| Home > Maintaining Your Printer Cleaning the Print Head Using the Head Cleaning utility for Windows Using the Head Cleaning utility for Mac OS X Using the control panel buttons If you find that the printout is unexpectedly faint or that dots are missing, you may be able to solve these problems by cleaning the print head, which ensures that the nozzles are delivering ink properly. You can clean the print head from your computer using the Head Cleaning utility in the printer software or from the printer by using the buttons.
| Note:
Print head cleaning consumes some ink. To avoid wasting ink, clean the print head only if print quality declines; for example, if the printout is blurry or the color is incorrect or missing. Use the Nozzle Check utility first to confirm that the print head needs to be cleaned. This saves ink. You cannot clean the print head if the message "ink out" is displayed or the ink icon shows ink low on the LCD panel. In case of ink out, the ink cartridge replacement procedure will start. If you do not want to replace an ink cartridge at this moment, press Stop/Clear setting button to return the print head to its home position. Make sure the CD/DVD tray is not inserted in the printer before using the Head Cleaning utility.
Using the Head Cleaning utility for Windows Follow the steps below to clean the print head using the Head Cleaning utility.
| Make sure the printer is turned on and no warnings or errors are displayed on the LCD panel.
| Make sure that A4 size paper is loaded in the sheet feeder.
| Access the printer settings.
| Accessing the printer driver for Windows
| Click the Maintenance tab, then click the Head Cleaning button.
| Follow the on-screen instructions.
|  | Caution:
Never turn off the printer while the progress meter is displayed on the LCD panel. Doing so may damage the printer.
| When the cleaning cycle finish, load a few sheets of paper and click Print Nozzle Check Pattern in the Head Cleaning window to confirm that the print head is clean.
Below are two sample nozzle check patterns: Compare the quality of the printed check page with the sample shown below. If there are no print quality problems, such as gaps or missing segments in the test lines, the print head is fine. If any segment of the printed lines is missing, as shown below, this could mean a clogged ink nozzle or a misaligned print head. If the nozzle check page does not print satisfactorily, you may need to repeat the head cleaning and print the nozzle check pattern again. See Cleaning the Print Head
| Note:
If print quality has not improved after repeating this procedure four or five times, turn the printer off and wait overnight. Then run the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary. If the print quality still has not improved, at least one of your ink cartridges may be old or damaged and may need to be replaced. See Replacing an Ink Cartridge If print quality remains a problem after replacing the ink cartridges, contact your dealer. To maintain print quality, we recommend printing a few pages at least once every month.
Top Using the Head Cleaning utility for Mac OS X Follow the steps below to clean the print head using the Head Cleaning utility.
| Make sure the printer is turned on no warnings or errors are displayed on the LCD panel.
| Make sure that A4 size paper is loaded in the sheet feeder.
| Access the EPSON Printer Utility.
| Accessing the printer driver for Mac OS X
| Select the printer, then click OK in the Printer List window.
| Click the Head Cleaning button in the Utility dialog box.
| Follow the on-screen instructions.
|  | Caution:
Never turn off the printer while the progress meter is displayed on the LCD panel. Doing so may damage the printer.
| When the cleaning cycle is finished, click the Confirmation button in the Head Cleaning dialog box to print a nozzle check pattern. Use the check pattern to confirm that the print head is clean.
Below are two sample nozzle check patterns. Compare the quality of the printed check page with the sample shown below. If there are no print quality problems, such as gaps or missing segments in the test lines, the print head is fine. If any segment of the printed lines is missing, as shown below, this could mean a clogged ink nozzle or a misaligned print head. If the nozzle check page does not print satisfactorily, you may need to repeat the head cleaning and print the nozzle check pattern again. See Cleaning the Print Head
| Note:
If print quality has not improved after repeating this procedure four or five times, turn the printer off and wait overnight. Then run the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary. If the print quality still has not improved, at least one of your ink cartridges may be old or damaged and may need to be replaced. See Replacing an Ink Cartridge If print quality remains a problem after replacing the ink cartridges, contact your dealer. To maintain print quality, we recommend printing a few pages at least once every month.
Top Using the control panel buttons Follow the steps below to clean the print head using the control panel buttons.
| Check that no warning or errors are displayed on the LCD panel.
| Press the Setup button and select Head Cleaning by pressing the or button.
|  | Caution:
Never turn off the printer while the progress meter is displayed in the LCD panel. Doing so may damage the printer.
| Press the button, then the Start button. The print head cleaning starts.
| When it is finished, print a nozzle check pattern to confirm that the head is clean. See Checking the Print Head Nozzles
| Note:
If print quality has not improved after repeating this procedure four or five times, turn the printer off and wait overnight. Then run the nozzle check again and repeat the head cleaning if necessary. If the print quality still has not improved, at least one of your ink cartridges may be old or damaged and may need to be replaced. See Replacing an Ink Cartridge If print quality remains a problem after replacing the ink cartridges, contact your dealer. To maintain print quality, we recommend printing a few pages at least once every month.
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