Here’s one inspired by the folks who take your phone calls each day.

“My printer’s ink level monitor says my cartridges are full, but they won’t print. What can I do?”

This is a pretty typical question. Most folks are very quick to blame the problem on their printer cartridge, especially if they are using a non-manufacturer brand cartridge. Ah, don’t be so quick to blame the cartridge for the trouble, there is another possible cause:

Your printer nozzles might be clogged.

Ink often builds up in nozzles when the printer is not used to often. When you print the ink is wet and a small amount remains in the nozzles (nozzles direct ink on to the paper). If you do not print frequently and keep moist ink in the nozzles, the ink inside will dry. Once dried a semi-solid plug will form within the nozzle. This blocks ink from moving though the nozzle and on to the page.

Take a look at your printer’s user manual. There is often a warning in there about how often one should print. Customer feedback has shown us that unless one prints every 3-5 days they are more likely to experience clogged nozzles.

As a remedy, each manufacturer suggest that you run a cleaning utility, most commonly known as a head cleaning utility. This primes the components of the printer and should blow out any blocks in your nozzles. It is recommended that you run this utility 3-4 times if you are experiencing trouble and at least once before you print. Most printers automatically run the utility when you turn them on. Keep in mind, this does use a very small amount of ink.

So, next time you have some trouble, don’t automatically assume it is the cartridge. Check your nozzles!

Let us know what you think.