Many people don’t realize that saving money in their office budget could be as simple as changing the way they operate their printer. Whether you buy a new one or find a better way to use the cartridges, there are a few things we can do to make them more affordable for the office. What’s the first thing most of us do when our ink cartridges stop working? We buy new ones. But wait a moment – sometimes the issues you’re having with your printing might not necessarily be related to the amount of ink you have left in the Epson cartridge, and throwing them away at the first sign of error could be a costly mistake.

Ignore the empty cartridge warnings

Epson printers are sort of like greedy children, always wanting more sweets when they know they’ve had enough – and one of the most important lessons you need to learn is never to trust your printer when it says it’s out of ink.

If you own an Epson printer and it’s telling you it’s time to replace the ink cartridges, one neat little trick is to reset the ink cartridge by taping over the contacts. For Epson Printer Ink, you can achieve the same result by locating a hole found above the circuit and inserting a pin.

If you’re using a laser printer and you’ve received a low-ink warning, one way of delaying the inevitable cartridge replacement is to remove it from the printer and shake it a few times. You might look a little silly in the office, but you’re actually freeing toner that may have built up around the inside walls of the cartridge.

Are your printer heads clogged?

When no ink appears on your print out, the signs seem obvious: no ink left in the printer cartridges. But it’s always worth taking a closer look.

The most commonly reported printer problems are problems with clogged printer heads – these are the parts of the printer which fire the droplets of ink onto the paper, and when the ink dries around the nozzle it can cause a blockage.

While the mechanisms themselves often vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, printers normally take care of minor blockages themselves, but they’re unequipped to handle more severe clogging.

Here’s a handy tip that should fix the problem. Carefully remove your ink cartridges and manually clean the printer heads by wipe them with a damp (not too wet) towel, before replacing them. The dampness should soften the dried ink so the printer’s self-cleaning mechanism can function.

While these two ‘tricks’ won’t save you every time, they’re definitely worth trying and could see you out of a tricky situation the next time your Epson printer starts acting up. Don’t give up so easily – changing the ink cartridges should be your last resort!

Bonus Tip: Buy Ink Online

Save money by buying your printer ink online via a trusted retailer. Local stores usually mark printer ink up quite a bit. By buying online, you can save quite a bit of money, some studies show that you can save up to 75%. To take it even further, you can often find coupons for ink as well which can help you to save even more.

The post was written by Rob Henry.