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Cleaning inkjet printer cartridges
I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or
it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? |
#2
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"Felix Oscar" wrote in message m... I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? This is certainly not normal. What model of printer do you have? - Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP |
#3
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I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or
it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? It's odd I didn't see the original post on this one. An inkjet head has tiny nozzles which push or spray paint onto paper. You can think of it as a collection of lots of little tiny pens all squished together. When the print head starts drying out, some of these little nozzles get clogged, so that those specific nozzles are not transferring ink to the paper. The result is that you have lines across the paper (usually white, as the paper you are printing on is white) where the specific nozzles are clogged. -Dave |
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To try to avoid the next phase of printer brand wars, having worked with
many Epson printers, and literally thousands of Epson printer users, let me just say that Epson printers vary considerably in serviceability based upon, the environment they are used in (dry, dusty, etc), the model of printer, and inks involved, how close the manufacturing tolerances are so that the head caps properly on shut down, the amount of use they get, and how well instructions are followed regarding use and shut down. These many factors can lead to people having very opposite results from one another. Art Shawn Hearn wrote: In article , (Felix Oscar) wrote: I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? I have never had to do that with any of the Epson ink jet printers I have owned. I clean them only once in a blue moon when I notice the print quality is diminished. |
#6
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Shawn Hearn wrote in message ...
In article , (Felix Oscar) wrote: I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? I have never had to do that with any of the Epson ink jet printers I have owned. I clean them only once in a blue moon when I notice the print quality is diminished. I just had a C82 Stylus go bad on me. I don't think it was clogged print heads, but after going online to get tips on what the problem might, I found a lot of people complaining about clogged heads on Epsons. But even among those complaints, it appeared the biggest cause of trouble was third party cartridges. Epson touts their pigment based "Dura Brite" ink, and many say that the nozzles don't tolerate substitutes well. Inkjet nozzles, regardless of brand, will be prone to drying up and possibly clogging after extended periods of non-use. And a couple of weeks may be considered an "extended period" for some printers. But hell, they can clog with regular use too - The C82 we had, and the C86 we have now will briefly pause printing to touch up the heads in the middle of print jobs. |
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"Curtis CCR" wrote in message
om... Shawn Hearn wrote in message ... In article , (Felix Oscar) wrote: I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? I have never had to do that with any of the Epson ink jet printers I have owned. I clean them only once in a blue moon when I notice the print quality is diminished. I just had a C82 Stylus go bad on me. I don't think it was clogged print heads, but after going online to get tips on what the problem might, I found a lot of people complaining about clogged heads on Epsons. But even among those complaints, it appeared the biggest cause of trouble was third party cartridges. Epson touts their pigment based "Dura Brite" ink, and many say that the nozzles don't tolerate substitutes well. Inkjet nozzles, regardless of brand, will be prone to drying up and possibly clogging after extended periods of non-use. And a couple of weeks may be considered an "extended period" for some printers. But hell, they can clog with regular use too - The C82 we had, and the C86 we have now will briefly pause printing to touch up the heads in the middle of print jobs. Maybe this can help EPSON users. It's not mine. I copied it off the internet, but it has good pointers..... First you have to realize that any Non-Epson Ink or Ink Cartridges is not the same ink formulation as the ink in the Epson Cartridges. Epson Ink Jet Style Printers are one of the few printers on the market that seem to have so many problems with non-manufactors inks. Epson Printers use a completely different printhead inking system than most other brands of printers. Epsons "Micro Piezo Ink Jet Technology" and the ultrafine 4-picoliter ink droplets used in most of the Epson Ink Jet Style Printers, just don't always work well with Non-Epson Inks. Most, if not all of the other manufactors, use thermal or bubble jetprint heads and because the other brands use a totally different system, they don't seem to have as many problems using refilled inks or non-manufactor's ink cartridges. No matter what anyone says, all blacks and colors are not the same. Printer manufacters do not make available their ink formulation and in most cases, the formulation is patented. Any difference in the ink formulation can clog the small printhead nozzles or damage other critical components. One individual printhead nozzle is so tiny, that it will not accept a human hair, so you can see why they can get clogged so easily, or even why the nozzles can be so easily damaged. Epson has many different formulas just for its black ink, for all the different Epson Printers, let alone for their colored inks. Generally if you are using Non-Epson Ink Cartridges, or refilling your old cartridges, you are using the wrong ink for your printer and sooner or later you will have some type of problems, almost everyone does. You are taking your chances by using Third-Party or Generic ink cartridges, or even by refilling your old cartridges. I understand the differences in the costs of the Non-Epson Ink and Ink Cartridges, compared to the Epson Ink Cartridges and the choice is always yours to make. It really does not matter to me what type of ink cartridges you decide to use in your Epson Printer...You need to run a Nozzle Test and see how that pattern looks. If there are "Void Lines" or "White Lines" thru the blocks of colors then you need to do the Print Head Cleaning Cycle and then the Nozzle Test again, to try and clean out the print heads. You may have to run several sets of these tests to try and get rid of those void lines. If after 5 or 6 sets of tests those lines are not gone, then you might have a bad cartridge, or