3. Refilling care
Though all printer manufacturers give strict warnings against refilling ink cartridges and the damage it can cause to your printer, the reality is that a lot of home users still go for that option. Most users don't realize that using these cartridges will instantly void their printer's warranty. It's still a cheaper alternative for them over buying a fresh cartridge every time.
So while we don't recommend refilling, if you're gonna do it anyways, it's better to refill on early signs of ink depletion. All printers have an on-screen display to show you the cartridges' in levels. Once the level goes low enough for the driver to warn you, that's when you should be refilling your ink cartridge.
The reason for this is that when a cartridge runs out of ink, the resistors (they control the current provided for ink output) tend to burn out a lot faster due to overheating. Once theres resistors burn out, your print lines will end up looking wavy, giving you inaccurate results. So it's always a good idea to refill the cartridge back to the top on the first signs of depletion.
4. Review your settings
As novice as this may sound, not a lot of users bother checking their print settings. If you're printing documents on a regular basis, just a simple change in setting from normal mode to draft mode can make your ink last a lot longer for you, with little loss of quality.
Moreover many printers have settings for normal printing or fast printing, which really comes in handy when you have to print a lot of documents at one go.
Just a little experimentation with the settings can reveal functions and enhancements that you may have forgotten or not known about. Simple things like selecting the right paper and setting the right orientation can make a world of a difference in your print output.
Also consider going to Control Panel > Printers and Faxes, right click on your printer's icon there and setting it's default printing properties. Once you're done with this, you wouldn't have to bother reviewing the settings every time, unless the print requires it of course.
5. Switch off the right way
The last tip and perhaps one of the most important ones. Shut down your printer using its power off button before turning off it's main power switch. It may sound unnecessary, but in actuality when you power off your printer, it firsts docks the cartridges in positions where the cartridge will be least susceptible to weather damage, reducing chances of a clogged nozzle and ink drying up.
So just wait till your printer does its thing and shuts down before you yank its power cable off the socket... or switch it off.
Right then, just follow these tips and give your printer some good old tender loving care and it will give you more than its money's worth over the long run. Got some more more tips to add here? Well, let's hear it in the comments below and our forums.
Who knows, the best user tips could end up (with due credit) in the next article in this series.
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