How To Fix Dry Ink Cartridge In Two Ways

So your printer is suffering to print smooth images and having banding issues and uneven lines or you haven’t used your printer for a long time which has caused the ink to dry up in the cartridges. However, there are several ways that keep ink cartridges from drying out. But still, if the ink has dried up in the cartridges then you should know the proper ways how to fix dry ink cartridges within a few seconds.

How To Fix Dry Ink Cartridge In Two Ways

How To Fix Dry Ink Cartridge

Well, I’ve discussed the two possible ways to clean the clogged cartridges. One is letting the printer clean and run the cleaning cycle and the second is manually removing the cartridges from the printer. But keep in mind second manual method is only applicable to the cartridges that have built-in printheads. You can check this if your printer is skipping lines during printing.

1. Running The Printhead Cleaning

This method can be applied via your computer using the maintenance of the printer in the printer software or you can also perform the tasks via the LCD display of the printer if your printer is equipped with that.

On the other hand, low-end printers would have various buttons including a stop button that allows performing the cleaning task by simply holding it for 5 seconds. But make sure the printer should be turned on. Here are the simple steps to follow for Windows or Mac users.

  • Ensure that the printer should be turned on and the ink light on the printer should be off.
  • Ensure that you’ve loaded the letter-size papers in the printer in order to check the purge sheet.
  • Access the computer > go to the printer software > click on the printer’s maintenance > you’ll find the auto nozzle check and cleaning click on it.
  • When you follow the instructions on the screen, the printer will start blinking the power light while performing the cycle. Once completed, print the purge sheet and also ensure the printhead alignment.
  • The purge sheets would be printed without any lines and spaces. Also, ensure the printhead is cleaned completely or it needs again cleaning 2 to 3 times. If the paper has still some uneven lines then clean the printhead again.
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2. Manually Cleaning By Soaking The Cartridges In Warm Water

While this method involves lukewarm water to clean the dried-up ink from the ink cartridges.

Step By Step Guide

1- Take a clean paper towel, dampen it, and place it onto a clean surface.

2- Now take the clogged cartridge and place the cartridge nozzle facing down towards the dampened paper towel.

3- Simply tap the 5 to 6 times the cartridge.

tap the cartridge
tap the cartridge

4- Rub the cartridge nozzle on the paper towel while tapping the cartridge and check the ink lines until the ink color is clear without any lines and spaces.

Rub the cartridge nozzle
Rub the cartridge nozzle

5- Once you get the clear ink onto the paper towel then you’re good to go for inserting the cartridges again.

get the clear ink
get the clear ink

Besides this method, there is also another method that can be utilized if your cartridges are still clogged.


Here are the supplies you’ll need

  1. A bowl of lukewarm distilled water
  2. Unscented alcohol-based hand sanitizer
  3. Paper towel or a lint-free cloth

Step 1: Removing cartridges

First of all, you need to remove the cartridges from your printer by raising the lid of the printer where the cartridges are located.

Step 2: Applying the sanitizer

Now carefully apply the hand sanitizer onto the nozzle of the cartridges and rub the nozzle for a few seconds and wait until the dried ink gets wet. After a few seconds, take a clean cloth or paper towel and clean the sanitizer from the nozzle.

Note: If you don’t have the unscented sanitizer then simply don’t use any other, here is another way. Simply start by soaking the cartridges in the bowl of water.

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Step 3: Soaking the cartridges

Now put the cartridges inside the water bowl but make sure only put the nozzle side and printhead underwater, not the whole cartridge. Put the cartridge underwater for at least 10 seconds.

put the cartridges inside the water bowl
put the cartridges inside the water bowl

Step 4: Checking the cartridges

After 10 seconds, take the cartridges out of the water bowl and rub the cartridge nozzle on a clean paper towel in order to eliminate the clogging. Rub the cartridges 4 to 5 times until you get the desired lines without having any space or line as shown in the image.

Rub the cartridges
Rub the cartridges

After cleaning the cartridges, if you get the desired results then it’s time to insert the cartridges into the printer. But make sure to clean the cartridges with a clean paper towel to eliminate the water when taking out of them out from the bowl and then inserting them.

get the desired results
get the desired results

Conclusion

There are various methods to fix the dry ink cartridges. However, we’ve shared the prominent and result-oriented methods with you. We hope that these methods will help you to solve the dry ink issue with your cartridges. If none of them works then the final solution will be replacing dried cartridges will new ones. That is why it is crucial for you to know how to prevent ink cartridges from drying out. Read also how to get printer ink off hands.

Author

  • Ryan

    Hi, this is Ryan 27 years old. An experienced enthusiast in printing and crafting. My crafting journey started in my childhood when I and my sister Jessica used to go to school and learned crafting there. Since then, we were passionate about printing and crafting therefore, we are now here to serve our experience. We test each and everything on our own and provide authentic information. If you're concerned about any of the information on our site, you can contact us or research on your own.

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