Printing very badly after replacing first cartridge (Instant Ink)

[Guillaume3]

Hello.

Since putting my first black Instant Ink cartridge (after the demo cartridge included with the printer was empty), black prints very badly: smears, missing lines of text... I ran several cleaning procedures last month and ending up borrowing someone's printer to print my actual documents. Then today I ran 6 cleanings in a row. Still bad.

Is it the printer or the cartridge? If it's the cartridge, how do I receive a new one from Instant Ink even though this one is new?

Here's today's print report after 6 cleanings (3 "level 1" and the 3 "level 2" that goes with them). I've hidden the serial number, but no other editing.

Thanks.

[senan6806]

Hi @Guillaume3,

A warm welcome to HP Community!

We might be able to resolve the issue by power resetting the printer and then performing an automated/manual cleaning. Here is how to do it:

Please ensure the printer is up-to-date with its firmware. If you are unsure, you can download and install the latest firmware update from here.

1) Make sure this printer is plugged into a direct wall, not a surge protector

2) Remove all of your ink cartridges from the printer and close the door

3) Remove the power cord from the back of the printer (Do no press the power button)

4) Clean the ink cartridges, refer to step 4 from this document.

5) Plug the power cord back into the printer

6) Wait for the printer to turn on completely, then install the ink cartridges.

7) On the printer control panel, swipe left on the display, and then touch Setup ..

😎 Touch Tools. Swipe up on the display, and then touch Clean Page Smears.

9) On the printer control panel, swipe left on the display, and then touch Setup .

10) Touch Tools, and then touch Clean Cartridges.

Let me know how it goes!

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

[Guillaume3]

Thank you @Senan6806. I did all the steps, and it's slighly better but there are still completly unreadable parts on the page.

• The firmware was already 1904A
• There is no surge protector
• Brutal poweroff done (and the printer complained about it on restart 😉
• I think you mean step 2 of that document (cleaning the copper contacts)? I did it
• For "clean smear", the page used for the cleaning was still perfectly white in the end. No smears at all, it seems
• For "clean cartridges", here is the new print quality report generated (after a "level 2" cleaning)

The title is badly printed on the entire width of the page. The end of several lines (1st line on the word "authentique", lines in section 4 on "CARTOUCHE" and "clair", section 5 on "IMPRIMANTE") are bad. The world "noir" (black in French) above the black bloc is unreadable. The black bloc itself has horizontal bands, espcially in the darkest part. The vertical lines in section 5 are very faint and blury (only the black, color lines are perfect). The begin of the lines in section 7 are bad. On HP Support URL, there is a strange thing with the ascenders and descenders of the letters 'h' and 'p' are missing (it looks a bit like no.com/suooorc instead of hp.com/support).

[asmita6658]

Hi @Guillaume3

Please send us a private message with your Instant Ink account details or you may also respond to the private message I've sent out and I'll help you out, accordingly. Check next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it. 

Let me know. 

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!

Have a great day!