dell photo printer 720 problems

Question

Hi,   I received the Dell Photo Printer 720 almost exactly a year ago along with my Dell Dimension 4600.  I had trouble setting it up then so I never bothered, but now I NEED the printer.    Setup was no problem.  The issue is every test page I print shows wonderful looking magenta and yellow stripes, but blue and black are EXTREMELY faint, almost nonexistent.  I've checked the cartridges over and over -- the tapes are off, they're full of ink, and as far as I can tell, I've placed them in correctly.  My roommate has the exact same printer; hers works fine, and she put her cartridges in the same way I did.  So what's going on?    Much thanks to anyone who can help or at least will try to!  ^^

fireberd · Answer

Since it's been sitting for a year, the ink may have dried in the cartridge(s) nozzles. It will probably require new cartridges to get it going, however try soaking the nozzle end of the cartridges in water for a short period (about 10 minues) and then pad them dry with a kleenex or something similar then try them to see if they work.

You could also post your question in the Dell Ink-Jet printer section, as that is specifically for issues with Dell branded printers. Someone there may have more info.

william_the_sco · Answer

When you don't use your ink carts for a while or when you get new ink carts that have been stored in warehouses for a number of months, the print head nozzles on the bottom of the ink carts get clogged with dried ink. The printer head cleaner menu will not disolve the dried ink. Water will. Try this. Soak the bottom of the clogged ink cart in 1/2 inch of hot water for 15-30 minutes. Blot dry with clean paper towel(you should see the ink color on the towel). Retry.

melkimx · Answer

Oh, one thing though.  I was printing out a 14-page paper with color pictures, and the black ink on the last two pages came out so faded I couldn't read the words.  Do printers work anything like pens, where if you just let them settle for awhile they come back to life?    Boy, that sounded weird... but hopefully you know what I mean.

melkimx · Answer

Wow, soaking the cartridges actually worked!  I'm so glad I received such awesome advice.  Thanks so much!

william_the_sco · Answer

The ink carts have an absorbent material in them that hold the ink. It does work a very little after setting. But usually that means your cart is almost out of ink and may stop printing in only a page or two.

melkimx · Answer

That'd be weird, though, because although the cartridges are a year old they should be almost completely full.  I mean, maybe not full, since they're trial cartridges and I think that means they're only supposed to have half the amount of ink to begin with, but according to the Dell Printer Solution program, they are pretty much full.

shortybroadt · Answer

i have a photo printer 720 my daughter gave me without the disk with it . can you tell how i can get this to work  or get a copy of the disk to put i my computer. i have xp home 2000 . please can you. i have another printer a x5150 installed on my computer will that matter?

william_the_sco · Answer

You can download Current Dell printer drivers from Dell.com. Having more than one printer connected to your computer should work ok. I have four on mine and they all work fine. However some people have reportedly had problems with having more than one driver installed, but probably because they had some settings set wrong.

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