Apple Color Printer: Cleaning Nozzles, Printing Test Pages
This article describes the Menu choices you have when you clean the nozzles and print test pages on the Apple Color Printer.
Here's how to enter the Apple Color Printer's Menu:
Press the On Line button to turn off the green light. You can then move back and forth through the Menu items using the < and > keys. If you press the Enter button while any of these Menu items are displayed, you see the choices you have under that item. You can move back and forth through the choices in the Menu sublevels using the < and > keys. Press the Exit button to move up a level in the menu.
There are two different sets of cleaning choices available at each Menu sublevel, depending on whether the Apple Color Printer is in Normal or Service/Factory Mode.
These are the test print and cleaning choices available at each Menu sublevel in Normal Mode:
TEST PRINT
- TEST PRINT A Bubble jet head check pattern
- TEST PRINT B Bubble jet head/main unit precision check pattern 1
Note: Test Print B is only available after a print job is sent to the printer.
CLEANING
- CLEANING A Same as user CLEANING A
- CLEANING B For checking ink passage pressure at factory
IMPORTANT: The Service/Factory Mode Cleaning D uses large quanties of ink. Only use Cleaning D if the other cleaning methods fail to adequately clean the nozzle.
These are the cleaning choices available at each Menu sublevel in Service/Factory Mode:
- BLACK OFFSET
- CYAN OFFSET
- MAGENTA OFFSET
- YELLOW OFFSET
- DIRECTION OFFSET
TEST PRINT
TEST PRINT A Bubble jet head check pattern
TEST PRINT B Bubble jet head/main unit precision check pattern 1
TEST PRINT C Printing Position check
TEST PRINT D Same as B, but pattern 2
HEAT RUN Printer mechanism check (paper feed and carriage driven without printing)
CENTER HEAD Moves print head to center for removal You turn off the power to exit this mode.
CLEANING
- CLEANING A Same as user CLEANING A
- CLEANING B For checking ink passage pressure at factory
- CLEANING C For filling system with ink
- CLEANING D FLUSHING raises the temperature of the print head, uses 3.5 grams of ink, and takes 4 minutes.
To enter the Service/Factory Mode, follow these steps:
1) Hold both arrow keys down and turn the power on.
2) When you see the first rectangle on the display, release the arrow keys and press the ON LINE key.
3) While holding the ON LINE key down, press the ENTER key twice and release all keys.
You will now be able to access the choices in the Service/Factory Menu.
Cleaning the Nozzles
If streaks or other unpleasant artifacts start appearing in printed documents, cleaning the nozzles may improve printing. The following control panel steps initiate the nozzle cleaning process:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button two times in succession to cycle through these displayed modes:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
3) Press the Enter button two times in succession to cycle through these displayed modes:
- Cleaning-A
- 08-Cleaning
The cleaning process begins and completes in a few moments. When the cleaning is complete, the display shows Cleaning-A.
4) Press the On Line button. Display shows 00 Ready.
If issues persist after two or three uses of the Cleaning-A process, two other methods provide more thorough cleaning (and use a much larger quantity of ink). You can find more detailed instructions for Cleaning-B and Flushing functions in the "Apple Color Printer User's Guide."
Printing Test Pages
To print the Test Page A, follow these steps:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button three times to cycle through these displayed modes:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
- Test Print
3) Press the Enter button twice to cycle through these displayed items:
- Test Print-A
- 01-Test Print
The test page is printed. When the nozzle test is complete, the display shows Test Print-A.
4) Press the On Line button. Display shows 00 Ready.
To print Test Page B, follow these steps:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button three times to cycle through these displayed items:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
- Test Print
3) Press the Enter button. Display shows Test Print-A.
4) Press the Menu button. Display shows Test Print B.
5) Press the Enter button. Display shows 01-Test Print.
- The test page is printed. When the page is printed, the display shows Test Print-B.
6) Press the On Line button. The display shows 00 Ready.
Note: Test Print B is not available until a print job has been sent to the printer.
To print the Nozzle Check page, follow these steps:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button three times to cycle through these displayed items:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
- Test Print
3) Press the Enter button. Display shows Test Print-A.
4) Press the Menu button twice to cycle through these displayed items:
- Test Print B
- Nozzle Check
5) Press the Enter button. Display shows 01-Test Print.
- The test page is printed. When the nozzle check is complete, the display shows Nozzle Check.
