What is the proper way to care for printer ink cartridges when you dont do a lot of printing? -

My printer does not print well if it has been sitting idle for a while. I m wondering if I should take the ink cartridges out if I know I won t be using it for a while. It s a Lexmark.

Lexmark does not make a bad printer most printers have this problem when you don t print a lot, you should be thank full it s not a epson where the cartridge sits on the print head and if that don t print put it to the curb. Just take your cartridges out of the machine after they have sat for a while boil some water, put a quarter of an inch of boiling water in a small container and dip the cartridge in and out of the boiling water so that just the bottom of the cartridge gets wet .you will see it start to bleed, now take a piece of paper towel fold it in half and dab the cartridge on it not in the same spot so you can see if it starts to bleed better, do it until you get a solid line of black and three solid colors with the color cartridge, now take a bit of 99% isopropyl alcohl and a q tip dipped into the alcohol turn the q tip side ways and rub the contcts board on the back of the cartrdge to clean it and evaporate any water that might got on them, than try it in the machine. Worked for me for 15 years. Want to be a tech haha. gl

Most commercial and industrial ink jet printers use a piezoelectric material in an ink-filled chamber behind each nozzle instead of a heating element. http://www.inkforprinters.org/ Report Abuse

Good luck, I hate that brand quot;Lexmarkquot;. My friend has one and it sucks. I have a HP printer and what I do when I m not using it is I keep it cover in plastic. I don t think taking the ink out is a good idea. Because if you put the cartridge back the printer may not read it.

I had ona of those $25 lexmarks and had endless probs. with ink. Junked it and got a epson. No probs now. I don t print real often but if don t print right just push nozzle clean and all is well.

Lexmark ink is prone to drying, much more so than any other brand. The best place for the cartridges to be is in the printer. When you power it down, you ll hear the noise of the padded waste ink reservoir adjusting to seal the printhead of the cartridges and keep them from being exposed to air. You might also try: Take a paper towel and wet it. Wring it out and place in a plastic container. Place the cartridges in the container, but not on the wet towel, because as it dries it would cause the ink to wick out onto the paper towel. Seal the container. Depending on how long you go without printing, you may need to re-moisten the paper towel. You might also have to move the container to the fridge if you are storing it in an area that is too warm. Warmth + Moisture = Mold. The fridge will keep the mold at bay.