How to Clean the Printhead?

The following document contains steps to clean the printhead. If there is clog in the printhead, your printer might face while printing. To maintain your printer clear the excessive ink settled on the printhead.

The Elaborate Procedure to Clean the Printhead in your HP printer

To clean the printhead, follow the detailed procedure mentioned below. If the printhead is clogged, the print quality should be compromised. The printhead gets clogged because of the dried ink, and if the printer is not in use for many days, the inks get dried off resulting in a clogged printhead. You can clean the printhead using self-cleaning software if not manually cleaning is always better. Your keyboard will have a Windows key, identify and press the same or click on Start using your mouse. Type Control Panel in the Serch box and press enter. From the list of settings, identify Devices and Drivers option and double-click on it to expand the same. The Devices and Driver window will have the icon of all the devices connected to your computer. Right-click on your device and a menu will pop-up. Choose Properties from the menu, and a window will get open. Choose the Hardware and Maintenance tab at the top of the window. You can also prefer Self-cleaning option in More Options tool tab. In the toolbox window, click the cleaning option. You have to choose between Clean Heads or Clean Cartridges. Select Clean Heads to clean the print head manually.

If you did not find any options, refer to the user manual for proceeding further. However, if the option is chosen, the printer will start the cleaning process. The screen will display you the result. If the status still displays clogged printhead, you have it clean it manually. Gather the requirements to clean the printhead manually. You need an Isopropyl alcohol, water, a bowl and, lint-free cloths. Turn the printer off and pull the plug out from the socket. Open the cover of the printer and remove the ink cartridges out from it. Put the cartridges into the respective holder so that the ink does not get dried off. Carefully take the printhead out from the printer. Handle it gently as rough handling can damage the printhead. Take an equal proportion of isopropyl alcohol and water. Immerse the lint-free cloth into the liquid mixture and squeeze the excess liquid. Wipe off the ink settled on the printhead. Clean until the white cloth doesn’t get ink strain anymore. Fix the printer parts back to its position. Plug your HP printer directly to the wall socket and turn it on. Perform a print test to check if the HP printer is printing properly. The above [procedure will help you to clean the printhead.