Save yourself a service call and try to troubleshoot and fix your printer by yourself! Still need assistance? Our highly skilled on-staff technician will be able to answer any questions you may have. Is a repair needed? Give us a call now and we'll send a certified technician to help you repair your printer promptly. 866-349-1721

 

#1st Thing To Do: Replace your toner or inkjet cartridge. Even it is right out of the box, cartridges can get damaged by shipping or improper handling. Ask yourself, "Was this happening with my other cartridge?"

 

Are strange characters or badly formatted text being printed out?

Your printing problems might be related to your printer driver. Please refer to your printer manufacturer to ensure you have the latest printer driver installed on your system.

 

Is part of the printed characters missing or have incorrect colors?

The ink cartridge or printhead might be clogged or the printer cartridge may be running out of ink or toner.

 

Most inkjet printers have a cleaning program for the printheads, if you are not sure on how to start the program google printhead cleaner or check your printer manual for instructions. Run the cleaning program and check if the print quality has been improved. (inkjet printers)

 

Printers normally indicate if they are running low on ink or toner by a blinking or non green lit indicator lamp. You can always check this manually by opening up your printer and taking out the cartridge color that you have problems with. The ink level in an ink cartridge is normally easy to see while the toner level might be harder to spot. Try shaking your toner cartridge and put it back into the printer to see if the print quality has been improved.
(inkjet and laser printers)

 

Is a object printed several times?

Is a printed object printed several times where the "ghosted" object appears as a light/dark area relative to the printed object? This error often occurs while printing a larger 100% black area followed by a gray scale pattern. Several fixes might be applicable to the problem (only for Laser Printers):

 

Do you have a high humidity and a low temperature in the room where the printer is placed? This kind of environment might cause the ghosting problem.How many pages have you printed with your printer? It might be that parts such as the print drum or maintenance kit are near the end of their life. Check your documentation (the printer or the parts) to what number of pages these parts are rated to print. You need to change parts if their life cycle is over.You might have a toner build up on the fuser rollers. Some printers have the possibility to print a cleaning cycle, test this and try printing your document again. If you don't have this function on your printer, you might need to replace the fuser assembly in your printer.

 

Is the text faded or fuzzy?

One or more of the ink or toner cartridges are probably almost empty. Refer to the question above for instructions on how to check the levels on your cartridges.
(inkjet and laser printers).

 

Other reasons might be that the print density is set to low or that you set the printer into Eco-mode. Change these setting by setting print density to high and Eco-mode to off. (inkjet and laser printers)

 

Is the printout smeared?

This might be due to a number of printing problems.

 

Check that the paper setting for the printer matches the quality of the paper in the printer. As an example, high gloss paper printer settings should not be mixed with plain paper. (inkjet and laser printers)Your printhead might need to be cleaned or aligned. Read our instructions on how run the printhead cleaner program or check your printer manual for instructions. Run the cleaning program and check if the print quality has been improved. (inkjet printers)The fuser assembly in your laser printer might be broken or dirty and need an replacement. (laser printers)Your toner cartridge might cause the error by letting out to much toner one time, the applicable color cartridge needs to be replaced if this is the case. (laser printers)Do you have a toner spill in your printer? Open the access doors on the printer and clean out any spill that you can find.

 

Does your printout contain horizontal lines or white spots?

This print quality problem indicates that a printhead nozzle is clogged, this is especially true if your printer has been inactive for some time.

 

Most printers have a cleaning program for the printheads, if you are not sure on how to start the program read our printhead cleaner article or check your printer manual for instructions.

 

Run the cleaning program and check if the print quality has been improved. Please note that you might need to run the cleaning program several times to get best possible result. (inkjet printers)

 

Are vertical lines misaligned or do you see light/dark horizontal banding?

This print quality problem probably indicates that a printhead is out of alignment.

 

Your printer most likely has a printhead alignment program that will correct this problem. If you are not sure on how to start the program please check your printer manual for instructions. (inkjet printers)

 

Are your printouts missing colors, lack shadows or contrast?

