Refilled Cartridge Printing White Lines
Sometimes people call us up and say that they just refilled their cartridge and installed it and already it’s giving them white lines. This doesn’t mean that something went wrong in the refilling process; it just means that the full amount of ink isn’t coming out like it should.
A common cause of this problem is people refilling old cartridges. If you take an ink cartridge out of printer and leave it out for more than a few days, it’s going to start to dry out. If you leave it out for a couple of weeks or months, it’s definitely going to dry out. So then if you refill one of these cartridges, you are going to be getting prints like you would if the cartridge was running out of ink. Since you just refilled it, obviously the problem isn’t because there’s no ink in there, it’s because the ink that is in there can’t get through the nozzles. For this problem, we usually recommend soaking the cartridge.
The other thing that could be causing white lines or streaks in your prints from a refilled cartridge is the condition of that cartridge. All cartridges wear out eventually, and when they do, they start performing like empty cartridges. A lot of inkjet cartridges can be refilled up to 10 times, but on average it is more like three or four refills per cartridge. The print head of the cartridge is very fragile, and eventually it will either get scratched or worn out. Otherwise, another part of the cartridge like the nozzles will wear out and your prints will deteriorate. While it’s unfortunate that you can’t just keep refilling cartridges forever, if you take care of them and if you don’t let them get dried out, they should last you a pretty long time.
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August 8th, 2006 at 11:22 am
I think this is the big downside of printing using inkjet cartridges vs. laser toner. I have both an inkjet and a laser printer and have found that I am using my laser much more often. I cringe at the thought of using my inkjet printer because I know I have not used in in a few days and will have to do troubleshooting. But lets face it inkjet printers will still be around because there is a lot an inkjet printer can do that a laser printer can’t.
August 12th, 2006 at 7:38 am
I HAVE FOUND THAT A LOT OF PROBLEMS CAN BE AVOIDED BY MAKING ADJUSTMENTS IN THE SPEED MY PRINTER IS SET TO PRINT. THIS IS A FEATURE A LOT OF PEOPLE DO NOT UTILIZE. IF YOU NEED THE QUALITY OF THE PRINT TO BE PERFECT, SLOW IT DOWN. IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PRINT, CHOOSE DRAFT QUALITY AND SAVE THE INK. IF YOU ARE PRINTING PHOTO’S MAKE SURE YOU USE THE OPTION FOR PRINTING - USUALLY IDENTIFIED AS “BEST”. THE INK NEEDS TO SATURATE THE PAPER SO BY SLOWING DOWN THE PRINTER IT GIVES THE INK TIME TO SOAK IN AND THIS SETTING ALSO GOES OVER THE SAME AREA AT LEAST ONE TIME CAUSING ADDITIONAL INK SATURATION.
August 14th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Billy - Great tip! Tried it, it worked great. I had been having the white line problem and tried some other tricks. Had never heard of your suggestion before. Like I said, worked great. Thanks!