Printer wont print in color
Apr 22, 2017 19:39:13 #
Hi, I am at my son's using his HP office jet pro printer and cant get it to print in color. New ink used. He rarely used color. Could it be the print heads are dried up? Tried cleaning them with no luck. Any ideas?
TAOT
TAOT
Apr 22, 2017 20:13:16 #
Apr 22, 2017 20:22:58 #
A. does he have it set to monochrome/B&W as the default?
B. How old are those "new" cartridges? If sitting around a year or so they could be dried and not feeding.
C. Is this printer one of the models with print heads built into the cartridges or a separate print head fed by a line from the cartridges? If the latter then the lines may be dried up and you will have to do multiple advanced cleanings and priming with the HP cleaning software. I have seen a "new" set of cartridges go nearly dry doing that. I have even heard of using a refill kit to load cartridges with pure alcohol to run the cleaning and priming then after the lines are clear using a set of cartridges to get ink in the lines and heads again. Might be cheaper to just buy a new printer. Hopefully one that uses the same cartridges if you already have some. We had to do that when our daughter was in finals/term paper week at UCLA and her printer stopped feeding paper. Cheaper than repairs and thank goodness the same model was on sale at Sam's Club since I had stocked her up with 3 sets of cartridges.
D. Don't forget to clean the contacts, no signal, no print.
B. How old are those "new" cartridges? If sitting around a year or so they could be dried and not feeding.
C. Is this printer one of the models with print heads built into the cartridges or a separate print head fed by a line from the cartridges? If the latter then the lines may be dried up and you will have to do multiple advanced cleanings and priming with the HP cleaning software. I have seen a "new" set of cartridges go nearly dry doing that. I have even heard of using a refill kit to load cartridges with pure alcohol to run the cleaning and priming then after the lines are clear using a set of cartridges to get ink in the lines and heads again. Might be cheaper to just buy a new printer. Hopefully one that uses the same cartridges if you already have some. We had to do that when our daughter was in finals/term paper week at UCLA and her printer stopped feeding paper. Cheaper than repairs and thank goodness the same model was on sale at Sam's Club since I had stocked her up with 3 sets of cartridges.
D. Don't forget to clean the contacts, no signal, no print.
Apr 22, 2017 22:33:44 #
Thanks Robert, the ink was just purchased. We watched a u-tube on cleaning it. Still drying. the old ink didnt work either. A new printer is what I need. A good photo printer. Thanks again.
Apr 22, 2017 22:35:26 #
It prints great black text just not color. But the black is used a lot and color not for a year I guess. Bought new color ink too. Oh, well. getting a new photo printer it looks like. Thanks so much.
Apr 23, 2017 00:29:30 #
Could be a faulty ink cartridge. Or an expired ink cartridge; this happened to me recently. I inserted a new cartridge into my printer, and no ink came out. Then I noticed that the expiration date on the box - expired three years ago! I guess some retailers don't bother removing expired cartridges from their shelves.
Apr 23, 2017 10:27:29 #
colo_jeep_gal wrote:
Thanks Robert, the ink was just purchased. We watched a u-tube on cleaning it. Still drying. the old ink didnt work either. A new printer is what I need. A good photo printer. Thanks again.
The HP Store online has some great deals now with free shipping. >Alan
Apr 23, 2017 10:37:28 #
fetzler
Loc: North West PA
I had this happen once. All printer and software settings were correct. (you should check these). Ink was properly installed. In the end the end the solution was to buy a new printer. Last printer I bought cost about the same as the ink. Printers are mostly disposable.
Apr 23, 2017 14:02:54 #
colo_jeep_gal wrote:
Hi, I am at my son's using his HP office jet pro printer and cant get it to print in color. New ink used. He rarely used color. Could it be the print heads are dried up? Tried cleaning them with no luck. Any ideas?
TAOT
TAOT
If it's an HP printer, forget and don't waste your time. They are junk and even their own technical people have no idea how to use them. I made the mistake of buying one several years ago and after over 80 hours on the phone with them, still couldn't get it to do a thing.
Apr 23, 2017 17:01:25 #
fetzler wrote:
I had this happen once. All printer and software settings were correct. (you should check these). Ink was properly installed. In the end the end the solution was to buy a new printer. Last printer I bought cost about the same as the ink. Printers are mostly disposable.
I wholeheartedly agree with that! I tried cleaning the print head on our last HP printer (helped some but not enough). The ink is about the price of a new printer as you noted. New features though allows printing from our phones, multiple document scanner (remotely) plus the old flat bed scanner for one document. If it goes 3 to 5 years, I will be pleased.
Apr 23, 2017 22:13:21 #
hcmcdole wrote:
I wholeheartedly agree with that! I tried cleaning the print head on our last HP printer (helped some but not enough). The ink is about the price of a new printer as you noted. New features though allows printing from our phones, multiple document scanner (remotely) plus the old flat bed scanner for one document. If it goes 3 to 5 years, I will be pleased.
On the other side of the coin, I have a Deskjet 5440, which I bought used and is close to 20 years old. I still use it to print excellent quality color and black&white photos.
Apr 24, 2017 09:02:54 #
The last time I had HP printer I loaded the software and took the option for automatic software updates. The first time it updated, the printer would no longer accept aftermarket cartridges, which I have used for years with no trouble. It even stopped printing with the carts that were in it at the time of the update, which had been working fine. I went to Best-Buy who was having a sales promotion for $100 off and bought the Epson 4550 which has ink tanks. I absolutely love it! Pricey?, yes, after the discount it was $400, but as much printing as I do, I would have spent about half that much in replacement carts, if I bought HP brand. After almost 6 months use, the ink level is barely below the full line on the ink tanks.
As a side thought, and I don't want you to think I lost my temper, this was a deliberate act. I took the HP out and destroyed it with a sledge hammer before throwing it in the trash bin. I thought of putting all the pieces in a box and sending it to HP, but I am not sure they would be perceptive enough to understand the statement I was making, plus I had already spent enough money on this THING, and was not about to spend more to make a statement to the company.
As a side thought, and I don't want you to think I lost my temper, this was a deliberate act. I took the HP out and destroyed it with a sledge hammer before throwing it in the trash bin. I thought of putting all the pieces in a box and sending it to HP, but I am not sure they would be perceptive enough to understand the statement I was making, plus I had already spent enough money on this THING, and was not about to spend more to make a statement to the company.
Apr 24, 2017 11:55:08 #
Thanks, he only needs black ink. So it's fine for him.
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