from the web page) and install it as the supplied instructions or your printer’s user manual directs. Incorrect installation can cause more flawed printouts.
 – Turn your printer off (the correct way)
Leaving your inkjet printer on for extended periods of time can cause clogged nozzles and flawed printouts. After you finish using your printer for the day you should turn it off using the printer’s own power button. In most printers, the power button initiates a process that seals the print head from outside air, preventing clogged nozzles. If you unplug your printer, or turn it off using a power strip, the print head sealing function may not run.

Alternatively, to check your cartridge, insert an alternative one, if it prints well, then contact your supplier to replace the malfunctioning one. But remember, cartridges don't last forever - if it is over 3 months since you've received it, or experienced abnormal temperature conditions, then discard it as the supplier is unlikely to offer replacement.

We thank our sponsers at ABC Printsupplies along with other suppliers for providing this information.