Dell 946 Printer

Are you using Dell Series 5 ink cartridges?

Can you copy a document under the glass? Black & White and color? Do they look ok?

If you unplug the printer from the wall and remove the power brick for 60 seconds, this will reset any error messages the printer has. I would then plug everything back in.

Power on the printer.

Open the printer(with the power on) and take out the Dell Series 5 black cartridge and then reseat it. I would then take out the color Dell Series 5 ink cartridge and reseat it. Now close the printer and it will print an alignment page.

Any error messages?

black cartridge = black side(left side) color cartridge = color side(right side)

photo cartridge = black side(left side) color cartridge = color side(right side)

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges have a sensor in them that cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges .

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.

It's possible to get a Dell Series 5 ink cartridge with a bad sensor. I would that these back to the place of purchase for a replacement or a refund.


Rick

In printing properties have you selected the 'grayscale' option, if still not working, in printer properties select maintenance > select Ink and cartridge settings > there select "black Ink only"

Have you removed the protection tape from the new cartridge?

You could clean the black ink cartridge. For this you need to remove the blank ink cartridge which is present in the printer. In order to clean the laser or scanner block you could use a cotton swab as it would fully clean the dirt. You need to clean the grime and the dried ink present in the printer. This would remove all the hindrances which prevent the ink from flowing. Cleaning the printer heads would also help to solve the problem.

Cartridges are not alighned.
Remove one of the cartridges and insert it back.
The printer will print an alighment page. There are instructions on the page to place it on the scanner and to press the Scan button.
For alighment to be successful the printer has not to missing any ink.
Instead of removing and inserting a cartridge, you can use Maintenance tab in Printer preferencies to strat printhead alighment.

Hi there

Just some thing for you to try.

First make sure you got the printer driver handy, then close down the PC and restsrt and reinstall the printer driver back, and dont put the Usb lead in till the software asks you to do so.

All the best Pineworks

I have to ask this question of you, just to make sure this is not an issue. Are you using a factory new ink or toner cartridge?
Please consider the following:
If you are using a refilled or third party cartridges that may well be your problem. Most manufacturers build logic into their products to prevent the use of “Other Equipment Manufactured” cartridges as well as re-filled cartridges.
They do this to prevent problems from contaminated inks or toner causing problems with print quality or damaging the physical printhead or photo conductors.
If you are using factory new ink or toner cartridges, then please call the manufacturer’s Technical Support for assistance with the warranty on the cartridges
Don

I can get my 946 to print with just a black cartridge, as long as I select black and white printing (there is an error message on the PC but I can just select 'continue'). But with just a photo cartridge (i.e. a combined black and colour one) it won't work - looks the same, but the 'continue' option doesn't work.

open the case take out catridges clean their heads with tissu shake them watch if some ink take on tissue paper catridge tends to dry when not used for long time
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I Am Experiencing Poor Print Quality With My Dell™ Printer

Table of Contents
Verify the Printer Ink Levels Using the Dell Printer Solution Center
Clean the printer contacts and print a test page
Clean the Printer Nozzles Using the Dell Printer Solution Center
Dell™ Printer Additional Information
» Verify the Printer Ink Levels Using the Dell Printer Solution Center

Poor print quality of a document or picture may be the result of low ink levels or dirty printer nozzles or contacts.

To check the printer's ink levels, perform the following steps:

1.

Click the Start button, point to All Programs, point to Dell Printers, and then point to Dell (printer model).
2.

Click Dell Printer Solution Center.

3.

Locate the printer's ink levels on the lower right corner of the Dell Printer Solution Center window.
4.

If the printer's ink levels indicate that ink cartridges are empty, click the Order Ink button to place an online order for replacement ink cartridges.

For information about ordering ink for your Dell printer, refer to article: Obtaining Ink for a Dell™ Printer


Back to Top

» Clean the printer contacts and print a test page

To manually clean the printer nozzles and contacts, perform the following steps:

1.

Turn the printer off and remove the power cord from the back of the printer.
2.

Open the printer lid.
3.

Manually move the ink-cartridge carrier to the left by gripping the top of the rubber carrier belt and gently pulling it across towards the right hand side of the printer.
4.

Take a warm, semi-damp paper towel and gently clean the wiper on the right side of the maintenance station.
5.

Lift up on the cap(s) that cover the ink cartridge(s).
6.

Remove the ink cartridge(s), and using a new warm, semi-damp paper towel, gently clean the contacts on the ink cartridge(s).
Verify that the contacts on the ink cartridge(s) is/are sufficiently dry prior to re-inserting into the printer.
7.

Re-insert the ink cartridge(s) back into the correct printer slot(s).

7.

Close the printer lid.
8.

Re-attach the printer power cord to the back of the printer unit.
9.

Press the Power button to turn the unit back on.
10.

Click the Start button, point to All Programs, point to Dell Printers, and then point to Dell (printer model).
11.

Click Dell Printer Solution Center.
12.

Click the Maintenance tab.
13.

Click the Print a test page icon.
A test page prints.


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» Clean the Printer Nozzles Using the Dell Printer Solution Center

To clean the printer nozzles and contacts using the Dell Printer Solution Center:

1.

Click the Start button, point to All Programs, point to Dell Printers, and then point to Dell (printer model).
2.

Click Dell Printer Solution Center.
3.

Click the Maintenance tab.
4.

Click the Clean to fix horizontal streaks icon.
5.

Click the Print button.

Note:
The printer will make sounds when cleaning the nozzles that are not commonly heard during normal usage