[jszrules]

Not sure if this is a problem with the printer itself or the utility application that runs the printer, so I'm asking this question both in this forum and the Applications forum...

I am trying to print a document that has color in it. My color cartridge is still half full. I selected to print with "Natural Color" instead of "Black and White". Despite all of this, it prints only the parts of the image that are black and white. The parts with color do not show up at all. I printed a test-page and the rows that were supposed to have the red, blue, and yellow were all completely blank. Just the black and white rows showed up. So it is not just a problem with this particular document. What could be the problem and how do I fix? Thanks a lot.

[jszrules]

anyone?

[OreoCookie]

Could you post more details about your printer?
If it is an Epson and hasn't been used in a while, chances are that your print head is clogged which means (in the worst case) that you need a new printer.

[jszrules]

It is a Lexmark Z-25, which I got less than 3 years ago. Other than that, I don't really know of any other info there is to give. Could it be a problem with the cartidge?

[tooki]

Sure, or with the printer. These things aren't designed to last long anymore, 3 years is, alas, not unusually early for an inkjet to fail.

tooki

[jszrules]

Is there a way to figure out whether it's a printer problem or a cartridge problem without having to buy a new color cartridge?

[tooki]

Not really. Have you done a head cleaning? If that doesn't work, have you tried soaking the print head in alcohol to see if it's just a complete clog?

tooki

[OreoCookie]

Originally posted by jszrules:
Is there a way to figure out whether it's a printer problem or a cartridge problem without having to buy a new color cartridge?

I don't know much about Lexmarks, but this sounds to be the smallest Lexmark model. If you don't use it much, the ink in the nozzles will dry. You could try to put the cartridge in water (use a saucer, several layers of tissue and pour water in it, not too much, but the tissue should be covered well; change the tissue if applicable) and hope most of the nozzles will clear up.

This should be the option of last resort, but to be honest, it sounds like you have bought the cheapest Lexmark printer back then. A new set of ink cartridges can be about as much as a new (extremely cheap) printer.

[jszrules]

Since I hadn't really needed color, I tolerated the situation until a similar thing started to happen with my black cartridge. The color cartridge was still half-way full but wasn't printing anything. The black cartridge was still about 20% full, but was starting to fade whenever it print, which doesn't make sense.

So I finally took both cartridges out and had a look at them. The nozzle on the color cart. was covered in gunk. The black cart. had specks of gunk here and there, but not nearly as bad as the color cartridge. I cleaned each of them with alcohol and a Q-Tip, waited a few minutes for them to dry, inserted them back into the printer, and printed a test page for each cartridge. Unfortunately, the same problems still persisted in both cartridges.

I bought a new black cartridge, and this one prints perfectly. So I'm guessing the gunk was the issue. Since the color cartridge was the one that experienced problems first, I'm guessing it "spread it's gunk" to the black cartridge as it moved along the printer. Correct me if that sounds like a reasonable conclusion.

How the gunk got on the color cartridge in the first place is beyond me. I don't use it that much, so if the reason was that it simply dried up, then fine. But gunk? Does drying up lead to gunk??

I used the old black cartridge pretty frequently so I am assuming it wasn't its own gunk that ended up on its nozzles...it couldn't be dry since it still printed (albeit faintly). If my reasoning doesn't make sense, please let me know so I can get a new printer!