Printers normally indicate if they are running low on ink by a blinking or non lit green indicator lamp. You can always check this manually by opening up your printer and taking out the cartridge color that you have a problem with. The ink level in an ink cartridge is normally easy to see while the toner level might be harder to spot. (inkjet and laser printers) Your ink could be old if they have been in the printer for a long time. Try replacing the color cartridge that you have a problem with. (inkjet printers) Are your color cartridges in the right place? Make sure you have not loaded a black cartridge in the slot where the cyan cartridge should go and so forth... (inkjet and laser printers) You could have a clogged nozzle in one of the printheads. Read our article on how to run the printhead cleaner program or check your printer manual for instructions. (inkjet printers). After the cleaning program is finished, try printing again to see if the print quality has improved. If your printout don't have any contrast or shadows at all, your black cartridge probably needs to be replaced. (inkjet and laser printers)

 

Are your printouts blurry?

This print quality problem may be a paper problem more than an ink or toner problem.

 

Check that your paper is not damp. (inkjet and laser printers) Is your paper loaded correctly into the paper tray? Most papers are designed to be printed on one side which usually means the shinier side of the paper. (inkjet and laser printers) Is the paper setting correct for the quality of your paper? As an example, high gloss paper printer settings should not be mixed with plain paper. (inkjet and laser printers)

 

Are your printouts grainy/pixilated?

Start by cleaning and aligning your printhead in the printer. Most inkjet printers have a cleaning and aligning program, if you are not sure on how to start the program please check your printer manual for instructions. Your print resolution setting might be set to low. Resolution for a printer is measured in DPI which stands for Dot Per Inches. If this setting is set to low, your printouts may look grainy or pixilated. Try resolve this by setting your printer to print at a higher print quality setting. Please note that printing at too high resolutions are not good since this will drain your cartridges and also lead to longer printing times. What type of paper are you using? If you are using plain paper, try exchanging it to a paper type of higher quality or the paper type recommended by the printer manufacturer. Are you trying to print a picture? The picture resolution (not measured in DPI but in PPI-Pixels Per Inch) might be too low in relation to your printer print quality setting. This leads to a bad print quality where pixels becomes clearly visible. Try resolve this by printing at a lower print quality setting or by getting a picture with a higher resolution. Go to this page to find a quality mapping table between pictures and printed images.

 

Is a repair needed? Give us a call now and we'll send a certified technician to help you repair your printer promptly. 866-349-1721

Save yourself a service call and try to troubleshoot and fix your printer by yourself! Still need assistance? Our highly skilled on-staff technician will be able to answer any questions you may have. Is a repair needed? Give us a call now and we'll send a certified technician to help you repair your printer promptly. 866-349-1721

 

#1st Thing To Do: Replace your toner or inkjet cartridge. Even it is right out of the box, cartridges can get damaged by shipping or improper handling. Ask yourself, "Was this happening with my other cartridge?"

 

Have you made any recent changes to the printer?

Have you made any changes recently on your printer or in the printer's settings? If this is the case, please try to reverse what you have done before continuing since this might easily solve your current problem.

 

Do you have a power failure?

Have you checked that your printer problem is not due to a power failure? A printer that is switched on normally have a green indicator light lit. If the light is not green, check that your power button is set to on, that you have electricity in your wall outlet and that the power cable is connected at both ends. When power is applied, you should be able to hear the printing mechanism move inside or the printer should start to "hum".

 

If above is checked and the printer still not seems to indicate that it is switched on, it could be that your printer has a serious problem and you need to contact your printer maker. First of all, check the instructions that are given for this error in the printer manual before proceeding contacting your printer manufacturer.

 

Links to most printer manufacturers can be found on our printer manufacturer list. It's worth the effort to visit your printer makers website since your printing problem might be model specific. Some printer makers have their own printer troubleshooting forums or Q&A guides where you can find answers to the most common printer problems.

 

Do you have a printer cable failure?

The printer will not be printing if its not connected to the computer. Check that the printer cable connecting your printer to the computer is firmly attached at both ends. Apart from this cable, there should be one more cable which is the one connecting to the wall outlet.

 

Does the indicator lamp indicate a problem?

Is your printer indicator lamp lit in another color than green (orange or red for example) or is your indicator lamp blinking?

 

Check your printer manual for indications on what the color/blinking might mean. Every printer model have its own set of alerts which mean that you need to find your printer manual to understand what your specific printer problems are.

