Maintaining Your Printer; Cleaning The Print Head - Epson Stylus Color 980 Printer Basics Manual

Maintaining Your Printer

This section describes maintenance procedures to keep your printer working at its best
and preparation steps for moving your printer. Follow the instructions here for:
cleaning the print head (below)
replacing an ink cartridge (on page 24)
aligning the print head (on page 29)
cleaning the printer (on page 30)
transporting the printer (on page 31)
For more details, see your electronic Reference Guide, as described on page 3. To view
movies showing you how to replace your ink cartridges or clean the print head, see the
Fix-it Flix on your printer software CD-ROM, as described on page 5.

Cleaning the Print Head

If your printed image is unexpectedly light or faint, or dots are missing from the
image, you may need to clean the print head. This unclogs the nozzles so they can
deliver ink properly. Cleaning the print head uses ink, so clean it only if print quality
declines.
This section explains how to clean the print head using the printer's Head Cleaning
utility, which is the recommended method. You can also clean the print head by
holding down the R cleaning button on the control panel for three seconds, and then
printing a page to test print quality. See your electronic Reference Guide for details.
When you don't turn on your printer for a long time, the print quality
can decline. It's a good idea to turn on your printer at least once a
month to maintain good print quality.
If your paper comes with a cleaning sheet, don't use it with your
printer; it may jam inside the printer.
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