How To Clean Your Printer's Printheads
How To Clean Your Printer's Printheads.
When printheads get clogged, image quality suffers. But cleaning printheads
is a quick and simple process. Here's a step-by-step tutorial on cleaning
printheads. While this was done on a Canon Pixma MP530, most printers will work in much the same way.
1.
Cleaning a printer's printheads is an easy process.
Here's how it works (in Windows). Click the Start button (or in Vista
the Windows icon) at the lower left corner of your screen.
2.
Click on Control Panel. Next, choose Printers and Other
Hardware, and then View Installed Printers or Fax Printers.
3.
When the Printer page opens, right click on your
printer’s name, and choose Printing Preferences.
4. For
the Pixma MP530, the Printing Preferences has five tabs across the top; choose
Maintenance. Again, most printers should have a very similar set of options.
5. The
first button is for cleaning the printheads. You’ll have to choose which
printheads you want to clean (the Pixma inkjet has five cartridges). The best
bet is to choose All Colors.
6.
Make sure the printer is turned on and that there’s some
paper loaded, then click on Execute.
7.
The printer will print out a pattern with a grid along
the top and six bars of different colors. Two images will display on your
monitor that you can compare to the printed image. In one, the grid and colors
are sharp and clear; in the other, some of the grid boxes are missing and the
colors are striped.
8.
If the printout matches the sharp, clear image, simply
click Exit and you’re done.
9.
If the printout has missing grid boxes or stripes, then
click Cleaning. Once that’s done, you’ll repeat the whole process so you can
ensure the cleaning was completely successful. It may take two cleanings if
your printheads are really clogged.
10. If, after two cleanings, you’re still getting a poor result, there’s a Deep
Cleaning option on the Maintenance tab that should do the job.
What You Need
· Your printer connected to your computer.
Your
printer turned on.
· Paper loaded in the
printer.