Clean and use a clogged print head inkjet cartridge
Inkjet printers have the major disadvantage of having often having clogged print head cartridges that can be very annoying in the long run. Though advanced inkjets might possess their automatic print head cleaning process, this might not work every time. The problem might be because a layer of thick ink might have blocked the holes of the printer’s head.
There are some useful ways to get the printer’s head clean without halving to buy another cartridge.
Solution 1
Once you remove the ink cartridge from the printer, you can make use of the Isopropyl Alcohol, and put at maximum of 10 drops in the ink cartridge. You will find a hole there, in which the ink usually runs from the ink cartridge to the head of the printer. When done, you can put the cartridge back in the printer and run the auto cleaning process from the printer’s option in order to clean the blocked holes of the cartridge. I would suggest you to run print tests first and once you are satisfied with the results, you can start using the printer normally.
Solution 2
Using a syringe and some alcohol to unblock the holes can also be very effective.
- Step 1: Remove the cartridge from the computer
- Step 2: With the syringe, take in some alcohol and put in some drops in the tiny hole where the ink runs from the ink cartridge to the head of the printer.
- Step 3: When done, put the cartridge (only where the tiny holes are found) in some warm water. If some ink runs in the water, it means that the holes have been unblocked.
- Step 4: Hence, let the alcohol act for 20 minutes on the ink before putting the cartridge back in the printer.
- Step 5: Run some test prints before using the printer normally.
Note: I would suggest you to do an automatic head cleaning each time before any printing task. Hence it will reduce the risk of having the print heads blocked by dried ink.