| Package
Leaked While in Shipment
Sometimes
during the shipping process, the package handling can cause
leaking problems. If the package experiences higher than normal
altitude pressure changes, or even remains upside-down for
an extended period of time, it may leak some ink. It only
takes a small amount of ink to look like a disaster, even
though the actual amount leaked is relatively small.
If there is any leaking, please clean the cartridge over a
sink with water and paper towels. Use rubber gloves to protect
your hands from stains. The cartridge is most likely still
full and should print fine. After you rinse the ink off, dry
with paper towels. Then fold a paper towel into a pad and
hold tightly over the nozzle (the bottom where ink comes out)
and shake like you would a thermometer. You will get a black
line from a black cartridge or three color stripes or dots
from a color cartridge.
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How
to Handle and Store Inkjets Printer Cartridges
Correct
handling and storage of your inkjet cartridge will ensure
its lifespan is productive and full. Incorrect handling and
storage can greatly reduce a cartridge's lifespan and result
in partially full cartridges having to be discarded.
When storing cartridges, always make
sure to store them with the print head side facing down to
keep them primed. Although the shelf life is longer, we do
not recommend storing cartridges for periods longer than 6
months. |
| •
If you do not have a cartridge protector and need to remove
a cartridge temporarily, put it in an airtight plastic container.
Make sure nothing touches the nozzles. Do not use a plastic
bag. If you intend to store print cartridges in a container
for a long period of time, place color cartridges with the
nozzles down, and black cartridges with the nozzles up.
• Do not transport print cartridges in the printer to
high altitudes (such as on an airplane).
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Cartridge
Will Not Fit in Printer
Depending
on the cartridge model, a temporary plastic clip may be attached
to the cartridge. This clip is to help seal and protect the
cartridge during transit. Check to make sure this plastic
transport clip is removed from your inkjet cartridge. Also
remove the blue tape. If this is not the problem, check to
verify that you have the correct inkjet cartridge model for
your printer.
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Your
Printer in Giving You Error Messages
If
message reads: "CARTRIDGE ERROR" or "CARTRIDGE
INSTALLED INCORRECTLY"
There may be some ink residue on the contact points of the
cartridge. Sometimes poor electrical contacts will trigger
a printer error. Try cleaning off both the cartridge and printer
contacts with a lint-free cloth or paper towel dipped in alcohol,
distilled water or a non-greasy cleaner. Cleaning in a circular
motion works best.
When installing the cartridge into your printer, "drop"
the cartridge into the holder, then slightly wiggle the cartridge
left to right a few times to ensure proper seating. Then lock
the cartridge into place.
In rarer cases, a resistor inside the cartridge may have burned
out and could be causing the error message. If this is the
case, the cartridge cannot be fixed and will need to be replaced.
If Message reads: "CARTRIDGE EMPTY"
First, figure out if the printer itself that says it's out
of ink (blinking light), or does a printer related message
box come up on your monitor saying it's empty?
If a light on your printer is blinking (saying 'out of ink'),
make sure the contact points on the cartridge are completely
clean and free from any grime or residue.
If it's a printer control program or message box that's telling
you it's out, the issue is probably that the printer control
software hasn't been reset or told a new cartridge was installed.
The printer’s software measures the cartridge ink fullness
level. The printer software actually remembers the number
of pages that have been printed since the last cartridge was
installed, and then ESTIMATES when the cartridge should be
empty. There is no internal device inside the cartridge itself
that measures the ink level. If you change the cartridge without
letting the printer driver know to reset, it will think it's
still using the old cartridge. This would show you error messages
saying low ink.
Here's what to do... Try installing the cartridge again making
sure your computer and printer are both on (power turned on).
Change the cartridge on the printer by taking it out, and
then putting it back in. Close the cover, or press the button
on your printer that tells it to return to normal. The printer
control program should come up. If it doesn't, you may have
to search around somewhere in your printer utilities and try
to find where the "Install New Cartridge" option
is. When you find it, open the printer utilitiy and select
"Install/Change cartridge.". (Go through the steps
described in this printer function.) This approach will tell
the software that a new cartridge has been inserted and force
it to reset the internal page counter to zero.
