An ink cartridge, more commonly known as an inkjet cartridge, is the replaceable component of an inkjet printer. It contains ink, and sometimes a print head, that is spread on paper during printing.

The majority of ink cartridges contain one or more partitioned ink chambers. Ink cartridges with one chamber often contain black ink, but in the case of manufacturers like Epson and Canon they may contain cyan, magenta, or yellow ink. Single chamber, individual color, cartridges have become popular over the last few years. Multi-chamber ink cartridges contain a chamber each for cyan, magenta, and yellow ink. Manufacturers like HP, Lexmark, and Dell favor this multi-chamber cartridge approach over the individual chamber.

There are two types of ink cartridge design, thermal and Piezo.

Thermal – Most home and office inkjet printers use a thermal inkjet technology. Inside each partition of the cartridge is a heating element with a tiny metal plate or resistor. In response to a signal given by the printer, a tiny current flows through the metal or resistor making it warm, and the ink immediately surrounding the heated plate is vaporized into a tiny air bubble inside the nozzle. As a consequence, the total volume of the ink exceeds that of the nozzle. An ink droplet is forced out of the cartridge nozzle onto the paper. This process takes a matter of milliseconds.

Printing depends on the smooth flow of ink, which can be hindered if the ink begins to dry at the print head, as can happen when an ink level becomes low; dried ink can be cleaned from a cartridge print head, by gentle rubbing with isopropyl alcohol on a swab or folded paper towel.

The ink also acts as a coolant to protect the metal-plate heating elements: when the ink supply is depleted, and printing is attempted, the heating elements in thermal cartridges often burn out, permanently damaging the print head. When the ink first begins to run thin, the cartridge should be refilled or replaced, to avoid over-heating damage to the print-head.

Piezoelectric – All Epson printers use a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle instead of a heating element. When current is applied, the crystal changes shape or size, forcing a droplet of ink from the nozzle. This allows use of inks which react badly when heated, and can produce a smaller ink drop in some situations than thermal inkjet schemes.

Paper jams are the most common of problems, not just of HP printers, but of all printers. A printer will jam for any of the following reasons.

1. It’s dirty

2. The wrong paper type is being used

3. The rollers that feed the paper through the pathway are worn down

Although cleaning the printer periodically and using the correct paper type are easy fixes, roller replacement can be a difficult job depending on the model of HP printer. On some models, the rollers are easily accessible, but you’ll need to completely tear down other ones to remove the rollers. Regardless of the cause, when removing a paper jam, always pull the paper in the direction of the paper path, because pulling it backward can severely damage the printer.

Read: Problem Number 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Pacific Ink will be closed on both Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 so that our employees may celebrate the Thankgiving Holiday with their families. Business will resume, as usual, on Monday, November 30 at 8:00am PT.

Remember, www.pacificink.com is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you need to place an order, do it there. We’ll get it shipped out to you first thing Monday morning. Thanks!

Dell is at it again . . . Last Thursday they announced the release of six new All-in-One (AIO) inkjet printers. Some of the new models include touch screens and wireless connectivity. The line includes the P713w, V715w, V515w, P513w, V313, and V313w.

The printers all have some common features with print speeds up to 33 ppm in black and 30 ppm in color.

Copy speeds for the line are 25 ppm mono and 21 ppm in color. The printers all feature an Eco-Mode that switches to power saver after 10 minutes. Each model with a “w” designation features wireless connectivity.

The P713w and V715w are designed for offices with up to 10,000 pages per month of volume and have resolution of 1200 x 4800. The 715w sells for $189 and the 713W costs $199. The V515w and P513w also feature fax modems and the 513 has a dual side print feature. Both sell for $149. The V313 and V313w are offered in blue/white or pink/white colors and sell for $99 for the V313 and $119 for the V313w.

In addition to these new printers, Dell has also released a new series of inkjet cartridges to go with them. As they have done in the past, Dell is releasing these cartridges under multiple cartridge numbers and with both standard and high capacity yields.

Faded printing by your HP printers is usually the result of one of the three following conditions:

1. The printer is getting low on ink or toner.

2. The print density is set too low.

3. Economode printing is turned on.

If #1 is the problem, replace your printer cartridge. You can get great deals on replacement cartridges at Pacific Ink! If you are using a laser printer, you can always resort to the ‘shake method”. Take your toner cartridge out and shake it. We’ve had reports from customers who have gotten a 100 or more pages of print out of a toner cartridge just by shaking it. You should probably still purchase another cartridge to have ready when the shake does not work any more.

If #2 or #3 is the problem, you will need to run a printer self test. This will show you what your current printer settings are. Self tests are usually run by pressing a button on the printer. Check your user manual for directions.

If Economode is turned on, turn it off or set the print density level higher.

Read: Problem Number 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

We’ve added cartridges for some new Lexmark printers. All of these printers use the following Lexmark cartridges, and all of the cartridges are available at Pacific Ink.

Lexmark 100XL (14N1053) Black Ink Cartridge, High Yield – $24.99

Lexmark 100XL (14N1054) Cyan Ink Cartridge, High Yield – $18.99

Lexmark 100XL (14N1055) Magenta Ink Cartridge, High Yield – $18.99

Lexmark 100XL (14N1056) Yellow Ink Cartridge, High Yield – $18.99

Here’s some information on each of the printers these cartridges work in.

Lexmark Platinum Pro905:
The Lexmark Platinum Pro 905 is a fully capable all-in-one business device, but its touch screen might throw a wrench in your workflow. The Smart Solutions widgets add virtual customization to the control panel, but we wish Lexmark had retained a few hard buttons as well. As the top dog in the Lexmark printer family, the Platinum Pro 905 does the job (Read a full review at CNET – Lexmark Platinum Pro 905)

Lexmark Prestige Pro805: No review available for Lexmark Prestige Pro805

Lexmark Prevail Pro705: No review available for Lexmark Previal Pro705

Lexmark Prospect Pro205: No review available for Lexmark Prospect Pro205

Ghosting is what happens when your image or text prints properly page the page, but a much lighter copy of the image, or text, prints somewhere else on the page.

This is often due to a problem with the power outlet that the printer is plugged in to.

You should first check the problem with the outlet by plugging a different printer in to the outlet, then printing to see if the same results occur. If they do, then you need to move your printer to a different power source. If they don’t, then read on.

Ghosting can also be caused when HP consumable printer parts (drum units, imaging kits) are near the end of the print life. All consumable printer parts are designed to print a certain number of pages before they need to be replaced. Once you hit that page threshold, you will need to replace the consumable that is causing the problem.

Hopefully this stops your printer from haunting you!

Read: Problem Number 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

HP printer problem #4 is for you LaserJet printer owners.

If the words and images you print are coming off the paper when your hand runs across the printed page, your toner is smearing. There are a few possible causes of this.

1) The printer’s fuser assembly may be damaged or may be at the end of its life cycle. The only solution is to replace the fuser assembly. Repair of the fuser is typically not done because the cost and effort will usually cost more than purchasing the new part.

2) Your toner cartridge may be defective. If your cartridge is defective it might be letting out to much toner at one time. If your printer only uses a black toner cartridge, simply replace the cartridge. If you have a color laser printer, you should replace (only) the cartridge that is exhibiting the problem (the faulty color cartridge).

3) Toner may have spilled in to the printer. This is an easy fix. All you have to do is clean your printer.

Read: Problem Number 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1