Printers Manuals

When a printer isn’t used often, sometimes the ink dries up inside the cartridge and this results in it not working properly. Using the print cleaning option under utility can often times work in cleaning the cartridge, but at times, it doesn’t always do the trick. After trying five or six times to clean it that way, you’ll need to do it manually. Fortunately, this is an inexpensive process that requires rubbing alcohol and water.

The first step is to take hot water and submerge the cartridge. Allow it to sit for a little while so that the water can go in and break up any of the ink. Once this has finished, allow it to dry over night and then put the cartridge into the printer. Use the self clean feature on the printer again. If this works, the cartridge has been unclogged and you can go about your business.

Unfortunately, if it doesn’t work, you’ll have to try rubbing alcohol. Submerge the cartridge in rubbing alcohol and allow it to sit overnight. Remove it and dry it down caully. The thing to note about rubbing alcohol is that it evaporates very quickly, so once removed from the container, it’ll be dry within ten minutes. Pat it down with paper towel to get any remaining drops of alcohol.

Place it into the printer and try the self cleaning again. Most of the time, the hot water and then the alcohol will be enough to break up the ink. Once the ink has been broken up, the self cleaning feature will be able to handle the remaining cleaning. However, if this doesn’t work, chances are, the cartridge is completely clogged and you’ll have to purchase a new one.

The best way to ensure that the ink cartridges don’t get clogged in the future is to print something–both in black and color–at least once a week. This way, the ink is being used and doesn’t just sit in the cartridge building up. And, it doesn’t hurt to do the self cleaning utility once every couple of weeks to ensure that there are no blockages. If there are, repeat the above steps.

The most expensive part of buying an inkjetcartridge is the actual cartridge. The ink is much cheaper and theore, buying illing your old cartridges rather than buying new ones, you are able to save money that can be used on other things. The only problem with illing cartridges is that there are so many different types that HP creates, so the plan of attack might vary. For the most part, though, it is the same across the board.

Refilling the Cartridge
Before you begin to ill the cartridge, make sure that the space you are working on is not a cherished space. Ink stains and theore, if you spill, it will ruin furniture. To prevent against this, lay out old rags. The rag will soak up the ink before it gets to the furniture.

Once you have your ink replacement and youve got the individual cartridges, you can get to work. The first step is to locate the hole in which the ink will be placed in. This is usually on the top or the bottom of the cartridge. Look for a plastic film because this is typically where the hole is.Refill an HP Inkjet Cartridge
Using a small, non-medical syringe, insert the ink into the cartridge. For black ink, it is best to use around 20 milliliters. For color, use about 10 milliliters for each chamber. Before going from color to color, be sure to clean out the syringe as much as possible to ensure that the colors dont mix and create an ugly color that isnt desired for printing.
Squeeze the sides of the cartridge and try to get a few drops of the ink to drop from the print head. This way, you know that the ink has reached the bottom of the cartridge. Then, allow it to stand with the print head down for a few moments. What you are doing here is getting rid of any excess ink and allowing the pressure to equalize within the cartridge. Once youve done this, put the cartridge back into the printer and do a test print. If the print looks good, youve done a successful ill.