June 2009
Monthly Archive
Posted on Jun 30 2009 in
Printer Ink.
Sometimes after installing new printer ink cartridges your printer will display
“Press Enter to align cartridges.”
But, no matter what you do you cannot get the message to go away. It won’t stop and worse yet, you can’t print. What to do?
Your printer needs to complete the ink cartridge alignment procedure before you can do any printing. If any of the color or black cartridges are missing, the printer won’t be able to complete its alignment. You can press a combination of keys (on your keyboard) to bypass the alignment, but the message will return later. The alignment needs to be completed.
Since all printers function a little differently we suggest you consult your printer’s user manual for more tips on aligning your ink cartridges. But . . . Make sure you have all of your cartridges in the printer before doing so. This will always be step number one!
Posted on Jun 30 2009 in
Printer Ink.
Ever get the following error warning on your HP printer?
Error: Left cartridge is incorrect
It’s not a case where your cartridge it out of ink, this error will often occur when you are putting a new (full) printer ink cartridge in your printer. When you see this error we suggest the following.
Remove the new ink cartridge (the full one you are trying to put in the printer) from the printer and put in a different one. This “different” cartridge can either be another new ink cartridge or the one you are trying to replace. Either way, it just needs to be a different cartridge. We are trying to find out if the cartridge is the problem, or your printer is the problem.
If the error message goes away when you use a different cartridge, then the cartridge is the problem. Problem solved!
If the error message continues to appear with different cartridges, then the problem is with your printer. You will need to seek technical support from your printer manufacturer or a printer repair person.
Posted on Jun 30 2009 in
Printer Ink.
Just took a call from a customer who was having trouble replacing a printer cartridge in their HP PSC 2210 inkjet printer. We went through a few different trouble shooting steps, but finally had the customer remove their existing printer drivers and then reinstall them.
Worked like a charm!
Posted on Jun 23 2009 in
Printer Ink.
If you are looking for a printer that can do a minimal amount of printing (school reports and occasional pictures), you can find inexpensive inkjet printers that will meet all your printing needs. If your printing needs are a little more advanced, you can find inkjet printers with added features that will still be less expensive than purchasing a laser printer.
The more features you need and the type of quality you are looking for will add to the cost of the inkjet printer; however, you can find a printer with good print quality for under $100.
The Inkjet Advantages: Inexpensive, Ability to print in color
The Inkjet Disadvantages: Slow, High maintenance costs
Price Range: Typically $50-$200
Features to Look For:
Print Quality
When deciding on what inkjet printer is best for your printing needs, don’t let price be the deciding factor. Higher prices don’t always indicate the best print quality or speed of an inkjet printer. Before purchasing a printer, shop around and when you have a specific model in mind, if available, ask to print a test page to see for yourself the printer’s print quality.
Print Speed
Inkjet printer speed is measured by the number of pages the printer can print out in a minute. The cost of any inkjet printer will go up the faster the printer is. The print speed might not be important for many home users but if you are planning to be printing a great deal, a faster printer might be a better option for you. When it comes to print speed, most manufacturers determine their print speeds using the simplest text in draft mode, so in most cases print speeds are almost twice the speed you will actually have. Print speed will ultimately be determined by the page complexity, the connection speed, and the printer’s memory.
Connectivity
Before you buy a printer, check what kind of connections your computer supports. Most printers do not come with a printer cable that connects the printer to the computer so you will need to include this cost when budgeting for a new printer.
Memory
Memory will play an important part in the print speed of your printer. The more memory you have the faster your printer will be. Documents that are in queue (waiting to be printed) are sent to the printer’s memory. If you are printing emails, word documents and the occasional picture, memory is not and important function. Everyday printing usually doesn’t take as much memory. Look for a printer with more built in memory if you are planning to print large text documents and color graphics. If your printing demands change, there are printers that you can upgrade with more memory.
Print Resolution
Print resolution is the maximum number or dots per square inch that can be printed, measured horizontally and vertically. The more dots per inch will give you finer details such as sharper text and cleaner images. Look for an inkjet printer with a resolution of 1200 x1200 dots per inch or higher.
Cartridges & Supplies
The real cost of an inkjet printer comes from the ongoing cost of buying replacement inkjet cartridges. If you know you will be using one color more than the others, consider an inkjet printer with individual ink cartridges. It will save you money in the long run because you will only need to replace the cartridges you need. With tri-color inkjet cartridges (three colors in one container), you will need to replace the whole cartridge when one color is empty.
Posted on Jun 20 2009 in
Printer Ink.
First, stop printing color pictures at home. The quality of pictures produced by a home computer will never match the quality that a knowledgeable technician can produce at a dedicated photo store. If this statement seems incorrect, look behind the counter at the photo processing center, is your printer back there?
