46 Ioline FlexJet E User Guide

Hint

Use Best Mode when testing print quality as the higher resolution (600 dpi) setting exercises more nozzles and pushes more ink out of the cartridge.

iNote

Use only fiberless cloth as fibers will block the nozzles of the print cartridge.

The cloth must be moistened with deionized water so it does not scratch the print cartridge. Scratches can blur line quality.

Cartridge Maintenance and Handling

A key to maintaining good print quality is proper print cartridgemaintenance. During printing, ink-spray, paper fibers and dust can

build up on the print cartridge and eventually will degrade plot quality. In addition, when print cartridges sit inactive for a period of time, ink may dry in the nozzles and create an ink plug. This results in the appearance of white streaks in the printed text or graphic.

Check Cartridges

If you experience print quality problems, first verify that the ink cartridge is undamaged and is not out of ink:

1.Press the Start/Stop key.

2.If the carriage is parked in the Service Station, use the Left Ar- row key to move it out over the platen.

3.Open a blue stall latch and remove the cartridge.

4.Inspect the cartridge for damage and check the ink level indica- tor. If it is green, the cartridge still contains ink. If it is black, the cartridge is empty and needs replacing. (See Figure 36.)

6.If the cartridge is undamaged and still contains ink, move on to the Automatic Cleaning Procedure.

Automatic Cleaning Procedure1.Press the Start/Stop key and wait until the OK light turns red.

2.Press the Clean key; The carriage will park in the Service Sta- tion and automatically clean the print heads.

3.When the cleaning process finishes, test the print quality again in Best Mode (activated with the Quality key.) Press the Start/ Stop key. The OK light will turn green. If the printer was active when you initiated Step 1, it will resume printing. If it was idle, send a marker to the print queue.

4.If print quality remains poor, the paper fiber build-up may be such that auto cleaning alone is insufficient for removing ink plugs from the nozzles. You may need to manually clean the print head.