Deskjet 6127 Blue ink drying in new HP cartidge

[dgc188]

I am having a problem with a brand new, newly purchased from HP, ink cartridge 78 whereby I get no blue ink printed; red and cyan are fine.

It was ok on the first initial test print and first print job that followed, but then the printer wasn't used for a few days and the next print arrived without the blue ink. I tried lightly dampening the blue nozzles until I got some blue onto the paper. The test print this time was again ok, as was the print job that followed. Leave the printer again for a couple of days and again, no blue ink on its the next print job.

I don't think it can be the cartridge as it has only just been purchased from HP Stores. I started to have the same problem with the cartridge before this one (also an HP78) - but which was getting very low on ink anyway and which I suspected it was running out. On that cartridge I tried the full cleaning routines a number of times and it made no difference; only a dampening of the blue nozzles brought any life back into it for the next print job; a day or two later, again, no blue.

Is there any adjustment to the position/height of the printhead resting place which may have either worn or lost its height position and is allowing the blue output nozzles of the cartridge to not be covered and which is allowing the ink to dry at the cartridge nozzles?

Apologies, if I'm talking through the back of my head on this as I don't really have much of a clue as to whether there is a pad/resting surface which stops the inks drying out. But a bad new cartridge? with only one ink drying out? can't see it as a cartridge problem - more something to do with the printer itself. Cartridge date is good (May 2021).

Print driver being used with Windows 10 Pro is for the 990c (previous to this cartridge, no problems with the print quality) and nozzle cleaning software is the original as supplied with the printer running on XP Pro running in a VM.

Any advice on the problem?

Thanks in hope and anticipation of a solution.

Dave

[dgc188]

A little more information as nil response to my problem of the CYAN ink drying out (my mistake in calling it 'blue' - but it was

near enough!).

I have had a look inside the printer and can see a unit slide towards the rear of the printer when the printhead moves across to the left. My guess is there may be a problem with this.

Is there any information out there that describes how to get the left hand side panel off so that I can get a closer look at what is happening when the printer goes to it homing position (at rest). Any information at all to do with this series of printers and how to disassemble them would be helpful. I've found one screw inside the top lid which has loosened the top of the panel but am unable to release it from the bottom metal panel.

The 78 & 15 cartridges fit plenty of HP printers, are any of these others similar in their disassembly. I know it's an old, old printer but basically while it works (mostly) I don't want to throw it away (I'm trying to help the planet here).

Any help would be appreciated.

[Echo_Lake]

@dgc188
Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.

To keep cartridges from drying out, always turn the printer off using the Power button, and wait until the Power light goes out before you pull the plug or turn off a power strip. This allows the printer to move the cartridges to a capped position.

If you remove a cartridge from the printer for any reason, try to replace it again as soon as possible. Outside of the printer, if unprotected, cartridges begin to dry out. If the printer uses separate ink cartridges and printhead, the printhead can be damaged if cartridges are not installed.

• Click here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c03007680 to more about Storing Opened Cartridges and Printheads.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[dgc188]

Thank you echo_lake for your comments and advice but I've had this printer in use and permanently powered on for around 15 years - it has only been powered off when there has been a power cut or location move. During these 15 years, the printer has had very light use and mostly with black-only prints and only very recently having this problem with the missing cyan; otherwise the colour cartridges have lasted for months on end without problem.

During that time I have only had a problem with two cartridges - the new one recently purchased from the HP Store and the one that preceded it (also an HP cartridge bought elsewhere) - both with the same apparent issue - an apparent lack of cyan ink - presumably as a result of that particular ink drying out in the nozzles - why cyan? and neither of the other two. The weight of each cartridge today is 114grams for the new one and 107grams for its predecessor (I'm not sure what weight an empty cartridge comes in at).

Since my last post, after watching a couple of (somewhat vicious) teardown videos on youtube on mechanically similar machines (the 920 and 930), I have managed to remove the covers through realising that, apart from two screws, they are simply firmly clipped into place.

Once inside I can see the movement of the printhead/cartridges at the end of a printjob - they move over to the right, settle down and a grill-like object with 5 front-to-back strips drops out of the way and what appears to be a rectangular piece of soft-ish rubber - a square-shaped washer-like device - is moved forward and pushed up against the printhead against what appears to be the tension of a spring. And, I guess, this is the normal "home" position of the printhead whether it be 'at rest' or powered off. Nothing appears to be worn or damaged in this area and I can see no apparent method of adjustment for the height of the rubber "washer".

My confusion on the first post regarding which colour is which - it's the cyan that goes missing while the magenta and yellow are good. And on my second post, my confusion between left and right and where the printhead comes to rest.

So my question remains, what could cause the cyan ink to be apparently drying out while at rest while the magenta and yellow inks are ok?

[Riddle_Decipher · Accepted solution]

@dgc188 There's no logical explanation as to why one color has dried out while others haven't, however, the best way to fix the issue is to have the device repaired and I suggest you talk to HP support and discuss your options, follow the below steps to get started:

1) Click on this link - http://www.hp.com/contacthp/

2) Click on Sign-in or select the product using the below step:

3) Enter the serial of your device.

4) Select the country from the drop-down.

5) Click on "Show Options".

Fill the web-form, to populate a case number and phone number for yourself!

Also, if you are having trouble navigating through the above options, it's most likely because the device is out of warranty, if yes? please send me a private message with the region you are contacting us from, 

here's how private messages work: Click here for details.

If you wish to thank me for my efforts, you could click on "Accept as solution" on my post as the solution should help others too.