How To Keep Ink Cartridges From Drying Out When Opened
No doubt ink cartridges have a hefty price tag. Everyone wants to ensure that their bucks should not be dried out so quickly and also want to utilize the last drop of ink on the paper rather than drying up. To prevent drying out the ink inside the cartridges, some tips are really helpful that help you to keep ink cartridges from drying out.
However, there are various reasons behind the drying out of the ink so you should also analyze them and then to prevent those reasons, learn the proper method of how to keep ink cartridges from drying out.
How To Keep Ink Cartridges From Drying Out (Top 7 Tips)
1. Use The Printer Frequently
Using your printer frequently will prevent the printhead from clogging as printhead clogs are troubleshot due to the ink drying up in the nozzles due to infrequent use. Whether your printing job is not to tend to print daily but to maintain the performance of the printer, using your printer once a week will help you prevent the ink from drying up. Also, it can be easily realized that the printer ink starts drying up after 3 to 4 weeks.
Another suggestion is to print firstly on the purge sheets to check whether the ink is drying up or not. If the purge sheet has uneven lines then make sure to clean the printhead and align it properly.
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You don’t need to uninstall the printhead each time, but you can run the “Clean Printhead” via your computer and the printer utility software will perform its job. Cleaning the printhead will also keep the ink cartridges from drying out.
2. Utilize Before Their Expiry Date
Ink cartridges only perform exceptionally before they reach their shelf life which is almost 2 to 3 years depending upon the brand. After that, the ink will start drying up although you can still use them after the expiry date the chances are they will eventually get dried up and start messing up with the prints. You should check the expiry date of the cartridges and utilize them before their shelf life.
3. Do Not Refill Incorrectly
As we discussed earlier, ink cartridges can be refilled easily, but an inappropriate method will let the air get inside the cartridges which will lead to the ink drying up. Ink cartridges can be refilled with the help of syringes. You should use the syringes properly with no air inside them otherwise the air will start to produce clots.
4. Store Them Properly
Printer ink is a liquid form ink that can evaporate when exposed to direct sunlight or stored in heated places. According to HP, the ideal temperature for storing ink cartridges or printers is 15 and 35 degrees Celsius. Check the room temperature, if your room temperature is above 35C then you should store your printer in the below 35-celsius temperature place. Also, adjust the temperature of your office if you have a printer for the office.
5. Keep Them Sealed
Ink cartridges come sealed by the company whenever you use the printer just install them immediately into the printer. Because cartridges will start drying out outside of the printer. Also, before installing the cartridges, the storing position of the cartridges also plays an essential role in drying out.
You should always store the cartridges in the vertical position (cartridge nozzle upward) so that the ink should not move on the sides of the cartridges. Also, ensure that you’re storing the cartridges in an airtight bag with a clean dampened cloth inside the bag or tub.
6. Moisturizing & Cleaning
Moisturing the cartridges has the beauty of not wasting ink when the printer is not in use. As we mentioned above that you should print the documents even if you don’t require them for your printing jobs which eventually wastes the ink without any essential purpose. Here are the steps on how to keep moistened the ink cartridges.
7. Proper Turning Off
Haste makes waste, if you’re in hurry and pulled off the printer plug without proper power off then get ready for the printing ink to dry up because improper turning off won’t allow the printer cartridges to go in the capped position. Therefore, it is always suggested to turn off the printer by power button when the light on the LCD screen goes off completely and then pull off the plug.
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How To Keep An Opened Ink Cartridge From Drying Out
Whether you’re using Epson Or HP printer, they all can get the ink dried up once they are opened and won’t be used frequently. However, you can uninstall their cartridges and simply store them in an airtight tub as described in the 5th tip. You might check Best Printer Under $200,
Conclusion
So we got you covered in all the possible ways of keeping the ink cartridges from drying out. If still, your printer has got clogged up then you should fix and clean the clogged printer cartridges. But I hope your printer won’t get clogged after applying the above tips. These tips will help you to churn out the last drop of ink from the cartridges and prolong the ink cartridges significantly. What if you’ve applied all these points and still the ink has dried up in the cartridges? If yes, then read how to fix the dry ink cartridges.
