ET-M16600Series/M15140Series

User's Guide

> Maintaining the Printer > Improving Print, Copy, and Scan Quality > Checking and Cleaning the Print Head

Checking and Cleaning the Print Head

If the nozzles are clogged, the printouts become faint or there is visible banding. If the nozzles are severely clogged, a blank sheet will be printed. When print quality has declined, first use the nozzle check feature to check if the nozzles are clogged. If the nozzles are clogged, clean the print head.

Important:

  • Do not open the scanner unit or turn off the printer during head cleaning. If the head cleaning is incomplete, you may not be able to print.

  • Head cleaning consumes ink and should not be performed more than necessary.

  • When ink is low, you may not be able to clean the print head.

  • If print quality has not improved after repeating nozzle check and head cleaning 3 times, wait for at least 12 hours without printing, and then run the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary. We recommend turning off the printer by using the button. If print quality has still not improved, run Power Cleaning.

  • To prevent the print head from drying out, do not unplug the printer while the power is on.

  1. Select Maintenance on the printer's control panel.

  2. Select Print Head Nozzle Check.

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to load paper and print the nozzle check pattern.

  4. Check the printed pattern to see if the print head nozzles are clogged.

    • A:
      All lines are printed. Select . No further steps are needed.
    • B or close to B
      Some nozzles are clogged. Select , and then follow the on-screen instructions to clean the print head.
    • C or close to C
      If most lines are missing or not printed, this indicates most nozzles are clogged. Select to exit the nozzle check feature, and then run Power Cleaning. For details, see "Related information" below.

  5. When cleaning is finished, print the nozzle check pattern again. Repeat cleaning and printing the pattern until all lines are printed completely.

Important:

If print quality has not improved after repeating nozzle check and head cleaning 3 times, wait for at least 12 hours without printing, and then run the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary. We recommend turning off the printer by using the button. If print quality has still not improved, run Power Cleaning.

Note:

You can also check and clean the print head from the printer driver. See the related information link below for details.

Related Information