6) Press the On Line button. Display shows 00 Ready.
Press the On Line button to turn off the green light. You can then move back and forth through the Menu items using the < and > keys. If you press the Enter button while any of these Menu items are displayed, you see the choices you have under that item. You can move back and forth through the choices in the Menu sublevels using the < and > keys. Press the Exit button to move up a level in the menu.
There are two different sets of cleaning choices available at each Menu sublevel, depending on whether the Apple Color Printer is in Normal or Service/Factory Mode.
These are the test print and cleaning choices available at each Menu sublevel in Normal Mode:
TEST PRINT
- TEST PRINT A Bubble jet head check pattern
- TEST PRINT B Bubble jet head/main unit precision check pattern 1
Note: Test Print B is only available after a print job is sent to the printer.
CLEANING
- CLEANING A Same as user CLEANING A
- CLEANING B For checking ink passage pressure at factory
IMPORTANT: The Service/Factory Mode Cleaning D uses large quanties of ink. Only use Cleaning D if the other cleaning methods fail to adequately clean the nozzle.
These are the cleaning choices available at each Menu sublevel in Service/Factory Mode:
- BLACK OFFSET
- CYAN OFFSET
- MAGENTA OFFSET
- YELLOW OFFSET
- DIRECTION OFFSET
TEST PRINT
TEST PRINT A Bubble jet head check pattern
TEST PRINT B Bubble jet head/main unit precision check pattern 1
TEST PRINT C Printing Position check
TEST PRINT D Same as B, but pattern 2
HEAT RUN Printer mechanism check (paper feed and carriage driven without printing)
CENTER HEAD Moves print head to center for removal You turn off the power to exit this mode.
CLEANING
- CLEANING A Same as user CLEANING A
- CLEANING B For checking ink passage pressure at factory
- CLEANING C For filling system with ink
- CLEANING D FLUSHING raises the temperature of the print head, uses 3.5 grams of ink, and takes 4 minutes.
To enter the Service/Factory Mode, follow these steps:
1) Hold both arrow keys down and turn the power on.
2) When you see the first rectangle on the display, release the arrow keys and press the ON LINE key.
3) While holding the ON LINE key down, press the ENTER key twice and release all keys.
You will now be able to access the choices in the Service/Factory Menu.
Cleaning the Nozzles
If streaks or other unpleasant artifacts start appearing in printed documents, cleaning the nozzles may improve printing. The following control panel steps initiate the nozzle cleaning process:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button two times in succession to cycle through these displayed modes:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
3) Press the Enter button two times in succession to cycle through these displayed modes:
- Cleaning-A
- 08-Cleaning
The cleaning process begins and completes in a few moments. When the cleaning is complete, the display shows Cleaning-A.
4) Press the On Line button. Display shows 00 Ready.
If issues persist after two or three uses of the Cleaning-A process, two other methods provide more thorough cleaning (and use a much larger quantity of ink). You can find more detailed instructions for Cleaning-B and Flushing functions in the "Apple Color Printer User's Guide."
Printing Test Pages
To print the Test Page A, follow these steps:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button three times to cycle through these displayed modes:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
- Test Print
3) Press the Enter button twice to cycle through these displayed items:
- Test Print-A
- 01-Test Print
The test page is printed. When the nozzle test is complete, the display shows Test Print-A.
4) Press the On Line button. Display shows 00 Ready.
To print Test Page B, follow these steps:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button three times to cycle through these displayed items:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
- Test Print
3) Press the Enter button. Display shows Test Print-A.
4) Press the Menu button. Display shows Test Print B.
5) Press the Enter button. Display shows 01-Test Print.
- The test page is printed. When the page is printed, the display shows Test Print-B.
6) Press the On Line button. The display shows 00 Ready.
Note: Test Print B is not available until a print job has been sent to the printer.
To print the Nozzle Check page, follow these steps:
1) Press the On Line button. The green light goes out.
2) Press the Menu button three times to cycle through these displayed items:
- Printing Mode
- Cleaning
- Test Print
3) Press the Enter button. Display shows Test Print-A.
4) Press the Menu button twice to cycle through these displayed items:
- Test Print B
- Nozzle Check
5) Press the Enter button. Display shows 01-Test Print.
- The test page is printed. When the nozzle check is complete, the display shows Nozzle Check.
6) Press the On Line button. Display shows 00 Ready.