What is wrong with my printer ?

What's wrong with my printer/printer ink?

• I have a Lexmark printer with copier and scanner. Both ink cartilages are practically full, but for some reason the black ink is faded. I did check that it was inserted correctly which it was and I have done alignments as the printer suggested, but the black ink still came out faded and not solid. Any ideas to the what the problem may be and how to fix it? Please and thank you.

• Answer:

  Lexmark ink dries out pretty fast. If you have left it sitting unused for a while it's probably started to gum up the nozzles and causing issues with the quality of the print. You can try to run the cleaning function to see it it helps. If not you can heat up some water(about to the point you can still put your finger in it) and put it in a disposable tupperware container, about a quarter to half inch and place the cartridge in it so the print head is facing down and is in the water. Let it sit for a few minutes and then remove it and wipe it dry with a paper towel. You can press the print head to the towel for a few seconds to get it to draw out a little of the ink and water and then put it back in the printer and see if it helped. *If your cartridge happens to be a 100 or 105 DO NOT DO THIS, your cartridge will simply absorb a bunch of water and be useless. This is for cartridges with a print head on it.