3 Ways to Unclog HP 950 Printhead

It’s not uncommon for a printhead to get clogged, so I’ll review how to fix it today. We’ll be focusing specifically on the HP 950 model printhead. You should note that completing these procedures incorrectly may permanently damage your printhead. Do not try this at home.

To start with, we ran the printer’s built-in cleaning function multiple times, which may sometimes fix the problem. In our case, the nozzle remained clogged. For those trying to fix your home printer, we suggest warm water or a cleaning solution unclog it. I have a separate video about how to do that on my YouTube channel. This video is intended for professionals, and I will be going over some more advanced cleaning techniques.

You can easily remove the printheads on most HP and Canon printers. All you have to do is pull on the lever, and you should be able to take the whole printhead out. Epson’s print heads are secured to a plastic casing and will be a little more difficult to remove. You can search YouTube for instructions using the keywords “Epson [model number] printhead removal.” The basic instructions will be: “Free up the plastic tabs holding the assembly in place, detach the electronic ribbon, and then unscrew the printhead from its base.”

Take out the printhead

Once the printhead has been removed from its base, we will try to use a high-pressure steamer to open up the clog as much as possible. I recommend using something like an iPhone camera to zoom in on the printhead as much as possible to check for any scratches and ensure no foreign objects are blocking the nozzle. Then it will be time to steam bathe the printhead. The steam bath will effectively unclog many printheads.

You can watch this video on my YouTube channel if you want a visual guide to this process. Although the high-pressure steamer would work to unclog most printheads, we’ll proceed with another method to demonstrate it to those who may need it.

If you follow along with the video, you’ll see that after we used the high-pressure steamer, there was still some gooey substance at the bottom of the cyan printhead we used as an example. The next cleaning method we will be using is the ultrasonic cleaning method, which should be able to take care of that for us. First, though, we’ll flush the cyan printhead with warm water.

For the HP 950 printhead model, each color has its own ink bladder. If you push too hard while flushing the colors out, you may rupture the bladder and cause permanent damage to the printhead in a way that no one can never repair. This procedure, when done right, is very effective, but when done incorrectly, it may cost you a printhead.

The HP 950 printhead’s intake fits a regular syringe perfectly, but some other models’ intakes may be too large for the needle. You can measure the diameter of the intake and get a tube fitting from your local hardware store. You could also retrofit a cartridge and flush the printhead through the cartridge.

Clean the printhead

When using the ultrasonic cleaning method, make sure the model of ultrasonic machine you use comes with a plastic basket. The printhead has to be suspended in the cleaning chamber and shouldn’t sit on the bottom. You can use warm water or a cleaning agent, but never anything corrosive like Windex, ammonia, or bleach. Do not submerge the entire printhead. The liquid level only needs to be able to cover the bottom. You should be able to see the clog on the bottom start dissolving.

Dry the electronic board with a towel and steam clean the bottom of the printhead. Don’t dry the bottom with a paper towel because the fiber may get stuck in it and cause further clogging.