[alih786]

Firstly i have a DELL A920 inkjet all in one. Its been a whole year now and the colour cartridge isnt working. When i check the ink levels, their is ink still left in the color cartridge. At the moment i am not worried about the colour but if you can please give solutions on how to get colour printing working. However i believe that the color cartridge is thick and not getting any ink out and also, it sometimes only prints red-ish, orange-ish colour prints instead of original colour prints that are on the screen.

My main concern is this, 2 days ago i scanned a document, when i print it in black & white it doesnt print good. - their are few line gaps on the page, the black & white print is light. Mostly only less than half a page is printed. When this happened i then thought this black ink cartridge is damaged or is jammed. I then went on a word processor, typed something then printed it out, and it worked.

Can anyone give me any solutions to these two above problems. Help would be greateful.

[Albert Lionheart]

First a question - are you using original manufacturers ink carts? If you have used cheap replacements then it is almost certain they have failed and the print heads are clogged.
Take out the carts and very carefully wipe the print head with a moist tissue. Try again.
If no good (and this is the mad bit but it works), wrap the carts in tissue and place them in the bottom of a plastic bag with the print heads pointing downwards. Go outside the building and whirl the plastic bag round your head for a few turns. You may sing and dance while doing this if you think someone is watching. Try again.
If no good, get some new cartridges or better still get a new printer as anything with Dell written on it will cost more to feed than any other printer.

[Blackmirror]

Has it been a year since you used it ?
try running the printer utility

[alih786]

Originally Posted by Albert Lionheart

First a question - are you using original manufacturers ink carts? If you have used cheap replacements then it is almost certain they have failed and the print heads are clogged.
Take out the carts and very carefully wipe the print head with a moist tissue. Try again.
If no good (and this is the mad bit but it works), wrap the carts in tissue and place them in the bottom of a plastic bag with the print heads pointing downwards. Go outside the building and whirl the plastic bag round your head for a few turns. You may sing and dance while doing this if you think someone is watching. Try again.
If no good, get some new cartridges or better still get a new printer as anything with Dell written on it will cost more to feed than any other printer.

The color ink cartridge is brand new, there is more than half left.
The black ink cartridge is refilled. I have been using refilled black ink cartridges twice and haven't had a problem until now. Ill try the first solution you mentioned.

What do you mean by the print heads are clogged?

-Take out the carts and very carefully wipe the print head with a moist tissue. Try again. - I take out the cartridges and clean where, what part?? and what sort of tissue do you mean, ordinary tissue? show me a picture of the tissue from google, then ill know.

[Albert Lionheart]

If the colour cart is half used, it is not brand new!
Blackmirror has a point - if the machine has been idle for a long time the heads might be clogged with dried ink.
Look at the cart and find the metal strip which will show traces of ink.
Use a moist soft tissue (toilet tissue) to wipe away the traces of ink - if the ink is flowing properly you will see the colour show on the tissue.
Bear in mind that the cost of new carts is almost as much as a new printer, it might be better to get a new machine from say Canon which will cost a lot less to run.

[alih786]

Originally Posted by Albert Lionheart

If the colour cart is half used, it is not brand new!
Blackmirror has a point - if the machine has been idle for a long time the heads might be clogged with dried ink.
Look at the cart and find the metal strip which will show traces of ink.
Use a moist soft tissue (toilet tissue) to wipe away the traces of ink - if the ink is flowing properly you will see the colour show on the tissue.
Bear in mind that the cost of new carts is almost as much as a new printer, it might be better to get a new machine from say Canon which will cost a lot less to run.

Thanks. But no luck at all. Ive just buyed a new b&w cart and it works now. If i buy a new color cart. im sure that will work to. Now i know what the problem is. I have to print at least something once every week to keep the ink flowing or the ink will get stuck/jammed.

[Albert Lionheart]

Your machine should park the print heads so that they are sealed - you MUST turn it off with it's own power button - if you turn if off at the wall it won't park the heads properly and they will dry out. Also do not have the printer where there is a heat source like a radiator or even the exit fan from the system case as this will also cause them to dry out faster than usual.

[alih786]

Originally Posted by Albert Lionheart

Your machine should park the print heads so that they are sealed - you MUST turn it off with it's own power button - if you turn if off at the wall it won't park the heads properly and they will dry out. Also do not have the printer where there is a heat source like a radiator or even the exit fan from the system case as this will also cause them to dry out faster than usual.

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, my printer isn't anywhere near the heater or the pc itself. I just put it on top of a draw. Next time if i need to buy a printer, ill get one that has very cheap ink cartridges, less than £10.
Ive solved this problem now, could you tell me how to mark this post as solved.