Inkjet Printer Care and Repair... Made Easy For Inkjet Owners

Inkjet Printer Care and Repair Made Easy
e-book
“A Simple How To Care Guide”
A must for Inkjet Owners

Inside:
The most common problems and solutions, for inkjet printers.
Tips and Tricks repair shops do not want you to know.

Notice To Consumer:

This Publication contains information subject to change without notice.
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The Editors

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Apple, Hewlett Packard, EPSON, Canon, Brother, Lexmark, Compaq, Xerox.
Technique, Bernie Drouillard, or any of its affiliates makes no claim to the respective names, trademarks, trade names, and service marks listed above. Including but not limited the above mentioned or any others not listed.


About this guide

This guide has come into being for the growing demand for easy and simple solutions to
Inkjet problems. It is based on over 13 years experience and over 25,000 machine repairs.

As the price of machines continue to drop and become affordable to many. It has also become too expensive to repair because of the increasing labor cost verses a new purchase. As a result machines by the millions are thrown away, along with the manuals, ink and other components. This continues to put a burden on the environment and pocketbooks.

Inkjet printers have very similar components and inherent problems. Most of which
can be easily resolved with a tune-up. This guide covers just how to do that.
Also covered is how to systematically determine the source of the problem by identify
the different parts and what the job is of each part.
You will also be able to determine with a bit of knowledge, if you should repair a printer or replace it. It is better to have as much information as possible before making this decision.

How Inkjets Work In Theory

How Inkjets Work In Theory
Part 1


All right, so you have an inkjet printer.
The major parts: Please do yourself a favor and have your printer in front of you. This way you can locate and identify all the parts listed and gain an understanding.
This may seem dull but serves the purpose of overall success.

Main board; (also known as motherboard).
This is generally located where your printer cable plugs in and in most cases plugs directly into the motherboard. This part takes the information from the computer and
re-assembles the information and directs the printer components to start to work to form your printed page.

Printer Carriage; (Also know as the cartridge holder).
This part holds the cartridges and is located and rides on a round shaft.
The Print Carriage receives data from the motherboard and makes contact with the ink cartridges and tells them when to fire drops of ink onto the page.

Carriage Shaft
This part allows the printer carriage to move smoothly back and forth while ink is being dropped on to the page.

Carriage Belt
The Carriage Belt can be located near the carriage shaft and is parallel to it.
It looks like a long belt. It actually pulls the printer carriage back and forth
along the carriage shaft.

Carriage Motor
This motor is commanded by a Main Board to turn on and off in order to position the carriage in the precise location for Ink to be dropped onto the page.

Encoder Strip; (Not all printers are equipped with this part).
This strip is located behind the Printer Carriage and actually runs behind and thru the Printer Carriage. It is made of somewhat clear plastic with little lines on it. There is also an electronic eye behind the Printer Carriage that reads the lines and counts them so as to determine the proper location of the Printer Carriage. Pretty neat!

Paper pick-up rollers
These rollers are located in your paper tray.
This name kind of tells on its self. These rollers are responsible for executing the command to pick-up paper at the correct time. The Main Board gives such a command.

Feed rollers
These rollers take up the duty of feeding the paper through the machine and are generally located second to the paper pick-up rollers in line.

Delivery or Exit rollers
You can find these rollers at the point where the paper exits the machine.
(Some machines use the feed rollers for this also).

Paper path
This is any area in which the paper travels through the machine.

Service Station
This very important part is located where the Printer Carriage carries the cartridges and takes them to their place of rest when not in use. This part keeps the inkjet cartridges clean and sealed when not in use it is like the Butler. It is generally on the right of the machine.

Interesting Facts

· A basic inkjet cartridge has 50 nozzles about ½ the diameter of a human hair.
· A tiny electrical part heats up the ink and the ink bubbles and this happens 3600 times a second for each nozzle.
· The bubble grows for a precise time and size and is then ejected out of a nozzle and on to the page.
· An average cartridge in its lifetime of use will eject over 120,000 million drops of ink.
· It can take up to 25 drops just to make a number l show up on a page.
· When in full swing the 50 nozzles fire up to 180,000 times per a second!
INCREDIBLE STUFF!

How Inkjet Printer Work In theory
Part 2
You turn on the printer. It starts to make sounds and lights flash and there is noticeable movement. All the troops are checking themselves out and are reporting to duty.

The computer sends a document over to the printer in computer code. The printers’ Motherboard takes the info and puts into action. It tells the carriage and cartridges to get ready. It sends signals to the paper feed rollers too. It tells the paper feed rollers to pick-up the paper and when it enters the path near the carriage the carriage motor takes the carriage over to the first line. The carriage tells the motherboard it has arrived and is ready.
The paper runs over a sensor that yells hey the paper is here and the Motherboard; says to the carriage fire those cartridges in this order and color and do it now, pronto.
Well I hope you get the idea.

