How to Fix Dried Ink Cartridges in Inkjet Printers?

Fix Dried Ink Cartridges in Inkjet Printers:

Cartridges are major components of an inkjet printer that stain the ink over the paper in a specific pattern to produce a text or image. Inside the cartridge are various microscopic nozzles that eject the ink in a precise volume and mix to produce various colors on the paper.

Any default in the cartridges can stop the printing function thoroughly and this can be caused because of different reasons. Dried Ink cartridges in Inkjet printers are a usual problem that avoids printing. It creates ink to clot within the cartridges and avoids them from ejecting through the nozzles.

Reasons for a Dry Ink Cartridge

There are lots of reasons behind dry ink cartridge that tend to get dried up and interfere with the normal printing function. In case, the printer is not used regularly, it can result in the cartridges to become dried up fast. One way to fix this issue is by running the printer at least once in a week and doing some nozzle cleans and test printouts.

The drying up and clogging of the nozzle heads is another factor. A printer cartridge contains an expiry date and keeps using them after the planned date can cause it to defect.

Reloading cartridges can also result in the air getting trapped inside that causes the ink to dry up fast. The temperature of the room also affects the ink inside the cartridges.

Fixing a Dry Ink Cartridge

First of all, the step to fix a dry Ink cartridge is by running the print head cleaning function through the computer. It may clear any blocks in the nozzles and therefore enable the free flow of ink needed for printing. Perform a test print and check whether there are any faded areas or misplaced colors in the print.

In case the cartridge remains not functioning correctly, remove it from the print head gently and soak it in warm water. The warm water may certainly cause the dried up ink to get detached and therefore flow properly from the nozzle. Softly rubbing the portion of the nozzles with a cotton swab absorbed in warm water is also recommended.

Repeat this action until the ink comes out of the nozzles. Wipe away any extra ink through a paper towel and after that attach it back to the printer head. Perform a test print to inspect whether the cartridge is functioning normally. It is better to remove the ink cartridge if the issue remains.

Self-Cleaning

All inkjet printers have the capability to clean the print heads by flushing ink through the system, clearing off blockages and dried ink. The procedure of accessing this utility differs through the printer model, but you can usually start it through the printer software on a connected computer or directly on the printer.

Operating this self-cleaning program will fix all but the most severe ink problems, so always try it before resorting to more drastic measures. You should run the cleaning operation twice before the printer works completely, but if you can't see any improvement after two runs, more attempts are unlikely to help. If the ink does come out but is misaligned, perform the alignment utility instead of the cleaning utility.

Manual Cleaning

In case self-cleaning doesn't work, you can manually clean your inkjet cartridges and the print head. Replace the affected ink cartridge from the printer. On certain printers, you will have to set the printer to cartridge replacement mode to access the ink. Immerse a paper towel or cotton swab in hot water or isopropyl alcohol.

Over cartridges with built-in print heads, wipe off the print head till the towel or swab comes up clean. Over printers where the cartridges attach to internal ink tubes, wipe off the connection point on both the cartridge and the printer side. Let all parts dry before reinserting the ink.

I hope the given methods will help you to fix dried Ink cartridges in Inkjet printers.