Clogged printhead is such a bummer. Print quality is horrible, lots of uneven lines, inaccurate colors and sometimes the printer won’t even print at all.
Printheads being clogged is unavoidable, it will occur over time regardless whether you are using genuine or compatible ink. Clogging is mainly caused by air or dried up ink causing faded and uneven printouts due to:
- Not replacing the ink cartridge right away even the low ink level is prompting. This forces the printer to push too much ink to the nozzles and later the ink will dry and cause clogging.
- Printer is always on. When the printer is left idle and powered on it will sometimes cause the ink to dry up in the nozzles. It is vital to turn off the printer when not in use because every time you turn on the printer, it is prompted to do a cleaning cycle to prevent clogging.
- Not using the printer regularly. Even not using the printer can cause clogs so, be sure to buy a printer that suits your needs, if you’re not using the printer every time it is recommended to use a laser printer for toner does not dry up.
Ways to clean clogged printheads.
- Using printer software. Printer brands all have a cleaning process to remove the clogs from the print head. Printer manufacturers have their own software for this procedure, mainly under Maintenance settings and select “Print Head Nozzle Check” or “Print Head Cleaning” and the printer will do its thing to remove the clog. You can repeat the cleaning process to improve print quality.
- Printhead cleaner or clean distilled water. There are printhead cleaners available in the market but if you don’t have one, distilled water will do. Pour a small drop to the ink port/nozzle then wipe with clean paper and then print about six to eight pages of images and text to primer the cartridge and remove the clogging.
- Windex solution. Windex is not just for your windows and glass; they can also be used for cleaning the printheads. Windex contains 50% ammonia that helps remove dried ink or dirt in the printhead. Remove the cartridges from the printer and spray Windex on the printhead assembly and leave it for a few hours until the ink is dissolved. Wipe the excess Windex solution then reinstall the cartridges and print sample pages until you are satisfied with the print quality.