a possibly clogged print head assembly, theres no way to really know. It's possible that you may even have an actual HARDWARE PROBLEM [parts problem], but normally the most common problem is clogging of the print head nozzles. You might want to try using the Epson Stylus Head Cleaning Solution, available through the home page on "fixyourownprinter.com", at " http://fixyourownprinter.com/ ". When it opens, click-on Epson, under PRINTER REPAIR KITS. Then click-on "Epson Stylus Head Cleaning Solution" and that page should then open correctly. The Epson Solution sells for around $10.00 plus shipping. It includes a syringe and some Epson Printhead Cleaning Solution, which is designed to dissolve most clogs, especially if you were using Epson inks. This is the same chemical used by Epson in their service department. You can try it if you want to and see if you can get the printhead nozzles to open up again. If you want to see what's involved in print head cleaning, Wes has supplied a link that might help: http://www.epsonhelp.web1000.com/printhead.html and he also suggests trying the SSC service utility form here http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml...ON THE OTHER HAND: If that Nozzle test comes out looking ok, then that indicates that your printer is normally working ok. You have to realize that your printer simply receives DATA from your Computer System, which tells it what to print. Usually, what you see on your Monitors Screen, is close to the image that is printed out by your printer. That image cannot always be matched exactly thru the Software Data sent to your printer. Its possible that settings may not be correct in your computers software, or possibly even corrupted Printer Drivers. You can delete your old drivers and download the latest available drivers from the Epson Home Page at http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/index.jsp . As drivers are FREE, I usually recommend trying those first if you have a communication problem. Bad or corrupted drivers can cause many problems. "DEINSTALL" [remove] your old drivers/printer first and then go to the "EPSON.COM" web-site. Look under "DRIVERS AND SUPPORT" and then click-on "DRIVERS AND DOWNLOADS". Look under the "Ink Jet Printers" for your "Epson Stylus Photo 820" and click-on it. Once the "DOWNLOAD PAGE" opens, read the INFORMATION to locate your particular SYSTEM [Win's 95,98,ME,2000.etc.] and then click-on it. Follow the directions and read all the available information concerning your systems driver downloads. Finally at the bottom of the page, click-on "Printer Software Installation for Windows ___ [Epson Printers]", or the "Download" option button. After the downloading utility opens, read the download information available, make your choices and complete the installation...Good Luck! Denny Conway...P.S. Check for an e-mail from me, with some additional information on the print head cleaning solution, in case you need to use it. |
#8
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On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:27:58 -0700, Felix Oscar wrote:
I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? No. Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? The print head is apparently getting dirty. Find the source of the dirt. Perhaps the paper is dirty? Some papers disintegrate and produce paper dust which clogs HP inkjet heads. Cheap and recycled papers are notorious for this. A dirty environment will allow dust to get into the printer. If you have very hard water, your clothes washer becomes a clothes grinder and all your fabrics will produce lots of dust that goes everywhere very quickly. You will need to put the printer somewhere there are no fabrics and where airflow will keep dust out. Plus it should always be covered completely when not in use. Just remembered: Recycled cartridges and refilled cartridges also do the same thing. I remember also a inkjet used in a totally dry environment (0%rh) would have the print head dry out and it would have to be cleaned before every printing. =-= |
#9
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On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:27:58 -0700, Felix Oscar wrote: I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? This is not normal and would indicate some problem with the cartrdige or the pritner. Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? If there is a regular pattern of missing lines it would normally indicate an electrical contact issue, with perhaps corrosion building up on the cartridge contacts. Perform a diagnostic self test as shown at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...c=en&lang= en If there are regular repeating areas missing try cleaning the contacts as shown at: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...ectID=bpa02060 If the missing nozzles are randomly distributed it may be that your service station is not properly sealing the cartridge. Check to make sure the rubber caps in the service station have not become dislodged. Regards, Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP MS MVP Printing/Imaging |
#10
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jdj wrote: On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:27:58 -0700, Felix Oscar wrote: I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all inkjet printers or what? No. Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply exactly one area on the head is clogged? The print head is apparently getting dirty. Find the source of the dirt. Perhaps the paper is dirty? Some papers disintegrate and produce paper dust which clogs HP inkjet heads. Cheap and recycled papers are notorious for this. A dirty environment will allow dust to get into the printer. If you have very hard water, your clothes washer becomes a clothes grinder and all your fabrics will produce lots of dust that goes everywhere very quickly. You will need to put the printer somewhere there are no fabrics and where airflow will keep dust out. Plus it should always be covered completely when not in use. Just remembered: Recycled cartridges and refilled cartridges also do the same thing. I remember also a inkjet used in a totally dry environment (0%rh) would have the print head dry out and it would have to be cleaned before every printing. =-= Well, there is no totally dry environment. Even an extremely dry area has a relative humidity of 5 percent and there are not many areas like that in the U.S. Western dry areas have rh of about 25-35 percent and the inside of a house is usually much higher. I live in a dry climate (Boise, ID) and my printer (HP 970) has needed a cartridge cleaning only once and I often do not print for several weeks, sometimes sseveral months. Oh, by the way, we also have hard water, but I don't see much clothes "grinding." |
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