HP DesignJet T730 - Printhead Alignment Issue

[jl808]

Aloha! I have a T730 brought out from storage (it hasn't been in there too long as the warranty expired two years ago). It seems to work fine at the moment; however, I keep receiving an alignment error.

Whenever I try to align the printhead it stops after drawing only the Magenta portion and gives me "The printhead was not aligned successfully. Please check the troubleshooting section in the user guide."

I have checked the T730 User Guide, but it wasn't helpful at all. I have tried the alignment multiple times but it keeps stopping with only the magenta marks and the two birds at the bottom. Moreover, I have cleaned the printhead at least five times in a row. Has anyone experienced this problem or know of any solutions? Thanks in advance and Mahalo Nui!

[Valsimot]

Can you take a photo or scan of alignment sheet and post here?

[jl808]

Results from Printhead Alignment; this is where it stops before giving me an errorThe error that pops up during the Printhead Alignment processA close up of the alignment printoutPrintout of the Print Quality test

[jl808]

Hey there! thanks for looking into this issue; I have attached some photos of the results from the printhead alignment test. I have also included the results of the print quality test.

[Valsimot]

Your printer isn't printing black, you will need to replace a printhead to properly align the printer. On the print quality sheet, there is no black, the printer can't align without black, all colours must be working.

[jl808]

What would explain the black parentheses on the Print Quality page? I was hoping that it would not require replacing the printhead as for some bizarre reason HP has has combined all the printheads into one kit for the T730. I would have to replace the entire kit, which is very costly. Do you have any alternative solutions that I could look into? Thanks in advance.

[Valsimot · Accepted solution]

They are not black. If you take a closer look you will see that they are more grey or brown than black because they are printed by mixing cyan magenta and yellow and you get that colour close to black but not black. 

The printhead needs replacement, there is nothing much else you can do.

[jl808]

Just wanted to give you an update. I took out the printhead and went Spartan on it out of frustration (banged it on the ground a few times, kicked it around like a soccer ball, and shook it for a lengthy amount of time). I tried placing it back on the T730 and ran the diagnostics and alignment again. From the start the black ink started to finally show (albeit faint and sporadic) and after running the 'Printhead Cleaning' option four times it works perfectly now!