Checking and Cleaning the Print Head

If your printouts are unexpectedly light, colors are missing, or you see light or dark lines across the page, you may need to clean the print head. This clears the print head nozzles, which can become clogged if you do not use the product for a long time.

Tip:

We recommend that you turn on the product at least once a month to maintain good print quality.

Checking the print head

You can print a nozzle check pattern to see if any print head nozzles are clogged, or to check the results after cleaning the print head.

1.Turn off the product.

2.Load A4-size plain paper (& page 8).

3.While holding down the B ink button, press and hold down the P On button for about three seconds.

The product turns on and prints a test pattern. It also shows the percentage of ink left in each cartridge:

4.Examine the nozzle check pattern you printed. Each staggered line should be solid, with no gaps, as shown.

■If your printout looks okay, the print head does not need to be cleaned yet.

■If you see any gaps, as shown below, clean the print head as described in the next section.

Cleaning the print head

Follow these steps to clean the print head so it can deliver ink properly. Before cleaning the print head, run a nozzle check to see if the print head needs cleaning (& “Checking the print head” on page 20).

Note:

❏Print head cleaning uses ink, so clean it only if quality declines.

❏If the B ink light comes on or flashes, you cannot clean the print head. You must first replace the appropriate ink cartridge

(& “Replacing Ink Cartridges” on page 17).

1.Make sure the product is on and the B ink light is off.

2.Hold down the B ink button for three seconds until the On light starts flashing. A head cleaning cycle begins and the On light stays flashing.

cCaution:

Never turn off the product while head cleaning is in progress. You may damage it.

3.When the On light stops flashing, print a nozzle check pattern to check the results (& “Checking the print head” on page 20).

If there are still gaps or the test patterns are faint, run another cleaning cycle and check the nozzles again.

Note:

If you do not see any improvement after cleaning three or four times, turn off the product and wait overnight. This lets any dried ink soften. Then try cleaning the print head again. If quality still does not improve, one of the ink cartridges may be old or damaged and needs to be replaced (& “Replacing Ink Cartridges” on page 17).

Aligning the Print Head

If you notice that vertical lines are not aligned properly on the nozzle check printout, you may be able to solve this problem by aligning the print head.

You can align the print head by pressing the buttons, or you can run the Print Head Alignment utility from your computer. For the most accurate alignment, the utility is recommended.

Follow these steps to align the print head using the buttons:

1.Make sure the product is turned off.

2.Load A4-size plain paper (& page 8).

3.While holding down the k [Copies] button, press and hold down the P On button for about three seconds.

Four rows of alignment patterns are printed.

4.Look at pattern #1 and find the patch that is most evenly printed, with no noticeable streaks or lines.

5.Press the k [Copies] button until the number for that patch appears in the k [Copies] window.

6.Press the x Start D [B&W] button.

7.Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each of the other alignment patterns.

20Maintenance