How to Clear a Clog in the Inkjet Printer

An inkjet printer works by spraying jets of tiny droplets of quick-drying ink onto paper to make a hard copy of a document or an image. It can print up to 4 to 6 pages a minute this way, producing high quality text and graphics.

An inkjet printer is of higher quality than a dot matrix on the one hand and cheaper and smaller than a laser printer on the other. This makes them especially popular and widely used by home users, especially among kids. Unfortunately, however, inkjets tend to suffer from bleeding ink and, particularly with excessive usage, have a tendency to clog up. These clogs tend to occur right in the middle of an important print job.

Clogs occur in the print heads where the ink is ejected. The inkjet's print head is the actual device that dispenses the printer ink. It mainly occurs when moisture evaporates from the nozzles in the print head, leaving behind a hardened mass of printer inks that in turn clog up the nozzle's microscopic holes. When this occurs, you end up with white lines, smudges and paper jams.

Aside from restoring the quality of your print- jobs, one real benefit of cleaning your printer is to prolong its useful life.

Most inkjet printers come equipped with a self-cleaning process specifically intended to solve this type of problem. It can be accessed from your printer's control panel. Printer heads can be flushed clean with a couple of head cleaning cycles. A head cleaning cycle is a built-in function in the printer. If you do not have your inkjet printer's manual, you can access it from the manufacturer's website.

Print cleaning cycles work by sending print signals to the printer and at the same time producing a small vacuum or air-suction pump from underneath. This combination is done to suck out the clogged ink from the printer head. For this you need to run three or four print cleaning cycles to fully clear the clog.

However, there may be times when these print cleaning cycles do not work to clear the clog. For these stubborn inkjet clogs there are various cleaners that are formulated to dissolve the dried up ink which have been accumulated in the printer head over time. Be sure, however, to only use cleaners recommended for the brand and model of your inkjet.

The cheapest way clear a tough print head clog is through the use of a solution of equal parts of ammonia and water. Turn off the printer, unplug it and let it cool off. Now soak the print head in the ammonia solution for an hour or two. After two hours, rinse off the print head thoroughly in distilled water, let it dry and then replace it in the printer. You may also use a computer vacuum to remove the debris that collects in your printer's rollers.

So the next time when your inkjet printer is clogged try any of these methods and clear the blockage from your printer.