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Inkjet printers are cheap to buy and for this reason are widely used. They are mainly used in private households and are often not used regularly but rather sporadically. Ultimately, there is a lot you can do wrong when using inkjet printers, which can have a negative impact on both printing costs and the printer's lifespan. To help you enjoy your printer as much as possible and for as long as possible, we have put together seven tips for you here that may be of use to you when using your device.

Here we address the two main problems that can occur when using inkjet printers, printhead drying and paper jams. The most serious problem with inkjet printers is the risk of the print head drying up. If the print head dries up, the print image is very poor. For example, you will have dropouts on the page where you did not print or a generally barely legible print image.

document printing

Print regularly
This can happen if you do not print for several weeks. For this reason, an inkjet printer should be used regularly, i.e. at least once or twice a month, so that ink can flow through the print head and prevent it from drying out.

Protect the printhead
However, it is at least as important that the printhead is never exposed to the air for long periods without protection. There are two scenarios to be distinguished here.

On the one hand, there are printheads that are more or less permanently installed in the machine. With a few exceptions, these can be recognised by the fact that the printer has at least four individual cartridges, so-called ink tanks (single ink). In this case, the printer should never be left without cartridges, but should always be fully loaded. If you do take the cartridges out, make sure that the printer is not left without cartridges for more than one hour. Otherwise there is a high risk that the print head will dry out.
On the other hand, there are printhead cartridges, i.e. ink cartridges with an integrated printhead. These cartridges should also never be left in the air for a long time, but should always remain in the printer, where they are protected against drying out. If you take them out, e.g. to have them filled by us, you should make sure that the cartridges are back in the printer after one hour at the latest. We will be happy to provide you with a protective clip to protect them against drying out for a small deposit.
Do not disconnect the inkjet printer from the power supply
If you do not need your printer, switch it off, of course. However, we recommend that you do not disconnect it from the mains or switch off the power socket. Above all, never disconnect a switched-on inkjet printer from the power supply. If you do, the print head may be in the middle of the machine and not in the protected park position. It will only move to this position if you switch off the machine at the switch.

What to do if the printhead has dried up?
Now, despite all precautions, it can happen, especially with older machines, that a print head dries up. This is no reason to get nervous or throw the printer away. All manufacturers are aware of the danger of drying and for this reason have already installed an auxiliary device at the factory, the so-called printhead cleaning. This can usually be triggered via your PC, but for devices with a display it can also be done on the device itself. In the course of this cleaning, the printer flushes ink from the cartridges through the print head and thus removes dried ink residues. This is also the main reason why you should never carry out cleaning for no reason, you are using ink unnecessarily.

However, if the printhead is dried up, we recommend cleaning the printhead until the print image is perfect again. It may be necessary to repeat the cleaning several times. It is best to print a nozzle test pattern after each cleaning, which you will find in the same menu as the cleaning. If the pattern is not good, clean again.

When using ink tanks, once they are in place, do not take them out until they are empty.

The second problem that can occur is that paper jams in the printer and it stops working.

Buying good paper
Cheap paper and eco-paper are much coarser and more fibrous than expensive paper and can therefore have a negative effect on your printer.

The risk of paper jams is much greater with cheap paper than with good paper. This is simply because the running characteristics of an expensive paper are much better.
The printer gets dusty faster when you use cheap paper and especially when you use recycled paper.
The paper feed wears out faster due to rough paper. This is a particularly serious problem because you cannot replace the feed rollers on most inkjet printers. Once they are worn out, the printer is irreparably defective.
The print head clogs more quickly with cheap paper, as individual fibres can get stuck in the print head. This can lead to the print head being destroyed.
Removing a paper jam
If a paper jam does occur, it is important that you pull the paper out of the printer in the direction it is running. Under no circumstances should you try to pull the paper out of the printer against the direction of travel. If you do, there is a high risk that you will break paper sensors. This will result in the printer permanently reporting a paper jam and no longer functioning. Since you cannot replace these sensors, the printer is irreparably defective in this case.

Location of the printer
The correct location of your printer is also important. On the one hand, the device should not be placed directly near a heat source, and on the other hand, the device should not be exposed to direct sunlight. Locations by or near windows must also be avoided, as this can cause the print head or cartridges to dry out more quickly. Good temperatures for the devices are usually between 15 and 33 degrees.  You can usually also find recommended operating temperatures in the manuals of the device manufacturers.

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