If your Epson printer prints out faint images, skips lines, or streaks your image, you most likely have a clogged nozzle, which is a common problem with Epson printers.

Over time, tiny particles of ink residue will inevitably dry up and gather in the nozzles, causing print heads to clog. Being cautious about replacing cartridges as soon as the low ink signal goes off might help to avoid ink from drying inside the nozzles, but one or more may still become blocked for other reasons. Let us discuss some effective ways to fix this issue and get back to printing.

How to Keep Your Printhead Clean?

Before opening your device and performing a manual cleaning, check your nozzles and use the printer’s menu to run cleaning cycles.

Printhead Cleaning Cycles

Epson printer models have an effective cleaning cycle, which usually clears the nozzles in a few cycles. However, keep in mind that the most recent models have lengthier cleaning processes, which regrettably result in increased ink consumption each time. To begin, follow these steps:

• Before proceeding, ensure that the printer’s LCD screen does not display any problems.
• Press the Home button, then “Setup” and finally “Maintenance.”
• Choose “Printhead Nozzle Check”.
• Your printer will generate a page with four colored grids that show which nozzles are affected (and which are not).
• If there are no gaps, choose “done.”
• Choose “Clean the printhead” and proceed if there are spaces or faint lines.

If you are experiencing issues even after cleaning, make sure your device is running the latest Epson L3210 Driver Update, as outdated drivers can impact performance and maintenance functions.

Caution: Don’t shut down your printer while it’s cleaning. The unit could suffer permanent harm if this is done.

Sponge with Distilled Water

• Turn the printer off and open the lid. The printhead assembly needs to be visible.
• Locate a tiny plastic lever to the left of the assembly that will raise when the printer is not printing. To release the printhead, move it forward and down, then press the unit to the right. It may just move an inch or so at first, but when pushed to an end, it will click. This totally releases the assembly and allows you to push it to the side.
• If your printhead assembly does not have a lever next to it, print a page with the top up and then disconnect the printer with the assembly in the middle, unlocked.
• You should notice sponges that hold ink from the cartridges in the frame. Hydrate the sponges in filtered water or Windex solution using a plastic syringe or an eyedropper.
• Reposition the assembly as far right as possible over the sponges.
• Give the distilled water a minimum of fifteen minutes to settle. Consider leaving the printer to soak overnight for optimal results.
• Until your prints are clear and sharp, print six to eight pages that are packed with text and photos. Consider going on to the next printhead cleaning process if you are still not seeing positive results.

Distilled Water in the Ink Port

• Take the ink cartridges out of the carriage of your printhead.
• When you remove the ink cartridges, you’ll notice tiny cone-shaped indents that supply the ink from the cartridge to the printhead. These are named ink ports, and one should be provided for each black/color cartridge.
• Using a plastic syringe or an eye dropper, add a few drops of boiling water or printhead cleaning to the ink port that may be clogged. Don’t fill every port with cleaner! If you’re not sure which color is which, check for color remains at the bottom of the ink port. Usually, yellow is on the far right, followed by magenta, cyan, and black on the leftmost side.
• Replace ink cartridges and allow the printer to configure the new cartridge. Before continuing, use a paper towel to clean the printhead to dry any water or solution that may have spilled.
• Print between 6 and 8 pages of text and pictures to ensure clarity.

Conclusion

If a printhead is not used regularly enough, dirt can accumulate on it. To keep the ink in the cartridges from drying out, we advise printing a couple of times a month. However, you might still need to perform some cleaning once in a while, even if you make an effort to print that much.  When you begin to experience poor print output, then it is the ideal moment to perform a printhead cleaning.  Cleaning the printhead will typically solve the issue immediately if your printer begins to produce weak, incomplete, or streaky prints.