There is nothing that will frustrate you faster than to spend $30 or $40 on a new OEM ink printer cartridge, insert it into your printer and have it not work. You may see a message saying the cartridge isn't being recognized by your printer. This can sometimes be caused by the way you handle your Lexmark ink cartridge. Mishandling the cartridge could lead it to not being recognized and force you to have to buy another replacement.
Tips for Ink Cartridges
Try not to expose an ink cartridge to extreme temperatures, such as leaving it in a car during extremely hot or extremely cold weather. The ink can freeze in winter weather and during the summer, it could get so hot that the quality of the ink is affect. Try to get it back to the office, or your home, as soon as you can and let it acclimate to its new surroundings. Let it sit until it gets to room temperature before installing it in the printer.
A commonly overlooked issue with Lexmark compatible ink cartridges is the customer forgetting to remove the blue tab on a new or remanufactured cartridge. This tape covers the print head of the ink cartridge to protect it until it is set inside the printer. If you have a problem with your new or remanufactured cartridge, double check to see if the tape was removed before calling for help.
When you do install your ink cartridge, if it fails to be recognized by the printer, you may need to clean the contacts of the printer head. Follow the instructions in your printer manual for cleaning the contacts or look up how to do it online. Once you've cleaned them, reinstall the cartridge to see if it works.
If you don't use your printer very often, or if you only use black ink on a regular basis, try and print something out at least once a week to keep the ink flowing. The ink in your Lexmark ink cartridges can dry out on the bottom of the print head and cause it to clog the nozzles. If that does happen, find the instructions on how to clean out your inkjet nozzles.
Keeping your printer in good running shape and carefully handling your ink cartridges will prevent you from being frustrated and keep you from having to replace the new ink cartridge you just bought.