Basic Ink Cartridge Tips and Helpful Hints

Basic Ink Cartridge Tips and Helpful Hints
You had better read this.

Keep from using inkjet cartridges that have expired dates.
Try not to open a cartridge seal unless you are ready to use it.
Always perform a proper shut down of the printer so as to allow the Print-Carriage to arrive in its home position at the service station. This keeps the bottom of the cartridges covered and sealed while in the machine and when not in use.
Do your best to not remove cartridge before they are empty. This mainly applies to
Epson brand. Why? Because air can be introduced into the system and this can produce
blank prints also the electrical components that heat the ink into a bubble rely on the ink to keep them from overheating and burning out the Print Heads.I have to mention this. Follow your manufactures recommendations on cartridges too.

PureDirectory.com

The Do and Dont's of Inkjet Printer Repair

What to do and what not to do!

Quick Fixes


For all your inkjet printer problems a basic tune-up as described below should or must be done first! 97% of all problems can be solved by a tune-up done properly and you can do it!

Be sure to lay down newspapers under your printer and wear rubber gloves to keep the ink off of your hands. You will need Q tips, Alcohol, Water, Rags , and Simple Green or 409. Oops and scotch bright pad for HP printers.

Lift up the printer cover. On HP printers the carriage comes to the center. For Epson you need to start your cleaning function and when the cartridges move
Unplug the machine. Be sure to unplug your machine. Safety first!

Now with the carriage and cartridges in the middle take a rag or paper towel
with 409 or simple green on it and clean the carriage shaft. Kind of floss the carriage so as to get the underside too. Start from the left and works around
Moving the carriage around and out of your way to get the right side.
Clean this till little or no dirt shows up on a clean spot on your rag or towel.

On HP printers locate the encoder strip. Using just water and a truly clean rag
pinch and wipe/clean the encoder strip. Be sure to do this well and be careful not to break it or pull it out. You have to be a bit gentle with this. You can do it!

Now locate your service station, this is located below where the cartridges usually rest when not in use. Use a lint free cloth that wont leave fiber. We need to remove the ink and fiber build up on and around the service station. Some HP service stations literally have a mountain of ink in them hitting up against the bottom of the cartridges and clogging up the nozzles. After cleaning you may still need to replace the cartridges. I recommend using Q-tips to remove the ink build up.

On HP printers you can remove the cartridges and clean the bottom of the cartridges with water and a rag. Just be gentle. Once you have the cartridges out take your rag and clean the underside of the carriage real good! (This is what causes funny streaks on pages). Ink and paper fiber create an unwanted paintbrush and as a result leaves unwanted streaks.

Now, the Paper pickup rollers; Use your 409 or simple green on a rag and clean the rollers. HP printers use the scotch bright and turn the rollers as best you can and rough them up. I will sometimes do this after I have the machine back on and turn the roller with the machines help to complete this step. Continue after this and clean the rollers. I will need to repeat this step a couple of times if a feed problem remains.

Special note for EPSON Service Stations; apply a few drops of Windex or ammonia to
the Service Station pad for both the black and color pads. If the pads soak up the solution
this is a good sign. If it does not just let it sit for 20 min. and repeat. If it does not soak it indicates a clog and it needs to be handled. (This is what can cause blank prints).
After this is done run your cleaning procedure for both colors at least 5 times.
I know this is a complete bore but it has to be done. It is either you or the repair shop.




Do’s and Don’ts

Paper feed problems:

Do: Put fresh paper in the printer.
Do not: Think you have or did, but did not. Just do it.
Do: Check your paper path for obstructions. I have found muffins, paper clips, leaves, pens, pencils, tacs, jewelry, paper, and some unidentifiable things in the paper paths of inkjet printers.
Do: When looking check from several angles so as to really look.
Do: Be careful if you feel you have to tip the printer not to tip it too much to cause waste ink to spill. (Waste ink is ink that the machine collects that does not go on the page).
Do: Clean the Paper pick-up rollers with Simple Green or 409. Rotate them the best you can.
Do not: Do not use alcohol. This will dry the rollers out.
Do: Use a scotch bright pad to rough up the rollers for a better grip. (Repair shops do exactly this). Note this is for HP Printers only!

Print Image problems and defects in quality:

1. Perform a standard tune-up as described above.
2. Perform a standard tune-up as described above.
3. Replace the ink cartridges.
4. Lets get some more help contact Tech Support.

Communications Errors: With out Error lights on printer.
Check Cables.
Restart Printer and Computer
Reinstall drivers.
Contact Tech Support.

Communication Errors: With Error lights on printer.
Perform standard tune-up as described earlier.
Replace ink cartridges.Contact Tech Support.