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How To Clean Clogged Print Heads

Published by Harmony Lab & Safety Supplies on Jan 09, 2024

If the printer head nozzles are blocked or dried out, you will need to dissolve the dried ink.

If the cleaning cycle doesn’t do the trick in clearing up poor and incomplete output, don’t give up and assume you’ll need to buy a new printer head (which can cost more than an unknown printer).

How To Manually Clean Print Heads

Manual Cleaning Print Heads

  1. Check your printer’s owner manual for the location of your print head. Refer to the directions below if the head is in the printer and not part of the individual ink cartridges.
  2. Remove the ink cartridges and dab hot water or isopropyl alcohol onto a cotton swab. Or use our self-saturating alcohol foam swab.
  3. Rub the swab against the print head to loosen the dried ink. You can also use a dropper to drip 7 to 10 drops of the isopropyl alcohol into the ink receptacle if your print head is deep in the printer.
  4. Use a non-abrasive dry foam swab to clean and dry the area.
  5. Run the printer’s own cleaning program 2 times and then let the printer sit overnight. Repeat the self-cleaning utility the next day.

NOTE: You may want to wear latex gloves to help keep ink off your hands. Remember to regularly run printer cleaning cycles and cover the printer when not used to keep it free from debris.

Preventive Maintenance

Regular preventive maintenance on your printer will prevent it from developing clogged printer heads. The most common reason printer heads get clogged is that the ink cartridge and the printer head have dried out.

Never let the printer stand with an empty cartridge. Either fit a fresh one or seal the print head unit in a plastic bag with a few drops of water for humidity. Print heads become clogged when not used for long periods so regularly print a page or two to keep the print heads clear.

  1. Regularly run printer cleaning cycles.
  2. Cover the printer when not in use to keep
  3. Keep the Environment free of dust, debris, particles

How to Clean Critical Environment Printers

Large-format digital printers (LFDPs) are the best tech partners that you can have when it comes to the high-quality printing business. They offer the best print outputs in their most vivid and transparent state, in large and efficient formats. Lint-free wipes are your secret weapon to keeping your printers at top performance.

Since large-format digital printers benefit your business with profit and reputation, you need to know how to work around large-format digital printers, let alone care for them!

Wrong cleaning equipment causes problems.

Did you know that one wrong move could jeopardize your entire printing business? Critical environments must remain vigilant, even if printing is not your primary business. Unknowingly, you could be using the wrong cleaning equipment, which could lead to numerous printing problems, such as using industrial cleaning rags for cleaning inkjet heads. Here’s why:

Large-format digital printers are known to have delicate inkjet heads. Clean inkjet heads produce superb-quality prints; however, maintaining these inkjet heads means cleaning them, too. Once you use industrial cleaning rags, they will shed fibers which would interfere with the inkjet heads’ performance, thus putting the output’s quality on the line.

All for a piece of cheap rag, it can cost you your business’ efficiency and profit. You can clean printers with lint-free wipes for maximum effectiveness.

Lint Free Wipes Prevent Printer Mishaps

Don’t worry. You can avoid these printing mishaps. All you have to do is invest in cleaning tools and materials worth spending money on, such as lint-free wipes.

Prevention is better than cure since you wouldn’t want your printer inkjet to be factory serviced. That would cost more than a few pieces of lint free disposable wipes. Be sure to have them around your shop before it’s too late!

There are dozens of Lint-free Wipes to choose from in the market. Variety of them offer good cleaning quality. However, be smart enough to opt for the ones which have genuine and superb features. Here’s what you need to consider when opting for good Lint-Free Wipes:

  • Lint-free, i.e., lint free cleanroom wipes, can easily remove particulates without shedding their own fibers.
  • Wipes should be non-abrasive so as not to scratch or damage sensitive surfaces.
  • Wipes should be made from quality materials, e.g., cleanroom polyester wipes and 30% Nylon with sealed edges.

Just as your critical Environment uses cleanroom swabs, low-lint wipes must be considered. Having suitable lint-free wipes around for your printer’s preventive maintenance is one way to guarantee the prolongation of your printer’s shelf life. As a result, you’ll enjoy the profit of your printing business as you continue to produce printing outputs for your clientele with the best possible resolution – all thanks to lint-free wipes.