Troubleshooting common inkjet printer problems

Inkjet printers aren’t nearly as complex as laser printers; therefore, there’s less that can go wrong with them. On the flip side. The vast majority of problems with inkjet printers involve either communications problems or problems with print quality. Here are a few solutions to the most common inkjet printer problems.

A word to the wise

Before I get started, I’d like to point out that this article is intended only to assist with basic printer repair and maintenance. If you’re unsure of your ability to perform any sort of printer repair, or if performing such repairs will void the printer's warranty, you should contact a qualified service professional or the manufacturer.

Print quality and the print head

By far the most common problem with inkjet printers is poor print quality. Usually, these problems manifest themselves in the form of horizontal white lines running through each line of print. These white lines are caused by clogged nozzles that aren’t dispensing ink. Some printer manufacturers are trying to solve this problem by incorporating the print head into the ink cartridge. By doing so, each time you get a new ink cartridge, you also get a new print head.

Replacing the print head along with the ink cartridge may sound like a good solution at first, but what happens if you are using a printer that doesn’t have a disposable print head, or if your ink cartridges aren’t ready to change yet?

Cleaning the print head

In such cases, you can sometimes fix the problem by using a cotton swab to rub alcohol on the surface of the print head. Alcohol is a solvent and will usually help to dissolve any ink buildup that might be clogging the print head. After cleaning the print head with alcohol, I usually use a paper towel to gently wipe any excess ink off of the print head. When you’re done manually cleaning the print head, turn the printer on and run the printer’s built-in cleaning process. The method for initiating the cleaning mode varies widely between printer models, so you’ll have to check your manufacturer’s recommendations to see how to initiate the cleaning mode on your particular printer.

Check the print head ribbon

Occasionally, you may run into a situation in which cleaning a print head doesn’t fix the problem. There are a few other things that can cause the white lines besides just a dirty print head. One other possibility is that some of the printing instructions may not be making it to the print head. Although I’ve never seen this occur on a newer printer, it’s not at all uncommon for the print head ribbon to work its way partially loose on some older printers. If you’re trying to fix an older inkjet printer, make sure that the print head ribbon is secured firmly to the print head. You can see the print head ribbon in Figure A. The ribbon is the wide gray cable connecting the print head to the printer’s system board.

Figure A

On some older printers, the print head ribbon has a tendency to come loose.

Paper dust

Another thing that can cause the white lines that I described earlier is paper dust interfering with an electrical connection. You may have noticed that a print cartridge contains potentially dozens of electrical contact points, as shown in Figure B. When a printer is very heavily used, paper dust can sometimes work its way in-between the print cartridge and the cartridge housing. This dust can interfere with the printer’s ability to send instructions to the print cartridge. To remove the dust, unplug the printer and clean the print head’s electrical contacts with alcohol. Make sure that the alcohol has dried completely before reinserting the ink cartridge or plugging the printer back in.Paper dust

Another thing that can cause the white lines that I described earlier is paper dust interfering with an electrical connection. You may have noticed that a print cartridge contains potentially dozens of electrical contact points, as shown in Figure B. When a printer is very heavily used, paper dust can sometimes work its way in-between the print cartridge and the cartridge housing. This dust can interfere with the printer’s ability to send instructions to the print cartridge. To remove the dust, unplug the printer and clean the print head’s electrical contacts with alcohol. Make sure that the alcohol has dried completely before reinserting the ink cartridge or plugging the printer back in.

Figure B

You can sometimes fix a printing problem by cleaning the print head’s electrical contacts.

If all of these techniques fail to fix the problem, then there’s a good chance that a mechanism inside of the print head has gone bad, and the print head will need to be replaced.

A failure to communicate

The other major cause of inkjet printer malfunctions is communications failures. Inkjet printers are susceptible to the same sort of communications problems as any other printer. Therefore, if your printer is printing gibberish, or nothing at all, turn off the printer and the PC to which it is connected. Verify that all cables are tight and that the printer is getting power. Turn the printer back on and then the PC. Most of the time, this will fix any sort of communications problems that might be present.

General printer troubleshooting

Printer does not have power indicator

First, make sure that the printer is on. When a printer is on it should have some light (usually green) indicating it's receiving power and is on.

If you do not have any indicator light make sure the printer is connected to a working power outlet by verifying each end of the power cable. Next, press the printer power button.

If after following the above steps your printer still cannot get a power status indicator it's likely you're encountering a serious printer issue and we suggest contacting the printer manufacturer for additional steps and instructions on repair or replacement.

Cables not connected properly

Your printer should have two cables connected to it. The power cable and the data cable, the power cable should have already been verified as being connected if your printer has a power indicator light as mentioned above. Make sure the data cable (parallel cable or USB cable) is also connected from the printer to the computer.

Printer error (orange or blinking light)

After your printer has completed its initial startup you should have a solid green light. If the light indicator is blinking or orange often this is an indication of a printer error. For example, this could indicate a paper jam, issue with the ink or toner cartridge, or other serious error.