Second, stop buying brand new printer ink cartridges. Re-manufactured or refilled ink cartridges can create big savings on home ink costs. Pacific Ink, www.pacificink.com, is a very popular online alternative to buying new printer ink cartridges. A re-manufactured cartridge from Pacific Ink will generally have more ink than a brand new cartridge and cost less money.
Lastly, when printing off of a Web site, try to copy and paste the text into a word processor so that images and ads are not printed as well. These are just a few tips that can help save on printer ink. Follow them and there will be a steep decrease in annual printer ink expenditures.
Posted on Jun 18 2009 in
Printer Ink.
Posted on Jun 18 2009 in
Printer Ink.
Now, let’s take a few minutes to talk about the different parts of an inkjet printer, and how those parts work.
The Print Head:
The print head operates the printing action of the printer. It contains a series of nozzles that are used to spray droplets of ink. The print head can either be included as part of the printer or part of the inkjet cartridge.
The Inkjet Cartridge:
Inkjet cartridges come in different combinations, depending on the manufacturer or model. Cartridges can have a separate tank for each color or one cartridge for each color. Most inkjet printers will use four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) to create almost any color combination. If the inkjet printer doubles as a photo printer, it will use six colors, by adding the light magenta and light cyan to extend the printer’s color gamut.
The Stepper Motor:
The stepper motor is what moves the print head and cartridge back and forth across a page. Some printers will have a second stepper motor to park the print head assembly when the printer is not in use.
The Belt:
The belt is the gray ‘belt looking’ thing inside your printer that attaches the print head assembly (the holder for your inkjet cartridges) to the stepper motor.
The Stabilizer Bar:
The print head assembly (the holder for your inkjet cartridges) moves across a stabilizer bar to ensure that each row of dots are even and precise.
The Paper Tray/Feeder:
Inkjet printers will have either a paper tray that can be loaded with paper or a feeder that is located in the back of the printer. Both include a sensor that stops the printer when it is out of paper.
The Rollers:
The rollers pull the paper from the paper tray/feeder and control the rate at which the paper is moved past the print head assembly.
The Printer Driver:
A printer driver is software that acts as a translator so that the printer can understand data and instructions from your computer. The driver describes the text, image, etc. to be printed and translates it into the printer language.
The Controller:
The controller is essentially the “command station” of the printer. The control circuitry is responsible for decoding the information sent from the computer, via the printer driver, to the printer, as well as controlling the various motors of the printer.
Posted on Jun 17 2009 in
Printer Ink.
Here’s a little something educational . . . A (very) brief description of how an inkjet printer works.
When you click the print button, the document you wish to print is sent to the printer drive. The printer driver translates the text and images into the inkjet printer’s language. After the printer receives the information, a controller activates the printer.
The rollers feed the paper into the printer and are positioned at the start of the page. The print head will then begin to move across the page spraying droplets of ink onto the page. As the print head is printing, the motor stops for less than a second to spray multiple dots at a defined area to create all colors.
When the print head reaches the end of the page, the rollers move the paper forward until the full page is printed.
Posted on Jun 15 2009 in
Printer Ink.
I have new HP 93 C9361WN color cartridges and when I print, some colors are not printing either on my calibration pages or color photos (mainly missing yellows, reds, and greens). Don’t know what to do. Tried recalibrating, running “clean” mode, and printing test pages. Help, please!
When you run in to a problem like this you can try the following:
Take out the cartridges, turn off the printer, and try cleaning the head of cartridges with a little damp lint free cloth. Let the HP 93 cartridge dry for a few minutes then restart the printer. Put your cartridge back when the printer prompts for it. Try printing an alignment sheet to see if the cartridge is now working.
If your cartridge is still not working call Pacific Ink for some more help.
Posted on Jun 5 2009 in
Printer Ink.
We just took a call from a customer with a problem on her HP 56 C6656AN cartridge. From her description it sounds as though the print heads on her ink cartridge were blocked with dried ink. Of course the cartridge as not printing. She wanted to know what to do.
Here is a step by step listing of what we suggested.
Step 1: Place the clogged nozzles in warm water and soak them until the dried ink begins to flow from the nozzle.
Step 2: After a few minutes of letting the dried ink flow, remove the nozzles from the water and dry it with a soft tissue or cotton swab.
Step 3: Reinstall the cartridge and run the print-head cleaning mechanism (described in your inkjet printer’s manual).
Step 4: If this does not work, repeat the procedure.
Step 5: If your cartridge still does not print after repeating, uninstall the cartridge and place it on a soft tissue or cotton swab with rubbing alcohol in an upside down position. Let the cartridge sit on it overnight.
Step 6: Reinstall the cartridge and run the print-head cleaning mechanism (described in your inkjet printer’s manual).
Step 7: If none of the procedures above works, then you did your best, unfortunately you will need to purchase a new cartridge because the print-head is probably clogged permanently and/or damaged.
This tip is not exclusive to the HP 56 cartridge. It works for all remanufactured cartridges with print heads (copper colored metal strip at the bottom of the cartridge).
