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36 Routine Maintenance
6 Close the Top Cover.
Keeping the Best Printing Results
To avoid drying of the Print Head and clogging of the nozzles, note the following.
When You Turn Off the Printer
Follow the procedure below to turn off the printer.
(1) Press the Power button to turn off the printer.
(2) Confirm that the Power lamp has gone out.
This takes a few seconds or as long as around 15 seconds.
(3) Unplug the power plug from the wall outlet.
If you are using a power outlet strip, you can switch it off instead.
When you press the Power button to turn off the printer, the printer automatically puts a
protective cap on the Print Head to prevent the ink from drying. If you remove the power plug or
switch off the power outlet strip before the Power lamp goes out, this capping will not be done
properly, causing the Print Head to dry and clog.
When You Are Not Using the Printer for a Long Time
When you are not using the printer for a long time, print in both black & white and in color, or
perform Print Head Cleaning, about once a month to prevent degradation of the Print Head.
Numerous nozzles are installed in the Print Head for high-precision printing. Just as the
uncapped tip of a ballpoint pen or marker becomes dry and unusable if it is not used for a long
period of time, the print head nozzles become blocked by dried ink. Periodically printing or
cleaning the Print Head can prevent this blockage.
If you have not used the printer for a long time, print out the nozzle check pattern to check the
print head condition before printing.
Note
z If the Alarm lamp still flashes orange after the Top Cover is closed, see “Alarm Lamp Flashes
Orange” on page 53.
z When you start printing after replacing the FINE Cartridge, Print Head Cleaning is performed
automatically. Do not perform any other operations until Print Head Cleaning finishes. The
Power lamp flashes green during cleaning.
z If the straight line is misaligned or the Print Head position is misaligned, align the Print Head
position.
See “Aligning the Print Head” on page 27.
Note
z Ink may blur depending on the paper in the following cases:
– Printed area is traced with a highlight pen or paint-stick, or
– Printed area is stained with water or sweat.
z If the print head nozzles get clogged, printouts will become faint or particular colors will not be printed
properly. For details, see “When Printing Becomes Faint or Colors Are Incorrect” on page 18.