Reviving printer cartridges

[golinux]

I don't use my printer very often and the ink has dried and is clogging the heads. Have any forum members tried one or more of these techniques? Or have other recommendations? Thanks!

[mardybear]

Don't like inkjet technology either or printers in general but it's what i presently have at home so keep it running. Best to print a 1/2 - 1 page of black and coloured text weekly to keep the cartridges and printheads working, trivial ink use compared to tossing a next-fo-full clogged cartridge.

Things that have worked for me:
* Stand up the cartridge in shallow hot water/ammonia mix overnight to soak the printhead, wipe clean and test.
* Isopropyl alcohol and a clean cotton cloth to clean the cartridge and head (minimize wiping delicate printhead if possible).
* Depending on cartrige size inject ~3-5 mL of 50% ammonia/distilled water mix into the actual cartridge, works very slowly to dissolve ink, sometimes see results weeks later, just print a page of black and coloured text weekly and see if it improves.

From personal experience:
* Avoid printhead cleaning software, wastes ink. never fixes anything, printing with a dried cartridge burns out the delicate printhead.
* Haven't had success water spraying or pressure washing cartridges, just makes a mess.
* To re-pressurize form a seal over the refill hole with a refill syringe (needle removed) and inject ~1-3 mL air, wouldn't use canned air.

[HuangLao]

+1 for Brother Black/White Laser, I use HL2270-DW, you can use the cups drivers or ppd from openprinting.org or download the driver from Brother.

consider that many inkjet printers now have "expiration" dates on the ink (especially HP) that stops the printer from working even if there is ink in cartridge because it "expired", this is reason enough alone to switch to laser/laserjet. Not aware of the toner doing this....yet.

[golinux]

+1 for Brother Black/White Laser, I use HL2270-DW, you can use the cups drivers or ppd from openprinting.org or download the driver from Brother.

Unfortunately, I sometimes need color. I only need to print something every few months. And a laserjet is out of my price range.

consider that many inkjet printers now have "expiration" dates on the ink (especially HP) that stops the printer from working even if there is ink in cartridge because it "expired", this is reason enough alone to switch to laser/laserjet. Not aware of the toner doing this....yet.

I replaced the cartridges not long ago. They are full. Ink just not coming out.

@mardybear . . . Appreciate the suggestions. I'll probably try soaking the cartridges (separately of course) when I am in the mood.

[NFT5]

I have another recommendation; get rid of the printer. I don't like inkjet printers

When it was going to cost more to replace the toner in my Color LaserJet than I paid for the printer new I replaced it with a black and white duplexing Brother laser that cost me about $150, I think.

Works great in Linux using cups drivers, won't dry out and per page cost with a laser printer is lower than an inkjet printer.

Agree. I had reached the point where I was just buying a new inkjet printer every time the ink ran out. Cheaper than buying new ink cartridges. I tried all the tricks to revive clogged lines and, blocked heads. Some worked, none very well and the problems recurred, consistently.

Then I woke up to colour lasers. I bought two Samsung CLX-3305 colour laser printers (one for home, one for work) and I now enjoy better quality printing, no ink drying out and much reduced cost. Toner can be refilled, rather than buying new cartridges and I have to do this probably only once or twice a year at about $60 for 5 bottles (2 x black, 1 of each other colour) of toner which provides around 3000 copies. Possibly the only downside is that the printers need a small modification to the firmware to cancel out the counting of copies, so that the same cartridges can be used over and over again. Only has to be done once and is easy.

Cost per page has gone down by around 60%, to around 2.5c.

Samsung support with Linux drivers which work well and there are other alternatives out there, too.

Other manufacturers have similar models which are available here in the $200-$250AUD price range. From $120AUD if you don't need fax and scanner (which also work great). Most have LAN, wi-fi and/or USB options. Just check Linux driver availability/support before buying. Be aware that at this price point you compromise on tray capacity, printer memory and speed but not really on print quality (up to 2400x600). The base model Samsungs have duty cycles of 20,000 copies/month which is ridiculously more than my needs.

Solved my problem.

[sgosnell]

The only reason I still have my Brother inkjet AIO is for use as a scanner. It kept using all the ink with daily automatic cleaning, and the ink is insanely expensive. I switched to a laser printer and have no regrets. An all-in-one would be a little more convenient, but a lot more expensive, and it's not that big a problem to turn on the Brother for the infrequent scanning job. I don't print very often, but the laser is always ready and doesn't use up the toner with head cleaning. Inkjets are nothing but a way for manufacturers to make huge profits from replacement ink cartridges, via the Gillette business model.