
To clean the inkjet cartridges, check to see if your cartridge’s have both ink and a print head together. (the print head in this picture is dirty and clogged) Optional: Small hook or pen/pencil (see step 3 to see if you need this).2-3 Cotton Swabs (better known as Q-tips).Copier/Printer or Sewing Machine Oil (WD-40 may be used if no other types of oil can be found).If your inkjet printer no longer functions because of these instructions, I am not liable for any damage whatsoever.įirst try to locate the following cleaning supplies: I am not an inkjet expert, just a technician. I am not responsible for any damage incurred due to the following tutorial. Warning! This tutorial is meant to be an educational experience.

Ok, now that we have those terms out of the way, lets start cleaning. It’s responsibility is to be the messenger to tell the print cartridges what color and where to drop the ink. Interface Ribbon: You may see this ribbon behind the print head/cartridges. Paper Feed Assembly: This can differ between printers, but for this tutorial, we’ll refer to this term for the part of the inkjet printer that actually picks up and feeds the paper into the printer. This stabilizer bar ensures that everything is nicely lined up and even. Stabilizer bar: The stepper motor drives a belt to move the print head. Some printers have a separate stepper motor for parking and controlling the print head. Print Head Stepper Motor: This motor mainly functions to either park or control the print head assembly. I’ll cover ink cartridge quality in another tutorial. Some contain a poor material and make cleaning, installation, and use a real pain. Ink: This should be self explanatory, but I just wanted to note that not all inks are treated the same. This will prevent a lot of problems, but also opens the doors to those famous “drill-and-fill” cartridge shops in the mall (which can also cause major problems) that disregard the need to change the head along with refilling the ink. Most of the cartridges you’ll purchase for inexpensive personal-class Canon, HP, and Epson printers will have a print head built right into the ink cartridge. It is required to print, however doesn’t necessarily have to be included with the ink cartridge. Print Head: This part of an inkjet printer gets the most wear and tear and generally causes the most amount of problems. So, to compact this waste, I’ve written this tutorial.īefore we actually get into the cleaning portion of this tutorial, here is some terms you may need to know. Due to their falling prices and cheap materials, it makes no sense for me to venture out to a house call just to fix a clogged nozzle or poor ink cartridge when the customer could just stop by Wal-Mart on their way home and pick a new one up for 20 bucks. By “cleaning”, I actually mean getting some supplies and physically cleaning your printer.Īs a technician, I receive many calls about a customer’s inkjet that is not working right or has poor output quality, even after a replaced cartridge.
#BLACK PRINT SMUDGED ON HP DESKJET 6980 PRINTER HOW TO#
If you’ve ever been in this situation, this tutorial will tell you how to really clean your inkjet.

Time after time, you try to “clean” the printer through the manufacture’s software, but all it seems to be doing is drain your precious ink. After your printer finishes the that last line you take a look at your masterpiece only to see that there is streaking, blotches, and other impurities. After clicking the familiar printer icon, you silently wait for the paper to get pulled into the printer and produce a work of art that Charles Dickens would appreciate. You’ve written a wonderful article, backed it up, and now it’s time to print the beast. The fact is that generic ink is not good.īut there are several other good suppliers.There you sit, late at night, typing away with a paper due in the morning. If you are serious about refilling HP carts, get a proper refill kit and instructions from one of the online ink suppliers. 2) Refilled HP carts are unreliable, at best. Lessons learned: 1) Do not buy "refill kits" from O.D.

My question to you is, do you know the reason for the behavior of my old cartridge? Thank you very much for your time. I went out and bought a brand new color cartridge and tried in the printer. But the printer prints only colors pertaining to yellow and blue, but nothing that involves magenta. I can actually see all three colors slightly oozing out of the head. When I press a piece of paper against the print head, I do see all three colors on the paper. So, I refilled the cartridge one more time and tried, but no use. I noticed over the weekend that it quit printing red (any color that needs magenta). I bought a ink refill kit (color) from Office Depot a few months ago and refilled the color cartridge. We have a HP printer that we have been using for about a couple of years now.