 

Most larger laser printers have a screen where an error code can display. An example is 82.0180 EIO 2. Put this error code into a google search bar and you will find many printer repair forums where you can learn about your specific error code.

 

Are you printing to the correct printer?

Make sure that you are printing to the printer you think you are doing.

 

It could be that the printer is not printing if the default printer has changed or if you are trying to print to a virtual printer e.g. a PDF printer.

 

To check and change the current settings for the default printer:

 

Assuming that you are using Windows XP:

1. Go to the start bar.

2. Click on the control panel and choose Printers and Faxes.

3. A window opens up with icons for all available printers, right-click the icon for the printer that you want to use as the default printer.

4. On the menu that pops-up, look for the setting "Set as Default" or "Set as Default Printer". If it is checked, this printer is already set as the default printer otherwise click the selection to set the printer as the default printer.

 

Assuming that you are using Windows Vista:

1. Go to the start bar.

2. Click on the control panel and choose Hardware and Sound and clicking on Printers.

3. A window opens up with icons for all available printers, right-click the icon for the printer that you want to use as the default printer.

4. Right click the printer you want to set and mark it as the default printer if it's not already marked as such.

 

Is the print head obstructed in its movement?

The print head needs to be able to move freely. Open the cover on the printer and check that no paper is hindering the movement of the print head.

 

If your printer is newly bought and unpacked, check that no tape is attached causing your printer problems by hindering the print head movement.

 

Are you out of paper or do you have a paper jam?

Make sure your paper tray is not empty, nearly empty or jammed full. All these conditions might cause your printer problems since the paper feeding mechanism will not operate.

 

Do you have the correct paper size in the correct paper tray? Check your printer manual for the correct ranges of thickness and paper size.

 

If you print in a humid environment, your paper may be damp. This can obstruct the paper movement mechanism jamming the paper in the printer.

 

The rollers feeding the paper through the printer might be worn down. Note that changing rollers can be easy to do on some printer models while very hard to on others.

 

A paper sheet might jam the printing mechanism causing the printer to not run. If you have paper in the printer mechanism this needs to be manually removed before the printer can print again. Please note that you might need to open many access doors on the printer to verify that no paper is stuck. Always pull the paper in the direction of the paper path, if you pull the paper backwards you might damage the printer.

 

Are your ink or toner cartridges empty?

Ink cartridge or toner cartridge related printer problems should normally be detected by the printer which then should indicate this with a blinking or non green lit indicator lamp.

 

If this is the case, exchange the empty cartridge with a new one and you should be up and running again.

 

Is your printer connected to a network?

Is your printer connected directly to your computer or to a network? If it is connected to a network, check with your network administrator that the network connection and the network settings are in order. The network indicator lamp on your printer (next to the network socket) should normally be blinking in green.

 

If the printer is not printing, have you checked that you actually are standing and waiting for paper to come out from the correct printer? It is not to uncommon for people to go to Printer A while they are in fact printing to Printer B.

 

Have you checked the printer queue?

Check that the printer queue is not stuck causing you the printer problems. If you use the Windows operating system, go to start menu and click on your printer and faxes icon in the control panel. Double click on the printer in question and try to remove all documents from the printer queue before trying to print again.

Q: How does remanufacturing help the environment?

A: Every year, more than 300 million plastic printer cartridges end up dumped in landfills in the United States and around the world — almost eight cartridges are thrown away in the United States every second, industry sources say. While we can never completely stop the cycle of cartridges entering the waste stream, we can at least stem the flow.

 

Remanufacturing matters. Every cartridge that is remanufactured is one fewer going directly to the landfill. For every remanufactured cartridge purchased, it's one less new cartridge that needs to be produced, saving it from entering the waste stream and from draining the planet's natural resources.

 

Q. Will these items void my printer's warranty?

A. The United States Government does not allow manufacturers to void the warranty. The MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT protects you. The basic overview of the ACT is that a manufacturer of a printer you are using cannot void your warranty because you use a cartridge or refill kit manufactured by someone other than the printer manufacturer. This prohibition includes use of compatible cartridges, clip-ons, continuous feeding mechanisms, refill kits, ink, etc.

 

MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT

United States Code Annotated

Title 15 Commerce and Trade

Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties.