Because there is no standard to what a blinking light or orange light means if you're getting either of these we suggest referring to the printer documentation for troubleshooting steps or methods of determining what the status indicator is reporting.

No paper or paper jam

Without paper your printer will not be able to print. Make sure you have paper in the paper loaded into the printer paper cartridge or tray. Next, verify that no printer paper is jammed or partially fed into the printer. If you have one or more pieces of paper stuck in the printer these will need to be manually removed before the printer will print again.

Inkjet printer ink related issues

Often when you're encountering an ink related issue you're printer status indicator light (mentioned above) should be flashing. If this is not occurring you may want to skip to the next section. However, if you've recently inserted a new ink cartridge you may want to try the below suggestions.

Replacing ink cartridges and printer not working.

Printer self tests

Most printers have a way of printing a test page. This page allows you to determine if the printer is physically working or not. This test is usually accomplished by holding down a series of keys. If you are not sure if your printer has this feature or how to perform it refer to your manual or visit your printer manufacturers web site.

In addition to testing the printer using the printer self-test Microsoft Windows users can also perform a software self-test to determine if their computer is able to see the printer and it's able to print. Follow the below steps to perform this test.

Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, and Vista users

Click Start, Settings, and open Control Panel.
Double-click the Printers or Printers and Fax icon.
Right-click on the Printer you wish to test and click Properties. If you do not see your printer listed your printer is not installed.
In the Printers Properties window click the Print Test Page button.
If the printer is able to print a test page, you're printer is installed and setup properly. However, if you're unable to print in other programs it's possible that the program you're attempting to print from has issues.

Older versions of Windows with older printers

If you are running an older printer and MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT, you can also attempt the below software test.

Get to a MS-DOS prompt or Windows command line

Get to the root directory - Type: cd\

Reroute dir to printer - Type: dir > lpt1

The above should take the directory listing and print to the printer. If this does not print, refer to your operating system troubleshooting section. Extra Note: This will not paper feed, therefore press your FF or PP, or manually eject the paper.

Printer drivers

If your printer does not have any flashing lights and is connected properly it's possible you may be encountering a driver related issue. We suggest visiting our printer driver listing, which links to all major printer manufacturer driver pages and downloading the latest printer drivers for your printer.

Parallel (LPT) printers

If the printer you're connecting to the computer is an LPT (parallel port) printer we also suggest verifying the below suggestions if your printer is not working.

Parallel port in CMOS

Enter the computers CMOS setup.
Once in CMOS verify that your parallel port is enabled or installed.
Next, verify the printer or parallel port mode. This option will often have several different modes. If your parallel port is set to ECP mode, we suggest trying a different mode.

Other parallel device

If you have a parallel printer with other parallel devices such as a parallel scanner or zip drive, temporarily disconnect these devices to verify they are not causing your issue.

Setting up or installing a printer in Microsoft Windows

There are two different methods a user can install a printer in Microsoft Windows. Below is additional information about each of these methods listed in the order we believe a user should try installing their printer in Microsoft Windows.

Before being able to install your printer you must have the software that was included with the printer. If you've lost the software for your printer you can download the drivers for your printer and use the drivers to install your printer. A listing of printer manufacturers and links to their associated drivers pages can be found on our printer drivers page.

Setup a printer using printer software

Every printer should come with the software used to install a printer in Windows. Although not all installations are the same the steps for installing this software should be similar to the below steps.

Connect the printer to the computer and a power outlet and make sure it's on.
Insert the CD that was included with the printer. If the CD does not automatically start the install program open My Computer, double-click on the CD drive, and then the Setup or Install file.
Follow the installation wizard and your printer and its associated software should be installed successfully.

Installing a printer only using the drivers

In addition to the above steps a users can install a printer in Windows only using the printer drivers. This is recommended if you only want the printer to be installed but not the additional printer software programs that are often included with the installation and you've download drivers.

A listing of printer drivers and software downloads can be found through our printer drivers page.

Note: if you've installed the printer doing the above steps these steps should not be necessary unless you encountered errors.

Connect the printer to the computer and a power outlet and make sure it's on.
Click Start, Settings, and Control Panel.
In the control panel double-click the Printers or Printers and Fax icon.
In the Printers window click the Add a printer icon.
After completing the above steps the Windows Printer Wizard will appear. Click Next, to start the wizard.
Windows will prompt you if you're installing a Local or Network printer. If the printer is connected to your computer choose Local printer attached to this computer and click Next.
When prompted for the location of the drivers for the printer. Browse the computer to the directory of your drivers or point it to the CD that was included with your printer.

Testing the printer

After the printer has been installed in Windows you can use Windows to print a self-test page to make sure the printer is working by following the below steps.

Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, and Vista users

Click Start, Settings, and open Control Panel.
Double-click the Printers or Printers and Fax icon.
Right-click on the Printer you wish to test and click Properties. If you do not see your printer listed your printer is not installed.
In the Printers Properties window click the Print Test Page button.
If the printer is able to print a test page, you're printer is installed and setup properly. However, if you're unable to print in other programs it's possible that the program you're attempting to print from has issues.

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Troubleshooting printer problems