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.

Does it harms? It depends. The most critical is not to have air bubbles in the print head. Popular terms is air bubble trap. When you shake the cartridge, the air bubbles will form in the sponge. If this happen, just leave the cartridge overnight, the air bubble will goes up eventually.

If the print head have air bubbles then the quick solution is to perform head cleaning (instructed from your computer). The head cleaning is like flushing the ink into tiny hole inside the print-head. Of course, this will reduce some of ink in your cartridge.

If you can wait, don’t force it. Leave it overnight. Let the air bubble release themselves. If the problem still persists then you need to perform head cleaning.