Dried up Ink Cartridge? These Tips can help!

Your printer is only a few month old, but the print quality is deteriorating page by page? Then the ink cartridge may have dried up. When the printer has not been used for a longer period of time, the ink cartridge can dry up. If the print cartridge has dried up, you will find various tips that can quickly solve the problem in this text.

© Epson

How to prevent the Ink Cartridge from drying up

The printer should be used regularly to prevent ink cartridges from drying up in the first place. When you don't need to use the inkjet printer for a longer period of time, you should print a few test pages at least every two to three weeks. When the printer remains in operation the printer cartridges are guaranteed not to dry up. On the other hand, each test print uses ink and creates printing costs. If a longer vacation or a stay abroad is planned, the printer cartridge can be removed from the printer, wrapped in cling foil and then be stored in a refrigerator. This effectively prevents the print cartridge from drying up.

Automatic Print Head Cleaning

When the print cartridge has dried up, one option to solve the problem is to activate automatic print head cleaning.

Automatic Print Head Cleaning

• Open "printer settings" on your computer or laptop and search for the "clean print head" option. The description of this option may vary depending on the printer model.


• Start automatic cleaning of the print head by clicking on the option.


• Note: This process accelerates the flow of ink.


• The benefit is an automatic, uncomplicated and quick cleaning process. On the other hand, this process uses a lot of ink and it can happen that the cartridges are empty afterwards.

Manual Cleaning when the Ink Cartridge is dry

When automatic cleaning does not lead to the desired result, there is the option of manual cleaning. The first otion would be to clean the print head with a cloth or cotton swab. Both should be only slightly damp. The ink cartridge is removed from the printer and cleaned very carefully.

The lower part of the cartridges and the nozzles have to be cleaned. Dried up areas must be wiped until the ink crusts come off. Cleaning agents should be avoided and the water used should be lukewarm. Afterwards the cartridges can be reinstalled in the printer and a test page should be printed to check the result of cleaning. The advantage of this method is that no ink is used. But it could be that the ink has already dried up too much and all effort has been in vain.

Cleaning Alcohol for Electronics

© Epson

When the printed test pages still look faulty, cleaning with alcohol can be a more effective measure. You can buy cleaning alcohol in pharmacies or cleaning alcohole for electronics at certain shops and online. The cleaning alcohol should be generously applied to a kitchen towel. The soaked cloth is then placed in a bowl. The printer cartridges are removed from the printer and placed overnight with the dried up nozzle facing down onto the soaked cloth. The next day you should perform an automatic print head cleaning as described above. The last step is to print a test page so that you can get an idea of the cleaning result.

Soaking in warm Water can also help

A dried up printer cartridge can also be cleaned manually using a warm water bath. There are two variants of this method.

Option A

1. Put the cartridge in a waterproof bag e.g. a cling bag.
2. Fill a bowl with approx. 60 degrees Celsius warm water.
3. Place the cartridge, which is sealed in the bag, into the warm water.
4. After about five minutes, the bag with the cartridge should be removed from the water. Test if this method was successful by printing a test page.

Option B

1. Place the printer cartridge in a bowl with water at around 60 degrees Celsius for approx. 30 seconds.
2. Make sure that the nozzles are covered with water.
3. Once the incrustations have loosened, the cartridge is carefully dried with a clean cloth.
4. Test if this method was successful by printing a test page.

When all else fails

If none of the above tips get the printer cartridge back to printing in a good quality, disposal is the last option. It is best to make sure in advance that the printer cartridge does not dry out. As already mentioned, a test page should be printed regularly. If you are away from home or your office and the printer is not used by anybody else for a long period of time, you should remove the ink cartridges from the printer, wrap them in cling foil and store them in the refrigerator until they are used again.

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• Printing Costs - All facts at a glance
• Your printer isn't printing? Here is how to fix it.

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