The majority of us owns an inkjet printer and uses it frequently at home as well as in the office. While we may go through the motions of changing the inkjet cartridge or refilling the ink, we are most likely not performing these tasks as efficiently as they should be performed.

Each inkjet printer is different from another. Each manufacturer makes their specific printers uniquely so that you will need to buy certain ink cartridges. There is no "universal" ink cartridge; it's necessary for you to find out exactly which types of cartridges are optimal for your specific printer.

In a typical inkjet printer, there are four different colors of ink that need to be changed: black, cyan, yellow and magenta. Go over to your printer and open the top; look for one or more black boxes. These are your print cartridges. There may be four individual cartridges for each of the aforementioned colors, or there may only be two cartridges: a tri-color cartridge and a black cartridge.

When you go to remove the cartridges from your printer, not much effort is needed. Simply place your thumb and index finger on the cartridge and wiggle it back and forth. It should come out quite easily. Some printers require you to push a lever that will then release the cartridge, while others require that you manually "wiggle" the ink cartridge out of its home.

Be alert when changing your ink cartridges. Always be sure to look inside of the box within your printer that holds the cartridges. If there is any ink residue, grab a non-linting cloth and wipe the ink clean. If you neglect to do this, the ink residue could possibly clog the ports when it's time for you to install new cartridges.

When installing the brand new ink cartridges, make sure that you place each color ink in the appropriate slot. Place your cartridges in "heel to toe" to ensure that they lock into place efficiently. You should hear an audible click that will signify that your cartridge is safely installed and secure. After each cartridge is replaced, close up your printer and turn it on so that it can reset with the new cartridges. You may need to perform a test print to ensure that the cartridges are operating correctly.

Each of these tips should be taken into consideration when you change the various colors of your ink cartridges. Be sure to take your time, and you'll be sure to prevent any sort of mishap that could occur.

Wendy Moyer is an independent journalist. Prink.co.uk is a trusted resource that offers consumer the chance to purchase printer ink -further information can be found on the Prink.co.uk website.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 9:19 pm and is filed under Computers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.