Clogged nozzle
Yes, the answer to your question. If the ink ran out and printing continued, lots of things could happen. The printer would not know it was out! Therefore the heads keep getting signals to print. Without ink in the head to cool the driving devices it could burn out the single head. If it only clogged, it possible could be fixed. My daughter has an Artisan 50. I have cleaned the clogged heads several times. They are prone to clogging. The carriage should be allowed to park normally before the printer is turned off.
To check an determine if the head is badly clogged, remove the cartridge, take a small syringe with a tube that fits snuggly over the post below the cartridge and put a few cc s of windex or preferably special head cleaning fluid in the syringe. Slip the tube over the post and gently push the plunger down. If it moves be very gentle and allow it to take the liquid extremely slow. It is doesn't move, don't put a lot of pressure on it as it will definitely break through to the next head and make unrepairable. It has a definite clog. Leave the syringe in place as it will most likely damage the head to continue pressure. Leave overnight. Attempt to get some liquid through next day. It may take several days to get a bad one to loosen up without damage but could save the printer. If it does start to move down allow it to gently accept the rest of the liquid. Let it set another day with the liquid still inside. Clean out liquid in syringe and fill with ink of that color. Gently push enough ink into the head to push out the cleaning fluid. Be sure to put some towel strips under the carriage to catch the waste liquid so it won't go down into the printer. Replace a known good cartridge, clean heads and try to print! It may reclog if all the bad ink isn't gone. Be patient. Do another cleaning with the syringe. This is a printer worth spending time on. Good luck.
