Printhead Failure

[mountainweaver]

I just killed a whole morning trying everything suggested plus. Tried new cartridges (so now I can't return them)...wish I'd read this conversation sooner.

Same story..., working fine, then on the next print job last night I got the error message out of the blue.....  Gave up trying, Hoped turning it off and letting it sit would allow for it to correct itself...wrong. Covered in ink (from playing with cartridges), frustrated and now really pissed as I read I am not alone and believe YES, they program these machines to die after 2 years, otherwise you would never buy another one. HP has lost me...their photo quality stinks anyway...time to go back to Cannon..., but I will look at that Brother you folks are talking about.

[artfowlerviper]

Printhead failure message, tried all the resets methods and was unsuccessful.  Is there an update i need?

[johnrsenior]

Hey, CalGal - You indicated the replacement print head was too expensive.  Where, pray tell, did you locate a replacement and what was the cost?  In an HP chat, I pressed for info on a replacement and was told by HP that 'they didn't have any' and referred me to four outside vendors (TX, GA, WI and I think Alaska).  I contacted only the WI vendor who said they hadn't had this replacement for months, haven't been able to restock from HP, and that HP couldn't say if/when they might become available.

*WHAT IS TRULY AMAZING ABOUT THIS SITE AND ISSUE ?

- Other than faulty/failed instructions to correct the problem, nothing seems to have worked

- HP has provided no meaningful input

- Numerous other disappointed HP print head users, like myself, have openly criticized HP and at least 2 of us found a tremendously inexpensive ($79 - $90) and substantially more effective printer in the Brother MFC-J497DW available at Staples and Amazon!  Wireless.  Auto ON/OFF, no buttons to push.  Tiltable control panel which when on constantly displays ink levels.  Easy to adjust between docs and pics, and paper selection.  And, ink a lot cheaper!

AND MOST AMAZING, HP permits these posts promoting other, better non-HP alternatives ! ! !

I tried all the HP recommended fixes, unsuccessfully, along with a few not posted.  Closely inspected both the print head and its printer connection point - no apparent issues.  *Gently* cleaned the printhead face w/cotton swab & alcohol . . . resulting in more than a little residual ink in the head draining.  Reloaded and repeated the various HP recommended fixes - to no avail.   SOOOOOOOOOOOOO, like so many of you I had a few extra (and expensive) full and opened (couldn't return) ink cartons, BUUUUUUUUT, my friends at Staples BOTH (at no cost to me) overnight shipped my new Brother AAAAAND emailed me a free return label for *1 Four cartridge BW/Color pack*, . . . the refund from which FULLY PAID FOR THE NEW BROTHER ! ! !

At least in providing us this communication opportunity HP is helping us quickly, and ECONOMICALLY, resolve our printer replacement quandry . . . WITHOUT  HP  PRODUCTS ! ! !

My photos of my recently departed, treasured 11 year-old Golden Retriever, Abner, are coming out GREAT on the Brother!

[calgal1077]

Johnrsenior,

I only got as far as googling the printhead, and I believe I saw 3 choices, the least expensive of which was $68. I never clicked on any of them because it was Amazon Prime Day, and I knew I could get a new printer for about that same amount. So I'm sorry I can't direct you to the location, and the way my luck has been lately, those choices probably would have been for the wrong printhead anyway. 😁

I'm glad your new printer is working well and doing Abner justice. RIP, Abner. I'm so sorry for your loss.😢.

[johnrsenior]

Kudos CalGal (!) and thanx for the qwik, and appreciatively responsive, answer!  I hope you are as fortunate as I was in replacing your printer.  In critiquing the HP 8610, I had failed to mention the wasted photo paper due to the light striations appearing in the printed pics.  Too, with respect to the new (& SUPER) Brother MFC-J497DW printer, I failed to mention its speed and virtual noiselessness.  Luv It!  Thanks again CalGal . . . if I could figure out how to boost your HP Comm rating!

[AmigoEE]

Ditto to all. I even tried the repair procedure on you tube, but it didn't work.

No more work---no more HP

[Alikubo]

DON'T EVEN TRY!!  There are no "updates" and even if there were, you won't be able to do it because you can't clear that stupid error message off your touchscreen to do the update, if there was one!

[Alikubo]

Johnrsenior - WELL SAID!!!!!

[Alikubo]

Don't even try to correct this issue.  NOTHING HP says to do will work.  We've all been there, done that.  This is an issue with a wide variety of HP printers.  I bet your's is just about reaching two years old.  All of us are at that age and, in fact, some of us hardly even used it.  It does start out with ink needing to be replaced, then when you replace it it'll say it's not an HP cartridge (b.s.) and then, you buy MORE HP ink, but then the screen will say that there's a print head failure.  Good luck - you will never find a solution for this.  Oh, wait!   Yes, you will . . . just buy a Brother printer and don't waste your time trying to fix this cause it is not possible!

[AmigoEE]

Many thanks Alikubo. I will not purchase another HP product. I will look into the Brother printer..