How To Clear A Stubborn Inkjet Printer Clog
Do you own an inkjet printer? Has the printhead ever
clogged up on you, creating streaks or missing colors from
your printing?
Clogs can be incredibly frustrating. Normally when you find
out you have a clogged printhead, it’s because you’re right
in the middle of printing something important. It’s one of
those problems that you never ask for. It just seems to
throw itself in your lap without warning, and then taunts you
in your efforts to fix it.
The printhead is the mechanism of your printer (or inkjet
cartridge), where the ink actually comes out.
For the most part, printhead clogs can be normally be
flushed out with a couple of “head cleaning” cycles. A head
cleaning cycle is a built-in function of your printer. It’s a
specialized routine meant to address this type of problem.
This “cleaning cycle” works by sending a strong ‘print
signal’ to your printer, while at the same time drawing a
small vacuum from underneath. The combination of these
two steps works in an attempt to suck out clogged ink from
the printhead. From my experience, you’ll probably need to
run between 3 and 5 cycles to fully clear a clog.
The location of the head cleaning cycle proceedure varies
for each printer brand, so refer to your printer owner’s
manual for specific instructions to find yours. Check the
index first.
If you don’t have your owner’s manual anymore, you can
check our your printer manufacturers website. Most likely,
they will have your printer manual online.
There are times however, when a few standard head
cleaning routines don’t seem to solve the problem. A
stubborn printhead clog like this can be persistant enough
to make you want to rip out your hair.
For times like these, you’ll need to pull out the big guns!
For stubborn inkjet printhead clogs, there are various
cleaners out there specifically for this purpose. These
cleaners are formulated to disolve dried or “gummy” ink
which may have accumulated from infrequent printer use,
or even just a general build-up over time.
I personally brought an old printer “back from the dead”
using a product called ‘Clog Buster’. It was a printer I had
purchased off of eBay which apparently hadn’t been used
in awhile. I spent a few hours trying to revive the printer,
and ‘Clog Buster’ was the only thing that worked when
nothing else did.
The only downside with using a cleaning product like this
however, is that you usually don’t have it in your immediate
possession when the clog hits. Unless you have some
already on hand, you’ll have to wait for it to be shipped to
you. In the meantime, your printing project will have to
remain on pause until it arrives.
(But maybe I can help…)
The good news is that you MAY be able to solve the
problem using some basic household products. In fact,
Windex glass cleaner can actually work well for dissolving
dried ink. What’s the secret ingredient?
Ammonia.
Tough printhead clogs can usually be brought into
submission by soaking the printhead in a solution of
50/50% ammonia and distilled water.
A important word of warning… Ammonia is potent and
powerful stuff. When working with ammonia, always make
sure you’ve got adequate ventilation, and avoid mixing it
with other chemicals. Very important.
So, if your printhead is located on the inkjet cartridge itself,
you’ll want to soak the printhead in the 50/50 solution for
an hour or two.
If the printhead unit is located inside your inkjet printer
itself, then you’ll first need to remove the inkjet cartridges.
After those are removed, put some of the solution into the
top of the printhead (directly into the nozzle holes) and let it
sit a few hours. Go ahead and put a little more into the
printhead resting seat. (This is the rubber rectangle part
that seals off the printhead unit while the carriage is in it’s
resting position.)
If this initial soaking doesn’t work, then repeat another time
using 100% ammonia for up to one hour. Afterward, make
sure to rinse completely with distilled water.
If the clog doesn’t immediately clear, go ahead and let the
printer sit overnight and try it again the next day.
Sometimes the clog will breakdown slowly and release
later as the ammonia takes it’s toll.
Finally, for those of you wondering about the effectiveness
of using alcohol to unclog cartridges and printhead —
here’s a quick note…
Alcohol won’t work as well as ammonia, but may work
better than a few cleaning cycles. The downside is that
alcohol may actually dry out the plastics and metals in the
printhead. This could actually increase the chances of
clogging later on down the road. So try to avoid alcohol if
possible.
Eli Fry is president of ASAP Inkjets. ASAP Inkjets offers
inkjet cartridges and laser toner at up to 80% below retail.
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