Good Inkjet Useage Tips to PREVENT problems

[pebe]

An input current is that taken by the printer from the mains electricity and used to power it.

An output current would be generated by the machine to power something external to it - but printers cannot generate power.

 

[jru]

Some other good practice questions:

* Need to remove cartridges to check ink levels? (I assume so)

* Does printhead alignment need to be done whenever cartridges are removed? (I assume so)

* Do you run Print head cleaning after refilling? (manual says this was automatically done when new cart is installed, and that
"print head cleaning causes used ink to be absorbed in the ink absorber.")


* When refilling one cartridge is it a good idea to "top off" others? (since need to align heads even if one is removed)

* How often do you recommend doing a nozzle check?


Thanks!

 

[fotofreek]

You can "eyeball" the ink levels with strong light while the carts are in the printer. If you can't see ink while the cart is in the printer you can then remove it to check. No problem removing them to check as they aren't out of the printer for more than 5-10 sec. each. No need to realign the printhead after removing and replacing carts. best to top off all carts at once. Better to have a spare set of carts and trade them all out when one needs to be replaced. You can then refill all of them in your spare time. I don't always run a cleaning cycle after replacing a cart. I do, however, blow gently into the air vent before installing a new cart to see if it will feed properly. When it stops dripping I blot it gently with towel paper on a flat surface (so the outlet port filter doesn't get blotted) and install it. If you feel more comfortable runing a cleaning cycle the refill ink you waste costs very little. If you ever run a cart dry, however, you need to run a cleaning cycle or two with nozzle checks in between.

 

[jru]

Fotofreek,

Thanks for your reply... very helpful.

 

[primusSPA]

erm the canon printer i thought they will start to drain ur cartridge when u unplug and plug in your power adapter but not turning the button "on" and "off"? i read it frm the manual of mp160 that they start draining ink when u plug and unplug the power adapter, so suggested me to turn off and on the button only.......dun tell me i see wrong?

 

[Tin Ho]

Some other good practice questions:

* Does printhead alignment need to be done whenever cartridges are removed? (I assume so)
* Do you run Print head cleaning after refilling? (manual says this was automatically done when new cart is installed, and that
"print head cleaning causes used ink to be absorbed in the ink absorber.")
* When refilling one cartridge is it a good idea to "top off" others? (since need to align heads even if one is removed)

Thanks!

I don't think it is necessary to align the print head only because a cartridge is removed and replaced. I almost never align my print head and it never gave me any problems.

Cleaning is indeed automatically done when a cartridge is refilled. The printer detects that the cartridge is removed and replaced and it will do a round of cleaning when you commands it to print next time. So it becomes obvious you will want to top up all other cartridges when one is refilled. If the printer has 6 cartridges you will have only one cleaning from refilling all 6 carts at once instead of 6 cleanings from refilling 6 times for 6 carts. This reduces waste of ink.

One additional good tip is checking for leaks from the refilled cartridge. A leaking cartridge can cause ink contamination to other cartridges. It will cause a huge waste of ink when contaminated. It's a good practice to watch for leaks.

 

[Frogroo]

Well I have ruined an epson printer by not using it enough and I can tell with my ip4000 that I should have used it more often.
This is why I'm reading all these threads and for the last two days having made a mess of my refilling!
I think printing something that uses all the colours once a week would be a good idea.
And this time around I relearned my lesson.
1) read as much as you can about refilling - nearly every articles on refilling I read seems to have something different. My refilling kit had putty to block the refilling hole when others mentioned screws!
2) Taping the bottom was a useless instruction to me as you need a very firm seal whilst you're filling.
3) my kit came with a tinny screw, it worked with the first cartridge but the second was pure hell with ink spurting 20cm high, the problem was that the filling hole was too tight around the needle and push the ink through the sponge!
4) the seal has to be very good after the filling and this won't happen if there is wet paper around the filling hole. (don't know with screw)
5) a large shallow plastic container, 2 water containers, one with a little water in it and the other with lot of clean water too to clean the needle - dink it in the low container first then suck some clean water to squeeze out in the now dirty container. I even use a pair of plastic glove, MUCH EASIER than cleaning your hand.... but if you have to - one forum told me to use a little bleach (1/20 worked for me)
a bucket of water rags and sponge will be useful as well.
Well that's about it beside my appologies to put all that here. ( I need also a kit on how to use forum properly)
But I'm a believer in using your printer at regular intervals, you may try different intervals but I'd be surprise if you make these intervals too far apart that you won't be sorry for doing so.