One color doesn't work

Cleaning the Print Head

Using the Head Cleaning utility
Using the control panel buttons

If you find that the printout is unexpectedly faint or some dots are missing, you may be able to solve these problems by cleaning the print head, which ensures that the nozzles are delivering ink properly.

You can clean the print head from your computer using the Head Cleaning utility in the printer software or from this product itself by using the control panel buttons.

Note:

• Print head cleaning uses both color and black inks. To avoid wasting ink, clean the print head only if the copy quality drops (for example, blurred printout, incorrect or missing color.)

• Use the nozzle check first to confirm that the print head needs to be cleaned. This saves ink.

• When the Error light is on and a message appears on the LCD panel to prompt you to replace the ink cartridge or to indicate the ink is low, you cannot clean the print head. In this case, replace the appropriate ink cartridge first.

Using the Head Cleaning utility

Refer to the appropriate section below to use the Head Cleaning utility.

For Windows

Follow the steps below to clean the print head using the Head Cleaning utility.

Make sure that A4 or Letter size paper is loaded in the sheet feeder.

Make sure that this product is on and the ! Error light is off.

Access the printer software.Accessing the Printer Software for Windows

Click the Maintenance tab, then click the Head Cleaning button.

Follow the on-screen instructions.

Head cleaning... appears on the LCD panel while this product performs the cleaning cycle.

Caution:Never turn off this product while Head cleaning... appears on the LCD panel. Doing so may damage this product.

When Head cleaning... disappears from the LCD panel, click Print Nozzle Check Pattern in the Head Cleaning dialog box to confirm that the print head is clean.

Good: print head does not need to be cleaned yet.

Not Good: print head needs to be cleaned.

If the nozzle check page does not print satisfactorily, you may need to repeat the head cleaning and print the nozzle check pattern again. See Cleaning the Print Head.

Note:

• If the copy quality has not improved after repeating this procedure four or five times, turn this product off and leave it alone overnight. Then, perform the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary.

• If the copy quality still has not improved, one or both of your ink cartridges may be old or damaged and may need to be replaced. To replace an ink cartridge before it is empty, see Replacing an Ink Cartridge. If the copy quality remains a problem after replacing the ink cartridges, contact your dealer.

• To maintain good copy quality, we recommend copying a few pages at least once every month.

Try doing these steps:-

Check that the type of paper you are using in your printer matches ('Media Type') the setting in the printer software 'Main Menu' or 'Print' dialog box.

You may need to clean the print head nozzles. These can be cleaned by employing the 'Head Cleaning' utility from within the printer software interface you get when you want to print or by going via the 'Control Panel' (found via 'My Computer') and selecting the printers section. After the cleaning operations are carried out by the printer, a check pattern will be printed to show that the ink cartridge nozzles are clean. If there are still poor quality areas, repeat the operation.

You've not chosen the color option in your printer software interface. This has happened to many times. By default, my printer software had black selected for all printing.

Cleaning clogs

1. How to tell what the heck is the Nozzle test really showing you
2. How to tell the difference between a air pocket and a true clog

You see if you get a lot of random skips when doing a nozzle test you more that likely do not have a true clog you really have a few air bubbles in the print heads. Just doing clean cycle after clean cycle is not the best way to purge out the bubbles. you are far better off just letting the printer sit overnight or printing random test and a few pages of color blocks.

2000P nozzle patternAlso if you still get random skips then it is time to reseat the cartridge all you do is lift the blue cartridge locks and push then down. This will burp out those air pockets that have been known to lock up a print head.. In the worst case you can remove the cartridge and knock it on the table top yes ink will spill out but this is what you want to see...ink spilling out of those feed holes. Now once you do this the ink counter or ink low lights will not work so you have to keep a close eye on the printer when you see the ink stop flowing stop the printer!!! These print heads do not like to be run dry!! Now if you always have the same nozzle that skips then you may have a real clog. The Windex trick really does blow out just about the worst clogs. And Windex is cheap and it will not hurt you or your printer.

The cleaning pads are those foam pads located under the print heads when they are in the parked position (power off) The pads are colored with guess what ....the ink you are using!!! The are about 1/2 x 1 inch and they are under the carriage or print heads when they are parked! But please be careful. As I have posted before, do not contact those cleaning pads; they are spring mounted and they can be knocked out of position very easy! Once you have knocked them out of position it is time to send in your printer to Epson!

After trying cleaning cycles, you can try my trick of carefully dripping only 5 or so drops of Windex (from a new bottle) on the cleaning pads. Just drop about 5 to 6 drops of Windex [A better solution is a mix of distilled water, household non-sudsy ammonia, and cheap vodka. An ounce or so of the vodka and ammonia to a liter of water (It doesn't seem too critical)] on the pads (unscrew the sprayer and drip the windex out of the feed-tube) and then make sure you turn off the printer this forces the pads up to the print heads and the Windex will do it's thing very quickly! About 1 hour works most of the time - overnight on the clogs from hell.


