EPSON Stylus COLOR 640
Cleaning the Print Head
If your printed image is unexpectedly light or faint, or dots are missing from the image, you may need to clean the print head. This unclogs the nozzles so they can deliver ink properly.
Caution:
Don’t use the cleaning sheets that may be included with your special media; they may damage the printer.
Cleaning the print head uses ink, so clean it only if print quality declines. You can use either of the following to clean the print head:
❏The Head Cleaning utility in your printer software (if the printer is on a local port rather than a network)
❏The printer’s control panel buttons.
Using the Head Cleaning Utility
Follow these steps to run the utility:
1.Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing, and that the B black and A color ink out lights are off. If either ink out light is on, you must replace the ink cartridge before cleaning the print head.
2.Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0:
Click Start, point to Settings, and then select Printers.
Right-click the EPSON Stylus COLOR 640 icon in the
Printers window.
Select Properties (Document Defaults in Windows NT).
Windows 3.1:
Select EPSON Stylus COLOR 640 from the list of installed printers and click Setup.
3.Click the Utility tab. You see the Utility menu.
4.Click the Head Cleaning button.
5.Follow the instructions on the screen to clean the print head. Cleaning takes about one minute, during which the printer makes some noise and the P power light flashes.
When the cleaning cycle is finished (the P power light stops flashing), you need to run a nozzle check to confirm that the print head nozzles are clean and to reset the printer’s cleaning cycle.
Caution:
Never turn off the printer while the P power light is flashing, unless the printer hasn’t moved or made any noise for more than 5 minutes.
6.Make sure paper is loaded in the printer and click Print nozzle check pattern. Then click Next. See “Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern” for instructions on examining the nozzle check pattern.
7.If the pattern looks okay, click Finish to close the Nozzle Check dialog box. If the pattern is missing dots, click Clean to clean the print head again.
If your print quality has not improved, repeat the steps above.
Using the Printer Control Panel
Follow these steps to clean the print head:
1.Make sure the printer is turned on and not printing, and that the B black and A color ink out lights are off. If either ink out light is on, you must replace the ink cartridge before cleaning the print head.
Caution:
Never turn off the printer while the P power light is flashing, unless the printer hasn’t moved or made any noise for more than 5 minutes.
2.Press the R cleaning button and hold it down for three seconds. Cleaning takes about one minute, during which the printer makes some noise and the P power light flashes.
After the cleaning cycle is complete and the P power light stops flashing, you need to confirm that the print head nozzles are clean and reset the printer’s cleaning cycle. You can do this by printing a page or running a nozzle check (see “Using the Head Cleaning Utility”).
3.If your print quality has not improved, run another cleaning cycle.
Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern
Examine the nozzle check pattern after printing it. It should look something like this:
Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical line should be complete, with no gaps in the dot pattern (the upper pattern is black and the lower pattern is cyan, magenta, and yellow). If your printout looks okay, you’re done. If any dots are missing, as shown below, clean the print head again, as explained in the previous sections.
missing dots
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