Inkjet printers aren’t nearly as complex as laser printers; therefore, there’s less that can go wrong with them. On the flip side, many inkjet printers sell for well under £50 and just aren’t built to last. The vast majority of problems with inkjet printers involve either communications problems or problems with print quality. Here are a few solutions to the most common inkjet printer problems.

Print quality and the print head
By far the most common problem with inkjet printers is poor print quality. Usually, these problems manifest themselves in the form of horizontal white lines running through each line of print. These white lines are caused by clogged nozzles that aren’t dispensing ink. Some printer manufacturers are now incorporating the print head into the ink cartridge. By doing so, each time you get a new ink cartridge, you also get a new print head.

Replacing the print head along with the ink cartridge may sound like a good solution at first, but what happens if you are using a printer that doesn’t have a disposable print head, or if your ink cartridges aren’t ready to change yet?

Cleaning the print head
In such cases, you can sometimes fix the problem by using a cotton swab to rub alcohol on the surface of the print head. Alcohol is a solvent and will usually help to dissolve any ink buildup that might be clogging the print head. After cleaning the print head with alcohol, I usually use a paper towel to gently wipe any excess ink off of the print head. When you’re done manually cleaning the print head, turn the printer on and run the printer’s built-in cleaning process. The method for initiating the cleaning mode varies widely between printer models, so you’ll have to check your manufacturer’s recommendations to see how to initiate the cleaning mode on your particular printer.

A failure to communicate
The other major cause of inkjet printer malfunctions is communications failures. Inkjet printers are susceptible to the same sort of communications problems as any other printer. Therefore, if your printer is printing gibberish, or nothing at all, turn off the printer and the PC to which it is connected. Verify that all cables are tight and that the printer is getting power. Turn the printer back on and then the PC. Most of the time, this will fix any sort of communications problems that might be present.

Printing blank pages - solution change the catridges/toner as it is most likely out of ink.

Paper keeps jamming - solution check the printer thoroughly including all panels that you can open for small pieces of paper which get stuck in the edges of moving parts.

Laserjets are a lot more complicated and as such we dont have the space to list common fixes for all the variations please call for help.

For anything else contact us via the phone or email.

Printer Problems?

The most common problems with printers is :

Printing blank pages - solution change the cartridges/toner as it is most likely out of ink.

Paper keeps jamming - solution check the printer thoroughly including all panels that you can open for small pieces of paper which get stuck in the edges of moving parts.

Virus? Spyware?

Has your computer started acting strangely or slowed down to almost a complete stop?

The most likely reason is a virus or malware. You require programs to protect you so we have included some links to websites which offer some of the best anti-virus and anti-malware software available.