You can also drop windex on the ink inlets in the carriage, but try the pad trick first. After you tried the pads trick 2 times: You can drop Windex directly on the spikes in the bottom of the carriage. These will be seen when you take out the cartridge. You must remove the cartridges to see the spikes. Here is what you do:

1. Make sure that you turn off the printer before you drip on the spikes!
2. do not drop more than 7 drops from a clean eye dropper!
3. Wait at least 10 minutes and drop 5 more drops on the spike, You also should put 2 drops on the other "good ink feed spikes" to prevent them from drying out (it happened to me!)

After this, install the cartridge making sure that when you install the cartridge the ink out light goes out!

You may have to run up to 2 to 4 clean cycles, this is normal in your situation Just make sure that you do not exit the clean menu and continue doing cleaning and nozzle checks

You must stay in the utility menu for the printer to use increased suction, you must also run a nozzle check between cleaning cycles, or the printer won't actually clean its self, just spin the roller. Each time you repeat a cleaning cycle without exiting the menu, the printer will use increased suction (contrary to popular belief, the print heads aren't actually spraying ink out during the cleaning cycle, rather ink is being sucked through the heads by a pump).

3000 nozzle patternThis works very well and should be tried before you go trying windex! This not only will clean the heads but this will align the heads, it is a procedure I use for both cleaning & head alignment. Compare the test prints as you go to see if you are making any progress. Follow these closely:

1. while the printer is on hold down the button with the ink drop icons on it for 5 seconds. This will do a clean cycle by the printer. Do this a couple times.
2. Now shut off the printer and while holding down the paper advance button, turn on the printer (don't release the paper advance for at least 5 seconds) this will print a nozzle check pattern.

If you have a clog or head out of line, repeat the first procedure AT LEAST 3-4 times. Then repeat the second. If the heads are REALLY BAD you may have to keep going, as long as you can see that the heads are being moved or the test pattern changes with these cycles.

Hi, it could be few things wich you having problem with.

First, how old are the ink tanks, it could be clodged.
Second the print head nozzles are clodged at that places.
Third, the purge unit does not work OK.

First remove all inks out and remove print head. Then on wet cloth, wet it with distiled water, few times press the bottom of print head ( nozzles ), then the 4 circles must change from colour to white. That means that nozzles are cleaned.
Dry head by pressing it on dry cloth.

Put it in, also the inks, and run few times the deep head cleaning. Every time take a look at print pattern.
If the head is to badlly clodged, test pattern would be just a little bit more better.

But now you know if the problem is in head or something else ( purge unit or inks ). The new head isnt so cheap regarding the printer so then the best solution would be to buy new printer.
If you do not want to buy laser colour printer, atleast buy one on wich ink tanks has printhead on. Its slightly costly, but you have one worry less - the print head is changed every time you change the ink.

Hope that helped

Try to perform a print head alignment.

o.k. I can give you a few tips that may be of assistance.

you need to run a printer alignment page like you do when you put in new cartridges.

unplug your printer plug it back in.
open door and take out print ink cartridges.
put them back in and then close the door.

It should now prompt you to do a test alignment page.

Also, Another thing to try is to hit file, top left of page, hit print, click properties. color tab.

make sure you are printing high quality on chose different color management options.

FINALLY TRY THIS:

