Refilling Cartridge Blog

The Right Way of Doing Head Cleaning

If your printer is Epson, stay tune.

Have you experienced that your print result has straight line in between of your text/image/photo? If yes then your printer’s head is clogged. One way to solve this problem is to do head cleaning. However there is an interesting trick that you have to follow in order to get the best result. This trick is not documented in printer manual. It’s based on my experience. The idea is to run head cleaning maximum 3 times consecutively and stop if it does not improve.

Read this guide first before you take any action to your printer.

1. Perform “Nozzle Check” from printer’s software maintenance menu. See whether you get perfect nozzle pattern.
   Perfect nozzle means you can see all the color without missing lines in the nozzle check result.
2. Perform “Head Cleaning” if you get missing lines in step 1. When the printer is done, it will show a window whether you want to print nozzle check pattern again or to stop. (Do not stop in this step)
3. Print “Nozzle Check” again and check whether you get perfect nozzle. If you get a perfect nozzle pattern then you stop this process. Leave it for 5-10 minutes to let the printer settle down. If not, continue to step 4.
4. Perform “Head Cleaning” again (second time). When it has done continue to step 5. Remember, do not stop in this step.
5. Print “Nozzle Check” again and check whether you get perfect nozzle. If you get a perfect nozzle pattern then you can stop this process. If not continue to step 6.
6. Perform “Head Cleaning” again (third time). When it has done continue to step 7. Do not stop in this step.
7. Print “Nozzle Check” again and check whether you get perfect nozzle. Read carefully, you have to stop at this step regardless the result of nozzle pattern.

If you get perfect nozzle pattern then leave it settle down for 5-10 minutes. You can print your document/image afterwards.

If you are not getting the perfect nozzle then stop here, leave it overnight. Turn off your printer. Let the printer settle down. Try to perform “Nozzle Check” again tomorrow and repeat the 7 steps described above.

Frequently Questions and Answers (FAQ)

Why do you limit head cleaning process to maximum 3 times?

If you perform head cleaning consecutively as describe above, the printer will use more and more ink to flush the dried ink inside your clogged print-head. Subsequently, the printer will use little ink to flush the dried ink and unlikely will solve the problem. Leave it overnight is the best method to solve the problem.

Why does the printer need an overnight to solve the problem?

When you perform head cleaning, the ink inside the cartridge move very fast and create air bubbles inside the cartridge. These air bubbles takes time to settle. Leave it overnight is the best method to solve the problem. Performing head cleaning again and again after 3 times will never solve the problem and you waste a lot of ink.

What happen if I get the same problem again tomorrow?

Too bad, your print-head is clogged badly. You can repeat the 7 steps above again. I suggest you buy the new cartridge to save your time. If you are using compatible cartridge, try another brand.

Any more question? Just post a comment and don’t forget to choose to receive notification when I post the answer.

Reset ink level for HP C6657A (HP57)

Last month’s post, I have shown to you on how to reset ink level for HP 56 and HP 58. Today, I will show you on how to reset ink level for HP C6657A or HP 57.

Note: These procedure may not work for some printers. The printer simply refuse to print alignment page when you cover the contact with tape.

Put tape over Contact #1 as shown in the first picture above.
Put the cartridge back into the printer with the tape fixed on the cartridge.
The printer will print an alignment page. Once this has completed, continue with Step 3. If the printer does not print the alignment page then this procedure will not work for your printer.
After the printer has completed printing of the alignment page, open the cover, remove the cartridge and place a piece of tape over Contact #2 as shown in the second picture on the left.
Put the cartridge back into the printer. The printer will print another alignment page.
After this page has been printed, remove the cartridge from the printer, remove all tape from both Contact #1 and #2.
Reinsert the cartridge back into the printer. Ink levels should read full now.
If the process does not work for you, make sure that no adhesive left stuck on the contacts of the cartridge. Any residue may cause the cartridge not to be recognized by the printer at all.
If you have cleaned the contacts with rubbing alcohol, go through steps 1-4 again, make sure each step is followed exactly.
Please help us to give your comments if these procedure work for your printer.

