A system for cooling an inkjet print head with the print head having a nozzle plate and heater chip. The nozzle plate contains a series of firing chambers and nozzles. The heater chip contains several heating elements and cooling channels. Ink is heated in the firing chambers and forced through the nozzles onto paper. A pump is employed to pump the ink from an ink reservoir through the cooling channels in the heater chip in order to maintain the heater chip at a constant temperature. When the printer is actively printing, at least a portion of the ink is returned to the reservoir. When the printer is not actively printing, ink is still pumped through the cooling channels to maintain the heater chip at the proper temperature.