When Printing Becomes Faint or Colors are Incorrect
When printing becomes faint or colors are incorrect, even if ink remains in
the ink tanks, the print head nozzles are probably clogged. Follow the
procedures below to maintain the print head.
Important Before maintaining the print head, check the following;
􀁺 Open the front cover and make sure that the ink tank
contains ink. If it is out of ink, replace it.
􀁺 Ensure that all the orange tape of the ink tank has been
peeled off.
􀁺 Press "PUSH" on the ink tank and ensure that the ink tank
is installed securely.
􀁺 Increase the Print Quality setting in the printer driver
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern
Print the nozzle check pattern to determine whether the ink ejects properly from the print
head nozzles, and to verify print head alignment. Use this function when printed results are
blurred or the color is incorrect.
1 With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized paper in the printer.
2 Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
See "Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box Directly from the Start Menu" on
page 25.
3 Print the Nozzle Check Pattern.
(3) When the confirmation message is displayed, click OK.
When the confirmation message is displayed after the nozzle check pattern has
been printed, click OK.
See "Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern" on page 52.
Note Nozzle check pattern printing can be executed also from the printer
itself. With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized paper in the
printer. Hold the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamp flashes
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Print Head Cleaning
Clean the print head if you suspect that the nozzles might be clogged. Cleaning the print
head consumes ink, so perform print head cleaning only when necessary.
The print head can be cleaned also from the printer itself. With the printer on, load a sheet
of Letter-sized paper in the printer. Hold the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamp
flashes once.
1 Ensure that the printer is on.
2 Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
See "Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box Directly from the Start Menu" on
page 25.
3 Start Print Head Cleaning.
(1) Click the Maintenance tab.
(2) Click Cleaning.
(3) Select the print head to be
cleaned.
(4) Click Execute.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print Head Deep Cleaning
If print quality does not improve by standard print head cleaning, try performing print head
deep cleaning, which is a more powerful process. Print head deep cleaning consumes ink,
so perform this procedure only when necessary.
1 Ensure that the printer is on.
2 Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
See "Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box Directly from the Start Menu" on
page 25.
3 Start Print Head Deep Cleaning.
(1) Click the Maintenance tab.
(2) Click Deep Cleaning.
(3) Select the print head to be
deeply cleaned.
(4) Click Execute
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aligning the Print Head
This operation must be carried out when using the printer for the first time. Aligning the
print head positions allows you to print without shifts in the color registration.
Print head alignment is performed either automatically or manually. This section deals with
automatic print head alignment only.
1 With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized paper in the printer.
2 Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
See "Opening the Printer Properties Dialog Box Directly from the Start Menu" on
page 25.
3 Print the pattern.
(1) Click the Maintenance tab.
(2) Click Print Head Alignment.
(3) Check that paper is loaded in the
printer and click OK. If a message
warning you not to perform other
operations appears, click OK.
It takes about one minute to start
___________________________________________________

this covers everything you should solve the problem with my advice.

please give me a good rating for my time and effort! Thank You

Hi there,
When Printing Becomes Faint or Color are Incorrect, the Print Head Nozzles are probably clogged.
Follow the procedure below to clean the nozzles.
Step 1 : Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern.
Print the Nozzle Check pattern to determine whether the ink ejects properly from the Print Head Nozzles.
a) Using RESUME/CANCEL button.
I) Ensure that the printer is turned on, and then load a sheet of Letter Paper.
ii) Hold down the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamp flashes twice, and then release it immediately.

b) Windows
i) With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter-sized plain paper in the printer.
ii) Open the Printer Properties.
iii) Print the Nozzle Check Pattern.
Click the Maintenance Option from the Menu.Then click Nozzle Check from the pop-up menu. Then click Print Check Pattern.
iv) When the confirmation message is displayed, click OK.
v) Confirm the nozzle check pattern.

Examine the Print Nozzle.

Step 2 : Cleaning the Print Head.
a) Cleaning the Print head using RESUME/CANCEL button.
i) Ensure that the printer is on.
ii) Hold down the RESUME/CANCEL button until the POWER lamop flashes once, and then release it.
b) If you pressed the Cleaning button on the Examining the Nozzle.
Check Pattern screen displayed after the nozzle check patter was printed, start the Print Head cleaning procedure.
i) Ensure tha that the printer is on.
ii) Open the Printer Properties dialog box.
3) Start Print Head Cleaning,
- Click the Maintenance tab.
- Click Cleaning.
- Select the Print Head to be cleaned, and then click Execute.
iv) When the confirmation message is displayed, click OK.
Print Head cleaning starts when the POWER lamp starts blinking,
Important : Do not start any other operations until the Print Head Cleaning finishes. This takes about 60 seconds.
4) Check the Print Head condition.
i) Click the Print Check Pattern in the nozzle Check dialog appeared after cleaning are done. When the confirmation message is displayed, click OK. A nozzle pattern will be printed. Do not perform any operation until printing is completed.
ii) Observe the printed nozzle check pattern to check the Print Head condition.
iii) If the problem persists after you perforned Print Head normal cleaning 3 times, execute Print Head deep cleaning.

Step 4 : Print Head Deep Cleaning.
If print quality does not improve by standard Print Head cleaning, try Print Head deep cleaning, which is a more powerful process and comsumes more ink.

1) Ensure that the printer is turned on.
2) Open the Printer properties dialog box.
3) Start Print Head Deep Cleaning.
i) Click the Maintenance tab.
ii) Click Deep Cleaning.
iii) Select the Print Head to be cleaned, and then click Execute.
iv) When confirmation message is displayed, click OK. Print Head deep cleaning starts when the POWER lamp starts blinking,
Important : Do not perform any other operations until the Print Head deep cleaning is completed ( about 2-3 minutes).
4) Check the Print Head condition
i) Print a nozzle check pattern to check the Print Head condition.
ii) If the problem persists, perform step 3 again.
iii) If the problem persists, the printer may have run out of ink.
Replace the ink tank.
iv) If the problem persists, the Printer Head may be damaged. Contact your dealer or Canon Customer Care Center.

