How to Fix a Dry Printer Cartridge

Written By: Hariom Godhani

Comments: 9

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

10 - 20 minutes

Introduction

Not using a printer for a long period of time can cause the ink inside it to dry. When we can’t use the dried ink cartridge, most of us get rid of it and buy a new cartridge, which contributes to the increasing e-waste. Instead of discarding a dry cartridge, this guide will help you to fix it in a few easy steps with a couple of things needed which can be found right in your house.

Tools

Step 1

Open the top case of your printer.
Carefully remove the dried cartridge by lifting the flap in the bottom right section of the printer.

Step 2

Place the cartridge on a clean surface and apply a few drops of alcohol-based hand sanitizer to the ink nozzle.
It's best to use an unscented hand sanitizer, as some scents or colors in the hand sanitizer may affect your ink cartridge's performance.
Gently rub your finger on the ink nozzle once or twice.
Let the sanitizer seep in for a few minutes.
While you wait, fill a bowl halfway with warm tap water.

Step 3

Wipe out the ink nozzle where you applied the sanitizer with a clean cloth or paper towel.

Step 4

Place the nozzle side of the cartridge into a bowl filled with warm water.
Do not completely submerge the cartridge inside the water, just half of it.
Wait for 5-10 mins or until you see ink leaking out into the water.
Once you see ink leaking out, remove the cartridge from the water carefully.
It may be a good idea to keep a bit of paper towel or a rag handy to catch any drips from the ink cart.

Step 5

After removing it from the water, completely clean the cartridge with a soft cloth or a paper towel and dry it out.
DO NOT put a wet cartridge inside the printer, else it can damage it.

Step 6

To make sure the cartridge is fully working now, take a piece of paper and rub the ink nozzle over it.
When you see an ink line on the paper, that means you are good to go.

Step 7

Once the body of the cartridge has completely dried, place it back into the slot in the printer.

I followed your instructions and it worked great on my dried up cartridge. It wasn't a long procedure at all and it saved me another trip to the store. Thank you.

Janet Gates -

Worked great on the black cartridge, but the color one is only printing yellow..go figure... great guide anyway

Jacopo Grassi -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Hariom Godhani

Member since: 01/10/21

406 Reputation

7 comments

Thank you. This worked for me.

Thomas Grace -

Thank you 👍

Suzan Duran -

This actually worked . Did just as you instructed , didn't see ink in the hot water but after a few minutes I dried the cartridges off and had ink on the paper towel . Worked great ,Thanks Hariom .

Tim -

Tried this with HP 60 black and tri-colour cartridges, which were both brand new, sealed cartridges, but were probably sitting in the box since ~2008. It did manage to loosen the ink up enough that if I ran the nozzle along a damp coffee filter, it would leave a solid black line, or in the case of the colour cartridge, a line of 3 stripes: cyan, yellow, then magenta. Unfortunately, the moment I dry them off and pop them back in the printer, nothing happens. I did manage to get the faded mostly cyan top third of a test page once, but that was it. Repeated the process more thoroughly, and got a more consistent output of ink on the filter, but the result after that was nothing but blank sheets.

Not really sure what to do beyond this, because I could probably just pick up a new printer for the price of these cartridges. This would probably work well for newer cartridges that were printing fine, but then were just left idle for a few months too long between prints.

Jordan “gordo” Zanatta - 24/01/24

At least you tried it and you know what to do if the cartridges aren't left for a lessor time.

DEAN -

I agree completely. I purchased a printer from Walmart just for a few printing needs and just in case, but after one use it didn't work. The printer was cheaper than the price of 1 of the cartridges. I don't often need a printer as most things are done online now. But, it's good to have one. No use if it's junk. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Toughcookie122 -

This looks hopeful. You can use a quick and dirty "vacuum chamber" (costs less than 5 bucks):

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Rev...

Daire O Broin -