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How to Clean Clogged Epson Inkjet Print heads.

Mike puts the inkjet cartridge in the printer he got last year for Christmas from his grandma and eagerly waiting for the outcome of his picture about last week’s spring break at Miami Beach. While his Epson Christmas present is making its familiar noises; the clear signs of anticipation appear on Mike’s face. But when the much anticipated picture of Mike and his buddies (and the beer cans) reveals itself, the signs of disappointment become noticeable on Mike. He is looking at the picture and there are few annoying white lines that run the length of it.

Familiar? Yapp.  You have got clogged nozzles. I mean not exactly you, but your Epson inkjet printer. This situation is caused by one or more of the ink nozzles not printing properly on the page. It could be caused by debris or dried ink blocking the nozzles.

(You know those tiny holes where the ink comes through and landing on your paper.)

Well, before you run to your garage for the half pound hammer with the clear intention of expressing your anger on your Epson printer, let me tell you some tips and teach you a few tricks on what you can do in these unfortunate situations.

First, don’t panic at this point. If white or broken lines occur when printing documents or pictures that can be a result of not using your Epson printer for a longer period of time.

 Many cartridges like the Epson and Canon are from the so called ink tank type cartridges. These cartridges are simply reservoirs of ink used in printers where the print head is part of the printer, so changing the cartridge won't solve the problem.

With these types of printers try running the so called cleaning routine or cleaning cycle a few times.

A quick way to access it is to click on the 'Start' button and click on 'Control Panel'. From there look for 'printers' or 'printers and fax' link. Click it and look for your printer's icon and 'right-click' on it. Choose 'Properties' from the drop-down list. Your printer's software will come up. And there is a tab for cleaning or maintenance. (Note this doesn’t apply for Hp printers.)

Try to utilize the cleaning routine from there.  However, you should not run more than 4-5 cleaning cycles because it may damage your print head.

If no amount of standard cleaning-cycle run-throughs would fix the problem you could try the following:

Try to remove the black print cartridge from the printer and put a few drops of alcohol down in the ink-receptacle area where the ink cartridge usually sits and then after replacing the ink cartridge run a few sessions of the cleaning routine. There are several websites that sells Print head Cleaning Solution Kit that also can unclog and help prevent clogged nozzles on your Epson printer.

However, the best solution is prevention. Try to print something, both in color and black & white once in a while so the print head won’t get clogged. Until then I wish you success in using your Epson printer and don’t forget; you are more than welcome to come here and read my articles on inkjet printers, inkjet cartridges, refilling guidelines and saving tips in the future.

  Laszlo Sztancs. The Printer supply guy.

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