When you want to print your important document, the entire page is full of dotted lines. This is not a coincidence but there are parts of your printer that are malfunctioning or damaged. There are several reasons why printer prints have lines and dots.
1. Cartridge Head is Clogged
This is the first assumption most people make. You can check the cartridge head section which will indicate if it is clogged. The cause of a clogged head cartridge is most likely due to the printer being stored for a long time and ink not properly flowing.
How to Fix a Clogged Cartridge
The first step to fixing a clogged cartridge is to take it apart. This includes removing the ink cartridge from the printer and any other parts that may be blocking the print head from making contact with the paper.
Next, you’ll need to remove any excess ink or debris that may be clogging up the print head. For this, use a tissue or cotton swab dipped in alcohol or water.
Lastly, clean off any residual ink using a vacuum cleaner and make sure all of the parts are put back together properly. Using a vacuum cleaner also remove any loose dust and hair that may be clogging your cartridge head.
2. Dirty Timing Strip or Encoder
A timing strip is also known as an encoder. Basically, it provides the driver with an input signal (usually from the cam and crank) that has a correct time relationship with ignition, gear shift and other vehicle speed signals.
Many people don’t know that if the printout is lined, it’s often because of a problem with the Encoder. Sometimes when using a printer, paper jams will occur and you may then notice the encoder’s spring that, in turn, can come into contact with ink. This has been noted to cause occasional damage. This makes the encoder become difficult to be read by the machine.
How to Overcome a Dirty Encoder
The encoder is the small sensor that is on the back of the printer. It detects when a document has been fed into the printer and tells it what to do next. The encoder is usually covered in ink, dust, and other dirt that can interfere with its functionality.
A dirty encoder on printer can cause a variety of issues to the device. This includes paper jams, paper feed, and lower print quality. The back of the encoder is where the sensor is located, and this area needs to be cleaned with a soft tissue before it gets worse. Be careful and thoroughly clean the back of the encoder.
3. do Head Cleaning
Generally, many people will do Head Cleaning when the printouts are lined and dotted. But doing head cleaning is not arbitrary, there is a way to do head cleaning properly to keep it durable.
How to Do Head Cleaning Properly
A lot of printers suffer because their heads get clogged and dirty which can lead to expensive damages. By paying more attention to printer maintenance, you’ll avoid such a disaster.
- Click the Windows icon
- Select Devices and Printers
- Right click then > Select Printer Preference (Make sure the Driver is installed correctly)
- Then select Maintenance > select Head Cleaning
- Perform cleaning as needed only
Note: check Nozzle Check before doing Cleaning/ Head Cleaning
Cleaning: is a lighter ink cleaning (recommended before heading to head cleaning)
Head Cleaning: deeper cleaning for cleaning (draining ink)
Nozzle Check: check the print state in progress
If you feel that the print is bad and you have done regular cleaning, still no results, you can use No. 2 (Deep Cleaning)
When doing Cleaning/ Deep Cleaning/ Head Cleaning, or after printing the Nozzle Check you must give a gap of about 10-15 minutes. This is to avoid cartridge heating up and affect its durability.
4. Ink is Not Draining Into the Cartridge
Another thing that usually happens is the ink not being channeled into the cartridge properly, this usually occur with infusion models printer. You need to pay attention to whether there are any air in the tube?
If there is air that gets into the tube it will cause the ink to stop running into the cartridge. Because the ink is not channeled into the cartridge, it causes streaks and dashes when printing.
How to Solve the Ink Not Flowing Into The Cartridge
Make sure that you fill the ink before the ink empty completely, this will prevent any air entering the infusion tube and also ensuring proper smooth passage of the ink to the cartridge. This can be done by pulling the tube, suck the ink with a syringe, or by sucking the ink through the head cartridge with a special tool.
5. The Cartridge Reach its Lifespan Limit
Each original default cartridge has a maximum usage limit, so you need to be careful how many months/years the cartridge has been used. Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do except changing the cartridge.