When you purchase a printer, you expect it to run effortlessly for you. There shouldn’t be any HP printer cartridge issues or any other printer issue as well. But unfortunately, sometimes these problems do come up and leave us quite frustrated. Rather than making your life come to a standstill, here are few troubleshooting steps that you can try to resolve the HP printer cartridge issues.
Printer Issue: The cartridge doesn’t work in the printer
This is a common problem that occurs in many printers. You put a completely new cartridge and the printer throws up the error, ‘not recognized’. The printer thinks that the cartridge is empty and won’t print.
Solution : One quick solution is to remove the cartridge and put it back and then give the print command once more. If this still doesn’t get the printer working, then it could also indicate an issue with the cartridge chip. Sometimes, it is just a compatibility issue and you need to check carefully before purchasing a printer cartridge.
Printer Issue: Clogged print heads
If you have been using the printer for quite some time, then you may get this error. There are different solutions to this problem. Here are some to get you started.
Solution: The first thing to do is to initiate a cleaning cycle on the printer. This is one of the best ways to remove any kind of blockage on the print heads. The setting is quite easy, and you can see the printer menu to identify the exact location. In other situation, you can also refer to the manual for the exact location.
One important thing to remember here is that if you are using third party ink, then it may not have the same formulation as the original ink from the brand. The consistency is different, and this may lead to the clogging of the print head, giving you printed dots or few missing colors as well.
If you have a printer that has a combined color cartridge, then it is possible that the print head is in the cartridge. In such a situation, your new printer cartridge will have a new print head in it as well.
Printer Issue: Leak in the ink cartridges
Yes, the first thing that comes to mind is the mess all over. However, you may further find that the printer isn’t working when you open it up and you further see a small amount of ink on the cartridge as well. This issue is mostly seen with the third-party cartridges as compared to original brand ink cartridges.
Solution : Sometimes, you can fix the issue by re-fixing the seal of the printer cartridge, that sometimes becomes loose. Once you have fixed the seal, you can put it back again and see the problem is fixed. If the problem persists, then you may have to invest in a new cartridge.
Printer Issue: Images are completely the Wrong Color
There can be multiple reasons to this problem. One major reason for this issue to occur is that the ink cartridge was installed without removing the breather tape. This is seen at the top of the cartridge. The other reason can be the print head is partially blocked. Try to print a test page and check which colors are not printing properly.
Solution : Once you have understood the issue, then you can check if the tape has been fully removed. If it has been removed, then you can run a maintenance of print head cleanup. This would help eliminate the problem.
HP Printer Cartridge Issues : Excessive Grey Background
This problem is seen commonly in the laser printers. It indicates that the transfer roller in the toner requires to be changed.
Solution: Before you replace the toner or parts of the toner, try to reduce the Density Setting on the printer. You can also try using a light weight paper and check if there is a difference. If both these solutions don’t work, then you will have to replace the toner itself.
Conclusion There can be different problems that can occur with printer cartridges and the first step to fix it, is understand what’s causing the issue. If you are finding it a challenge to fix your printer cartridge issues, you can get printer support and let the experts resolve the issue for you.