All Printers will accept a replacement cartridge but some
times the information given must be ignored and just start
using the cartridge.
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Cartridge Printing Streaky or with Lines
Printhead
Cleaning Tips:
Remove the cartridge with print head or the print head assembly
from printer. Take a lint-free cloth or paper towel and lightly
dampen with warm, distilled water. Fold the towel in half
twice and hold in the fingers of one hand. With your other
hand, gently "Blot" the cartridge by pressing the
print head into the towel a few times. (The print head is
the bottom of the cartridge where the ink is jetted onto your
paper.). This will help to remove dried ink on the surface
of the print head. A good "Blot" should show a uniform,
solid ink pattern (from each chamber) on towel.
If this doesn't solve the streaky print problem, then set
the cartridge in a shallow saucer of hot, distilled water
to help loosen up clogged ink jets. Let set for 5-10 minutes,
and then try the "Blot" test again. Hopefully you
have a good "Blot". If so, dry off cartridge and
reinstall in printer. (A trick -- use Windex instead of distilled
water)
Note: The ink may appear lighter from the water. If so,
a few blots and a test page should clear it out.
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Cartridge Won't Print or is Missing Colors
Before
you begin, make sure that any plastic shipping clip and blue
print head tape is removed from the inkjet cartridge (HP,
Lexmark, Dell). If you can't see the electrical contacts on
the cartridge, the plastic shipping clip is not removed.
If colors are missing, it's likely that the cartridge has
lost it’s prime. This means an air bubble may be trapped
inside cartridge between the ink and the print head, preventing
proper ink flow. Many times, all it takes is a couple of cleaning
cycles with your printer utilitiy program, or a few hard shakes
with a paper towel over the end to get the cartridge primed
and working again.
First, run 2-3 cleaning cycles using your printer's utility
program to try and get the ink flowing properly.
Go to your "Control Panel" folder and right-click
on your printer's icon. Under "Printer Preferences"
or "Properties", you should find your printer utility
and see an option for "cleaning" or "priming"
the cartridge.
If you have run at least three cleaning cycles without
success, try this:
1. Take a slightly damp warm paper towel (use distilled water)
and fold it in half two times.
2. While holding the cartridge, place the towel on the print
head (the bottom of the cartridge
where the ink comes out), and hold it on securely with your
fingers.
3. Shake the cartridge quickly and firmly downward to drive
the ink toward the print head as if you were trying to reset
a medical thermometer. Shake approximately 2-3 times.
Now "Blot" your cartridge onto the folded paper
towel to see if all of the colors appear. To "Blot"
test, hold the folded paper towel over your fingers of one
hand and press the print head into it with the other hand.
All colors/chambers should appear in uniform size. If not,
repeat the shake procedure 3-4 times. Sometimes this can be
a quick fix to prime the cartridge print head. Sometimes it
works great, other times it may not.
Customer Tip: Another trick to help prime
the print head is to blow a little air through the vent hole
on the top of the cartridge until a small amount of ink has
been expelled. This will force the ink down to the bottom
of the cartridge. Repeat the "Blot" test above.
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Cartridge No Longer Viable
There
are situations were an inkjet cartridge has to be discarded
when it still contains ink. If your printed output looks as
if the ink is running out, or colors are wrong, faded or streaked,
however, the cartridge still feels heavy, as if there is ink
in it. There are several possible reasons why the cartridge
must be replaced:
• A color or photo cartridge has run out of one of the
basic colors it mixes together to create the colors in your
images. The printer cannot print correctly if it lacks one
of the basic colors, even if it still contains some of the
other colors.
• The cartridge contains only a residual amount of ink.
There is always a small amount of ink left when the cartridge
stops functioning. Please note that cartridges are over-filled
so that they deliver the advertised quantity of ink before
they stop printing.
• The cartridge nozzles are plugged with dry ink.
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