HP OfficeJet6968 Printer; the CYAN (Blue) ink will not print

[Kate201812]

The CYAN (blue) ink will not print.  I have performed ALL of the Troubleshooting tasks to no avail.  HELP!!!!

The other colors print and alignment is fine

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @Kate201812, Welcome to HP forums.

I understand you have issues printing in cyan colour from your printer.

Don't worry I'll try to help you out.

Did you make any changes to your printer?

Does the issue persist when you make a copy from your printer?

Have you tried printing from a different application?

Have you tried printing using a different ink cartridge?

Excellent description and a great diagnosis done. It is greatly appreciated.

Replace low, empty or faulty ink cartridges on your printer.

Print a test page from your printer and check if the cyan colour is printing from your printer.

Try cleaning the printheads with ethanol and check if it helps.

Try the steps recommended below.

Clean the printhead

The printhead could be clogged, and you might need to clean the printhead several times to restore print quality. Use an automated tool from the printer control panel to clean the printhead.

1. From the printer control panel, open the Setup  menu.

2. Open the Printer Maintenance menu.

3. If necessary, open the Tools menu, and then touch Clean Printhead.

   A test page prints.

   

4. Examine the test page.

   • If the print quality is unacceptable, touch Clean Again to continue the next level of cleaning. If necessary, repeat these steps for the third cleaning cycle.

     NOTE: 

     If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes before you perform all three levels of cleaning again.

Replace any critically low or empty ink cartridges, and then try to print again. Skip this step if all ink cartridges display full ink levels.

1. Open the ink cartridge access door.

   The carriage moves to the ink cartridge access area.

      NOTE:

   If the scanner lid is open, the ink cartridge access door does not open.

   Figure : Opening the ink cartridge access door

   

2. Wait several seconds until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.

3. Press the tab inward on the front of the old ink cartridge to release it, and then pull up on the ink cartridge to remove it from the slot.

   Figure : Removing the ink cartridge

   

4. Remove a new ink cartridge from its package, and then pull the orange pull-tab straight back.

      CAUTION:

   Make sure you remove the orange pull-tab and plastic wrap completely before you remove the orange cap in the next step. Otherwise, ink might leak from the ink cartridge. When you remove the plastic wrap, the paper label on the top of the ink cartridge tears slightly, which is necessary to properly vent the ink cartridge.

   Figure : Pulling the orange tab on the wrapper straight back

   

5. Hold the ink cartridge by its sides, and then twist the protective orange cap counter-clockwise to snap it off the ink cartridge.

   Figure : Twisting the orange cap to snap it off the ink cartridge

   

      CAUTION:

   Do not touch the copper-colored contacts or the ink nozzles. Touching these parts can result in clogs, ink failure, and bad electrical connections.

6. Gently bend the tab away from the ink cartridge.

      CAUTION:

   Be careful not to bend the tab out more than 1.27 cm (0.5 in). Moving the tab too far might damage the ink cartridge or cause the tab to break off.

   Figure : Gently bending the tab away from the ink cartridge

   1. Bend the tab away from the cartridge

   2. Do not bend the tab more than 1.27 cm (0.5 in)

7. Turn the ink cartridge so that the ink cartridge contacts face downward, and then match the label color with the color dot on the carriage.

8. Slide the ink cartridge into its slot, and then gently press the ink cartridge down until it snaps into place.

   Figure : Installing the ink cartridge

   

9. Repeat these steps to install any new ink cartridges.

10. Close the ink cartridge access door.

    Figure : Closing the ink cartridge access door

    

Refer this article to further troubleshoot print quality issues with your printer. Click here

HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads 

Let me know if this helps!

Have a beautiful day ahead! 🙂

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[Mundane_Steve]

None of the above steps have worked in my case. I'm using brand new cyan ink cartridge. I have tried cleaning the printer heads. I have tried copying a color document. I have installed the latest drivers, etc.  I just waited a half hour and tried cleaning the printer head again...no change. Did I mention I'm using a brand new cartridge? 

[KathieM13]

I have done all of the above suggested solutions.  There is simply no connection between the ink cartridge and the printer anymore.  It's not the cartridge (since it was replaced), the print heads have been realigned 3 times, the test sheets printed 4 times.  It would be less irritating if this printer at about 1-1/2 years old was not behaving exactly as the previous one which also lasted 1-1/2 years and would not print black.  I can't decide if it's a quality control problem, designed obsolescence or just poor design.

[Betty0610]

@Mundane_Steve

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Do you have any other Cyan cartridge with you just to check if it's not a defective new ink cartridge? If no, do try and align the Printhead:

1. Load plain white paper in the input tray.

2. From the printer control panel, open the Setup  menu.

3. Open the Printer Maintenance or Tools menu.

4. Touch Align Printhead.

   An alignment page prints.

5. Wait until the page is out of the printer before you remove it.

If the issue persists, please perform the remaining steps from this document: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-officejet-pro-6960-all-in-one-printer-series/8289579/model/1...

If the issue still pesrists, I recommend you to contact the HP Support Team as this could be a hardware issue.

Link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

Note:  Select the country accordingly to get the contact details for support.

If you do have another cyan ink cartridge, do check with that and see if you're able to print in cyan.

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

Have a great day!

[Betty0610]

@KathieM13

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

This situation will need some additional support from our internal teams in HP. For that to happen, we will give you additional instructions/information via Private Message.

Please do check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

Have a great day!

[Mundane_Steve]

I tried those steps but the alignment failed when the scan of the page created as error because THERE IS NO BLUE INK on the page. These service forums are only of limited use if even the live person answering the thread is going to suggest stuff that the web links have already suggested. I do wonder if there's some reason an additional paragraph can't be added at the end of the various steps: "If none of these steps work it could be that your printer head is broken"!? What I mean is that I don't know why I had to talk to a phone support person to have them tell me that? 

[MarloJill]

I tried all the steps...

I cleaned all the cartridge heads, I did all the maintenance. The  test ABC page did not have any Cyan and when I tried to do an alignment the  cyan did not print and the scan test is not working. 

I have tired several cartridges so I know for a fact it is the printer and NOT the cartridges.

Please help... this is a well cared for printer and less than 2 yrs

[The_Fossette]

@MarloJill,

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

In order that I may provide you with an accurate solution, I will need a few more details and I would appreciate if you could, perhaps elaborate on your concern.

• What is the exact model for your printer?
• What is the operating system you are using?
• Have you made any software or hardware changes on the computer? 

Look forward to hearing from you and you have a great day!

Take care.

Cheers!

[MarloJill]

• What is the exact model for your printer? HP OfficeJet 6968 (noted in subject line)
• What is the operating system you are using? Windows 10
• Have you made any software or hardware changes on the computer? No