Reset ink level for HP C6656A (HP56) or C6658A (HP58)

When you have refilled your cartridge, your job have not fully completed yet. Some printers fail to work and claim that your cartridge is still empty, even though it’s full after you refill the cartridge.

The printer has its memory and remember the last cartridge you use. There are two ways to overcome this problem. First is to reset the ink level of the cartridge as shown below, second is to use 2 spare cartridges. Note: These procedure may not work for some printers. The printer simply refuse to print alignment page when you cover the contact with tape.

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1. Put tape over Contact #1 as shown in the first picture above.
   Put the cartridge back into the printer with the tape fixed on the cartridge.
2. The printer will print an alignment page. Once this has completed, continue with Step 3. If the printer does not print the alignment page then this procedure will not work for your printer.
3. After the printer has completed printing of the alignment page, open the cover, remove the cartridge and place a piece of tape over Contact #2 as shown in the second picture on the left.
4. Put the cartridge back into the printer. The printer will print another alignment page.
   After this page has been printed, remove the cartridge from the printer, remove all tape from both Contact #1 and #2.
   Reinsert the cartridge back into the printer. Ink levels should read full now.
5. If the process does not work for you, make sure that no adhesive left stuck on the contacts of the cartridge. Any residue may cause the cartridge not to be recognized by the printer at all.
   If you have cleaned the contacts with rubbing alcohol, go through steps 1-4 again, make sure each step is followed exactly.

Please help us to give your comments if these procedure work for your printer

Refilling cartridge HP C6656A (HP 56)

Frankly speaking, this is the easiest cartridge to refill compare to the old generation of HP cartridges such as HP 51626A (HP 26) or HP 51645A (HP 45). The cartridge use sponge to hold the ink and then covered by HP OEM (original) sticker to cover the refill hole.

The refilling process is straight forward, it will take not more than 20 minutes if you refill for the first time and less than 10 minutes if you have more experience. Feel free to learn refilling the cartridge in this guide and get more information about troubleshooting when the problems arise.

Printers that use this cartridge

Deskjet Series: Deskjet 450, 3325, 3420, 3535, 3550, 3650, 5160, 5550, 5652
PhotoSmart Series: PhotoSmart 130, 7150, 7260, 7550, 7660, 7960
PSC Series: PSC 1110, 1210, 1350, 2110, 2210, 2310, 2410
OfficeJet: OfficeJet 4110, 5510, 6110Â

Refill Instruction for HP C6656A (HP 56), Black Ink Cartridge

	Step 1 - Putting cartridge into refill clip Insert the printhead part (nozzle) of the cartridge into the refill clip, and push the top of the cartridge all the way in until you hear it clicking into place.
	Step 2 - Putting sticker on top of the original sticker Attach the supplied sticker on the label of the original cartridge as shown in the figure.Warning: Be careful to attach the sticker in the right shape and direction.
	Step 3 - Putting needle into the syringe Open the cap of the ink container and connect the needle.
	Step 4 - Insert the needle Insert the needle deep into the ink injection inlet marked on the sticker. Note: Make sure the refill hole is bigger than refill hole to allow air inside the cartridge to escape. You can turn arround the needle to enlarge the refill hole.
	Step 5 - Inject the ink Pull up the injection needle about 5mm backward, and then inject SLOWLY (max 10ml) of ink by pressing the piston of the syringe for about 15 seconds, and then pull out the ink container. Warning: If you inject ink too much or too quickly, it may flow over or leak out.
	Step 6 - Suck the ink about 1 ml Put a suction syringe (WITHOUT needle) to the rubber hole at the bottom of refill clip, then suck SLOWLY about 1 ml of ink. Warning: For this step, remember to use the suction syringe without the needle and take special care that widthdrawn ink does not flow back into the cartridge. Note: The objective of this procedure is to clean the cartridge nozzle to improve printing quality.
	Step 7 - Cartridge is ready for use Remove the cartridge from the refill clip and clean the excessive ink around the nozzle by touching down to the soft tissue. Install the cartridge into printer and run the “cartridge cleaning” process before use. Note: Don’t cover the refill hole, leave it open. Â

That’s all, hope this instruction help you to save your printing cost.