Print quality is lousy

insurer on Aug 15, 2006

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Print quality, which was fine, now light and hard to read. Have changed cartridges, done the cleaning cycle, both black and color, have restarted both computer and printer, changed the print settings, everything,to no avail. A test page prints the same way. Also, colors seem to be only pinkish orange. No new drivers are on web site. Only 2 1/2 yrs old. Well out of warranty, so can't go there. Any suggestions? Thank you. Insurer

Comments:

Aug 17, 2006

- thank you very much for the help.

Nov 29, 2007

- New (refurbished) black cartridge installed, but it dries up. I can get the cartridge to print well again but in a day or so it dries up again. I can guess the printer part that keeps the cartridge sealed while the printer is idle is leaking, exposing the head to open air. Somewhere I read that if such part were cleaned of old ink, that problem would be solved. However, the HP 722 is built like a German tank and getting inside looks to be impossible. Any suggestions?- CharlyJones

Best Solution

posted on Aug 16, 2006

CMix

Rank: Apprentice
Rating: 83%, 50 votes

Something has become clogged. It's unlikely to be a driver problem etc... I would make the following suggestion.

1. You can buy ink refill kits (they'll also save you a lot of money). This kit usually includes a flushing fluid. Now with many printers if you change the cartridge, most printing problems go away... however it sounds like the part that hooks into the cartridge has become clogged. Try cleaning this out with the flushing fluid. YOu may be able to buy this fluid without the ink refill that normally comes with it. Not sure.

It really does sound like the part that connects the cartridge and feeds the ink has become clogged. So cleaning this out should fix the problem. Some ink jet cartridges have the printer head built in and other don't; it's part of the printer hardware. If your's is part of the printer hardware then you'll need to flush this out with an ink flushing fluid as mentioned above. Basicly this type of problem usually occurs when you don't use the printer for an extended period of time and the ink dries causing a clog. This clog can not always be fixed by the cleaning cycle so you have to use ink flushing fluid.

2. Before doing this contact tech support for your printer. All though it is not in warranty many companies continue to give tech support for hardware products such as printers without additional charge. They may know exactly what the problem is and provide a solution that you can perform without sending it in for repair. If your printer's manufacture does not give tech support beyond the warranty period then tell them you need tech support for the ink cartridge you just bought (even if it's not thier brand, just tell them it is) ... and see what suggestions they give to resolve the problem... otherwise try the above solution.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Dean

Dean Kenneth Robinson
techinfo@ContinuousMix.com

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