User’s Guide
Maintaining Your Product and Software
E When the product turns on, release both the buttons. The product prints the nozzle check pattern. Below are two sample nozzle check patterns.
Compare the quality of the printed check page with the sample shown below. If there are no print quality problems, such as gaps or missing segments in the test lines, the print head is fine.
If any segment of the printed lines is missing, as shown below, this could mean a clogged ink nozzle or a misaligned print head.
&“Cleaning the Print Head” on page 99
&“Aligning the Print Head” on page 101
Cleaning the Print Head
If you find that the printout is unexpectedly faint or that dots are missing, you may be able to solve these problems by cleaning the print head, which ensures that the nozzles are delivering ink properly.
You can clean the print head from your computer using the Head Cleaning utility in the printer driver or from the product by using the buttons.
cImportant:
Do not open the scanner unit or turn off the product during head cleaning. If the head cleaning is incomplete, you may not be able to print.
Note:
❏Because print head cleaning uses some ink from all cartridges, clean the print head only if quality declines; for example, if the printout is blurry or the color is incorrect or missing.
❏Use the Nozzle Check utility first to confirm that the print head needs to be cleaned. This saves ink.
❏When ink is low you may not be able to clean the print head. When ink is expended you cannot clean the print head. Replace the appropriate ink cartridge first.
❏If print quality has not improved after repeating this procedure about four times, turn the product off and wait for at least six hours. Then run the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary. If print quality has still not improved, contact Epson support.
❏To maintain print quality, we recommend printing a few pages on a regular basis.
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