Hope this helps.
Have a good day.

my epson stylus photo R230 Printer problems always
two red light blinking
please help me
thank you

Please see the Canon link below, and as Canon links return generic pages, type in "missing black print" (without quotes) or something of that nature. The results will include Reseat/remove printhead, among others. I have reproduced that content for you below, but I would also add that a number of folks have issues with black print cartridges, and it seems this is an issue that is fairly widespread, as one of the results is that your printer may need repair. If you have tried more than one cartridge with the same result, suggest consulting support if you don't think your usage justifies a new print head - especially if you are still under warranty. Page link is:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=SupportDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=238&modelid=10444
---------------------From Canon-----------------------
Issue: How do I reseat / remove the print head?
Solution: Reseat MP750 / MP780 print head

Reseat Print Head Reseating the print head is seldomly needed to be done.

1. Press the Open Button (1) to open the Paper Output Tray (2).
   
   
   
   
2. Raise the Scanning Unit until it stops.
   
   
1. Pull and hold the Scanning Unit Lever towards you, then raise the Scanning Unit.
   
2. The Print Head Holder moves to the middle.
   
   
   
   
3. Open the Inner Cover 1.
   
   
   
   
4. Open the Inner Cover 2.
   
   
   
   CAUTION:
   
   a. Do not try to manually move or stop the Print Head Holder.
   
   b. Do not touch any metal parts.
   
   
5. Press the ink tank's tab (1), then remove it from the slot (2).
   
   
   
   IMPORTANT:
   Handle ink tanks carefully to avoid staining clothing or the surrounding area.
   
   
6. Lift up the lock lever and take out the print head.
   
   
   
   
7. Again, place the print head back in position and press down the lock lever.
   
   
   
   
8. Insert the ink tank into the empty slot on the print head. Press down gently on the ink tank until an audible click is heard. Make sure the ink tank is in the correct slot.

IMPORTANT:
a. Make sure that the ink tank is inserted in the slot that corresponds to the ink tank's color.
b. If the ink tank is inserted in the wrong slot, perform two head refreshings.

1. Close the Inner Cover 2.
2. Close the Inner Cover 1.
3. Pull the Scanning Unit Lever towards you to close the Scanning Unit.
4. Align the print head position after the print head is installed. You can align the print head position either automatically or manually. When automatic alignment does not work well, align the print head position manually.

Automatically Aligning The Print Head Position:

1. Load A4-or letter-size plain paper in the paper support tray. Auto alignment cannot be performed when the Feed Switch is set to [CASSETTE].
2. Press <Menu> repeatedly until [MAINTENANCE] appears.
3. Press left or right arrow to select [AUTO HEAD ALIGN].
4. Press <OK>. The print head position alignment pattern prints.
5. Check the printed pattern. If the printed pattern matches the illustration, the print head position alignment is complete.
   
   

Manually Aligning The Print Head Position:
When automatic alignment does not work well, align the print head position manually.

1. Load A4- or letter-size plain paper in the paper support or cassette.
2. Select the paper source with <Feed Switch> button.
3. Press <Menu> repeatedly until [MAINTENANCE] appears.
4. Use left or right arrow to select [ALIGN PRINT HEAD].
5. Press <OK>. A horizontal pattern is printed.
6. Beginning from column A on the printout, enter checkmarks in the patterns that have the most solid image.
   
   
   
   (1): Bad example (Least solid box)
   (2): Good example (Most solid box)
7. Press left or right arrow to select the pattern number that you checked in column A on the printout in step 6.
   (A): Column
   (0): Select pattern number with most solid image
8. Press <OK>.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 to adjust columns B to L. When all the horizontal patterns are adjusted, you will be prompted to print a vertical pattern [PRINT VERT. PATTERN].
10. Press left arrow. A vertical pattern is printed.
11. Beginning from column M on the printout, enter checkmarks in the patterns that have the most solid image.
    
    
    
    (1): Bad example (Least solid box)
    (2): Good example (Most solid box)
12. Press left or right arrow to select the pattern number that you checked in column M on the printout in step 11.
13. Press <OK>.
14. Repeat steps 12 and 13 to adjust column N.

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Please post back if you need additional help. Otherwise, thanks for rating FixYa!

I am, and I'd say you've hit the nail on the head non OEM or non OEM ink in the past, has traveled it's way along the system to the print head filters and clogged them, virtually impossible to clean such microscopic filters and holes, and very tricky even to get apart. The fix really is to replace print head and reprime with gen ink, not cheap if not under warranty.

You can try magic wand stuff and spin the wheel and try your luck but I never sent you OK!

search print head cleaner, ie

or my favourite bandaid, Fill the purge station with windex, let sit parked up for a day, run 20 cleans with new gen ink, and pray!

My other favs include, go to shop and buy new and dont buya non gen. inks