Maintenance And Transporting; Improving Print Quality; Cleaning The Print Head; Aligning The Print Head - Epson STYLUS PHOTO R360 Series User Manual

Maintenance and Transporting

Improving Print Quality

Cleaning the print head

If your printouts are unexpectedly light or faint, or
dots or lines are missing, you may need to clean the
print head. This unclogs the nozzles so they can
deliver ink properly. Print head cleaning uses ink, so
clean it only if quality declines.
c
Caution:
When you don't turn on your printer for a long time, the print quality
can decline, so turn it on at least once a month to maintain good
print quality.
Follow these steps to clean the print head from the
printer's control panel:
1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not
printing, and no error is displayed. If a message
on the LCD screen tells you that a cartridge is
expended or low on ink, you may need to replace
an ink cartridge; see page 25 for details.
2. Press the F [Setup] button, press the l or r button
to highlight Maintenance, then press the OK
button.
3. Press the u or d button to select Head Cleaning,
then press the OK button.
4. To begin cleaning, press the x Start button. The
printer makes noise and the Print head cleaning
in progress. Please wait. message appears on the
LCD screen.
c
Caution:
Do not turn off the printer or interrupt the cleaning process.
5. When cleaning is done, run a nozzle check to
confirm the print head nozzles are clean. Make
sure A4 plain paper is loaded in the printer, then
press the x Start button. The nozzle check pattern
is printed.
6. Examine the nozzle check pattern you printed.
Each staggered horizontal and straight vertical
line should be complete, with no gaps in the
pattern, as shown below:
■
If your printout looks okay, you are done. Press
the OK button to finish.
■
If there are any gaps (as shown below), press the
x Start button to clean the print head again.
If you do not see any improvement after cleaning
about four times, turn the printer off and wait for at
least 6 hours—this allows any dried ink to soften—and
then try cleaning the print head again.

Aligning the print head

If your printouts contain misaligned vertical lines or
horizontal banding, you may need to align the print
head.
You can align the print head either from the printer's
control panel or using your printer software.
1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not
printing, and A4 paper is loaded.
2. Press the F [Setup] button, press the l or r button
to highlight Maintenance, then press the OK
button.
Press the u or d button to select Head Alignment,
3.
then press the OK button.
Press the x Start button to print the alignment
4.
pattern.
5. The following alignment sheet is printed.
Maintenance and Transporting 27