My free printer, which I barely used over the past 16 months, came with free ink cartridges, which I installed. The black one reads 46% full but wont print a thing, while the color one reads 62% full but prints very well. I can only conclude that somehow the black cartridge dried up. Anyway, regardless of what happened to it (maybe it was a reconditioned cartridge), how does one prevent an ink cartridge from drying up? Must one print out a page or two at least once a week? (Maybe I am asking the wrong question, being a novice with ink cartridges.)

Tsaeb, I apologize for the long delay in responding to your post. I was hoping that someone would answer you with a better response than mine. I don't know of anyway to increase the 'shelf' life of your print cartridges, except:

When they fail to print, take them out of the printer and use a very mild soap and water with a soft cloth and try cleaning the contacts.

Allow them to dry, then reinstall them and see if that will make them work again.

I know of some instances where this has worked, but I also know it often does no good. In that case, the cartridge needs to be replaced.

Dwight

tseab, one other thing is that your printe's control program (look in Control Panel under Printers) might have an option for cleaning the nozzles. Running this a few times might dislodge any tiny pieces of dried or crusty ink residue. It's worth a try after you replace the cartridge, though it will consume some ink.

I don't think those cartridges were expected to keep working with long periods of inactivity. At least the price was right!

I've been cautioned that reconditioned or refilled cartridges frequently have problems, so maybe not worth the discount compared to the pricey new ones.

My experience has been that the pricey new ones are worth the difference in price, the refilled ones are false economy.

Here's an off the wall suggestion. Since you don't use the printer except for once in a while, I wonder if it would help to remove the cartridges when not in use and put a piece of tape over the contacts. Like putting a cap back on an ink pen. If it's not exposed to air it won't dry up.

At $22 per quarter-ounce, a Hewlett-Packard color ink-jet cartridge is more expensive, by weight, than imported Russian caviar.

Yeah, but the caviar sure tastes better.

Caviar is disgusting. I'd rather eat the ink.

The plot (let alone the ink) thickens:

HP's ink jet technology manager says third-party vendors can't fine-tune fluidity so that their inks spray properly onto the paper.

And from the same article:

...company makes its inks and uses cartridges made of polypropylene, a high-quality material that printer vendors use, instead of cheaper plastics that can damage the ink if it's stored for several months.

Another method...use a laserjet printer. No ink cartridges, just toner.

I thought that no one was answering, because the question is such a dumb one. Anyway, I am imagining all kinds of reasons why one cartridge died before the other even to the point of suspecting that it was reconditioned to start with. Oops. I think that I will just have to print out a sheet every so often. . . .

One last question: can one truly change to a laserjet printer when one has a Dell? Oops, for sure.

You would have to acquire a new printer. You can buy a used laserjet printer which shouldn't be too expensive. The toner doesn't "dry up" so that problem is solved.

You may find some excellent bargains in used office equipment places.

Dwight

To follow up Dwight's suggestions, I should point out that I bought a brand-new, factory-sealed HP laser printer (toner cartridge included) over the internet for about $130, which has worked perfectly so far for almost a year. Check around.

And the lasers are so much faster than inkjets. And the ink doesn't smudge, either.

Dwight & Professor: I am a lot dumber than my question. I was asking whether I can suddenly just hook up a laser printer into a computer system which came with an inkjet printer. Specifically, my new computer system came with an inkjet printer, but I still have my laser printer from my old computer system. So can I use a compatible laser printer with my new computer system, which came with an inkjet printer? P.S. If you saw my table, you would marvel at the two computer systems on it, but I do like the old computer system's laser printer better.

Yes, you can install a laser printer on the new computer system. Your laser printer would most likely come with an installation CD which you can use to install the printer *driver and any "toolbox" utility program it may have.

If you buy used, and there is no CD, don't worry; you can download the driver directly from the printer maker's Website.

Also, assuming that your new computer is running Windows XP, the printer driver may very well already be on your system. If that is the case, when you plug in the printer and start the computer (and turn on the printer) the driver would install automatically. You can see this activity in a little pop-up window down by the clock display.

If the computer is unable to install the printer driver automatically, you can click on "Cancel" and go to the printer Website --> Support section --> Software and Drivers download section.

Put in your printer information and download the recommended driver file. Some printer sites have a installation program that will run and install the driver automatically. Hewlett-Packard printer often do this.

If you do buy a used system and need help with it, post another request and we can guide you step-by-step. We would need to know the make/model of the printer and the Operating System of the computer that you're installing it on.

I hope this helps!

Dwight

*Driver A driver is a file that contains specific information about the hardware that you are attaching to the computer. It acts as an interpretor of the commands you are sending to the device (printer in this case). A driver is often a very small file, although with printers, the file can be quite large. If you are using a dial-up Internet connection and need to get a large file printer driver, you may prefer to get the file sent to you on a CD. Generally the only cost for this is the shipping fee.

I have an old (used) laser printer, but I suspect that some day in the not too distant future, its drum will die. So it is six of one and a half dozen of another. Yet, what I like most about it is its telephone number on it.

Today I got a surprise when the color ink cartridge wouldn't print. By now, having had my fill of this phenomenon, I scrubbed it with a wet tissue with my fingernail behind the wet tissue and then dried it. Son of a gun, it is new again. Then, I tried this with the black ink cartridge, but had only a drop of success--too late for its rejuvenation. Moral: periodically use a wet tissue with a fingernail behind it. These ink cartridges had better now watch out: I have become militant! You all helped me to be so brave!

Try wetting the tissue with rubbing alcohol instead of water. Most inks seem to be soluble in alcohol.

quote:

Originally posted by Professor:
Try wetting the tissue with rubbing alcohol instead of water. Most inks seem to be soluble in alcohol.

This really works well. I just tried it for the first time. Thanks, Prof!