 

Q. My printer model is not listed on the cartridge box I received, is this cartridge compatible with my printer?

A. Not every compatible printer model is listed on the outside of each cartridge box. Because some cartridges fit as many as 50 different printers, there is simply not enough space on the box to list each compatible model.

 

Q. Are your remanufactured cartridges filled to capacity?

A. Yes they are. Unlike the "Starter OEM Cartridges" which usually come with your printer, these cartridges are re-filled to maximum capacity. This means you get anywhere from 30% - 50% more ink depending on the cartridge model.

 

Q. Why does my ink cartridge have a different letter (like A, G or D) on the end of the name?

A. The letters on the end actually indicates the amount of ink that a Hewlett Packard OEM cartridge contains. Regardless of the letter at the end, the physical cartridges are exactly the same. Because each of our remanufactured cartridges is filled to complete capacity, these letter designations do not apply to our cartridges; they are all filled to capacity and will fit your printer properly.

 

Q. There is little or no ink coming out from the cartridge is it empty?

A. Due to changes in temperature and transportation conditions sometimes cartridges may appear to be empty or defective once you initially install them into your printer. A simple procedure can remedy this and get your cartridge back into working order. Please do the following: 1) Take a paper towel and fold over twice ending up with a small square shape. 2) Completely soak the square paper towel in warm water and place on a flat surface. 3) Place your cartridge over the towel with the print head over the towel making contact with the moist surface. 4) Hold in place for about 3 minutes allowing the moisture to help loosen the ink coming from the print head. 5) Place the cartridge inside your printer and run 3 printer cleaning cycles. Once this is done, your cartridge should work fine.

 

Q. How should I store my cartridges?

A. Store cartridges in an upright position before usage. The ink in the cartridge must move to the bottom of the cartridge and pass through a sponge to start working. During shipping cartridges do not stay in an upright position, sometimes causing the ink to collect at the opposite end of the cartridge. For best results place the cartridge in an upright position for several hours before usage.

 

Q. How long will the ink last if I store it for future use?

A. The shelf life of our imaging products is approximately 1 year. However this can be longer or shorter depending on several factors, including humidity and temperature.

 

Q. Can pictures and photos be printed with compatible or remanufactured ink?

A. Absolutely! Our products are guaranteed to perform equal to the original manufacturer's product, so pictures photos, etc can be printed with our ink and toner with amazing results. Plus, you'll be able to save much more by using our compatible products instead of the original manufacturer's ink or toner.

 

Q. Should I clean the printer before installing the cartridge?

A. Yes, if possible. You should run the print head cleaning utility once you install your new cartridge. This keeps the nozzles clean and ensures optimal print quality. Please refer to your printer manual for instructions. If applicable, make sure to remove all adhesives and tapes to expose air holes from the cartridge.

 

Q. What's the difference between OEM, Compatible, and Remanufactured?

A OEM is an abbreviation for "Original Equipment Manufacturer." When you see a product described as OEM it is a new "name-brand" cartridge from Canon, Epson, Hewlett Packard, etc.

 

Compatible Cartridge - A brand new cartridge, designed to meet or exceed the OEM specifications and high standards of quality. They are 100% brand new and economically priced compared to expensive name-brand cartridges. Using compatible generic replacement cartridges will not void your printer warranty.

 

Renu Services' Compatible Toner Cartridges. Cartridge that uses a virgin core, sometime new core, 70-900% new parts, new long life drum, tested, and meets or exceeds OEM specifications.

 

Renu Services' Remanufactured Cartridge - A cartridge that has been recycled to meet or exceed OEM specifications. The recycling process involves disassembling, inspecting, cleaning, reassembling and filling the product with ink. We ensure that all our remanufactured cartridges are filled to highest capacity during the remanufacturing process.

 

Q. Is it bad to leave empty cartridges in my printer?

A. Do not leave empty cartridges in your printer. Leaving them in your printer may cause the print head to clog. Remember - the print head is in the printer, NOT in the cartridge. Perform a cleaning cycle through your printer utilities option (on your computer) and follow the instructions to print a test page. If you are not sure how to do this please consult your printer owner's manual. You may have to repeat this process several times. As a last resort if this fails to solve the problem, replace the cartridge with a new one. If the problem persists then most likely your print head is clogged – in the printer, NOT in the cartridge. The only way to clear this is to keep performing the cleaning cycles.