HP deskjet 940c color cartridge problem

[Kane]

I'm having a problem with my HP deskjet 940c printer cartridge(s). I ran low on ink so I replaced the old ones with newly purchased ones. My printer has been uninstalled, reinstalled, troubleshot via the hp site, cartridges aligned, printheads cleaned, all the things that are recommended, but the color printing is still way off. A salesperson at MicroCenter told me that the "ink reservoirs" may be full and that everytime the cartridge head slides sideways to print, it may be picking up the spillover ink from the full reservoir. Does this sound plausible? And if so, how would I clean the ink reservoirs? I've been told by a few merchants that they don't clean printers anymore, they just throw them away...is this true? Can anyone help me? (I'm the administrator for a local organization that deals with our city government and I'm always asked to print color brochures and directories for them.). Thanks in advance!

[DexterM]

Maybe THIS thread will be of some help.

[Bob_Headrick]

What exactly do you mean by "way off" in your color prints?

Have you tried printing a diagnostic test page as shown here?   Do the colors all show correctly in the test page?  If one of the colors is missing (usually cyan or magenta) then check the "install by" date on the packages if available, or if not check the warranty date as shown here. If the cartridges are very old they may be missing one or more colors.

If the diagnostic page shows missing areas of color then try cleaning the cartridge contacts as shown here. 

The service station being full was an issue from back in the days of the 850 and 870 printer, that issue does not happen with the design of the 900 series printers.

A final question I should ask - are these HP original cartridges? Refilled/Remanufactured cartrdiges can vary widely in quality. See the graphs on page 13 if you do not care to read the entire 20 page study.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Printing/Imaging

Message Edited by Bob_Headrick on 04-11-2009 02:40 PM

[Kane]

Hi. Thanks for the info on my hp deskjet printer...The printer still isn't printing colors, but I did the troubleshooting, cleaning, etc that you recommended (which was probably long overdue anyway). Thanks!

[Kane]

Hi. Thanks for your reply to my Q re: hp deskjet printer. I did all of the recommended tasks to try to fix the problem, but my printer is still not printing colors. All the cartridges are hp (I don't buy the refilled or generics). I'll check the expire dates and go from there. Thanks again.

[Bob_Headrick]

Please give some details of the issue.  Do any colors print?  Did the internal test page (as shown in my previous link) print properly?  If the colors are "wrong" are they streaked, or the wrong color, or ???

Regards,
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Printing/Imaging

[Kane]

Hello Bob H.,

My printer was printing colors that were washed out, then sometimes they were "embossed" looking, and at other times the print results looked like they had a "metallic/shiny" quality. I had already performed all of the recommended tests and cleanings before I logged on to this site. Aligned the printer carts, cleaned the print cart heads, and cleaned the points where the cart heads touch the cradle they're in (per the instructions). Uninstalled and reinstalled the printer, etc. I have always been leery of using the refill/remanf carts because I didn't know how they would affect my printers' performance (my 940c is hinky enough already).  :-)  I will now always check for an expire date, too. The "new" hp carts that I bought last month at Kroger had an expire date of 2007 (!). Guess that could have been the main problem. But I thank you for your advice and input. This site is a good resource.

[j8197]

Question! Do both cartridge have to be installed for the printer to work?