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Check out our Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues info about: Print quality and Cartridge Issues.
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Photosmart C4180 and C5280
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Photosmart C4180 and C5280.  Both need pulling down and cleaning. The C4180 appears to have a  blocked print head (colors not mixing) and the C5280 is just to keep in good condition.

7 REPLIES 7
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Sorry, service manuals are not available for the Photosmart C4180 or C5280.  Both these printers have Integrated Printhead (IPH) cartridges, with the ink supplies and printheads included on the ink cartridges.  When you replace a cartridge you are also replacing the printhead.

 

The document here may help to address the print quality issues.  If the print cartridges have been sitting for a long time, or if the printer was unplugged before the printhead had time to properly park itself it might help to remove the cartridges and soak them as follows:  get two coffee cups.  Put about 1" of hot (but not boiling) water in each.  Remove the cartridges and put them nozzles down (in the same orientation they would be in the printer) in the water, one in each cup.  Allow them to soak for about ten minutes, then remove and dry the electrical contacts with a lint-free wipe.  A clean coffee filter works well for this.  Replace the cartridges in the printer and run up to three cleaning cycles to restore proper printing.

 

If there are specific things you would like to know about addressing specific issues please post back here with the details.


Bob Headrick,  HP Expert

I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.

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where the print head sits in its cradle is where I would like to get into and clean there was ink in the catch tray and it has been spread around after being transported..  black is fine it is the color issue

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You said " ink in the catch tray and it has been spread around after being transported".  

 

There is a service station where ink is "spit" to keep the nozzles clear.  It is generally not necessary or desirable to clean this area.  The ink in this area generally looks black, it is made of a mixture of black and color inks.   If the printer itself was transported and tipped the ink in the service area could leak out and create quite a mess.

 

If that is the case I would likely want to take it outside and give it a thorough spray with a hose, then let it dry completely before powering it up.  The encoder strip behind the carriage and a similar disk on the paper feed axis are critical, they will not work with ink on them.  

 

You might get things cleaned up and working, but likely it will be more of a mess than you want to deal with.  I would suggest recycling them....  Sorry I do not have better news.

 


Bob Headrick,  HP Expert

I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.

If your problem is solved please click the "Accept as Solution" button 

If my answer was helpful please click "Yes" to the "Was this post helpful" question.


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Thanks Bob.  I have done the clean and all is go except still no yellow in coming through (although one of the many part cartridges we got with it did show some yellow) 4 new color cartridges are still not printing any yellow??

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The printhead is integrated into the cartridge.  If one of the four cartridges printed a bit of yellow it indicates the electronics is OK and the fault is with the cartridges.  You could verify the cartridge is at fault by gently blotting the printhead on a damp tissue.  A good cartridge will have a strong blot of cyan, magenta and yellow.

 

Did you try soaking the cartridge as I mentioned above?  Are the cartridges HP or third party?  How old are the cartridges?  (See the date printed on the cartridges as shown in the document here.)  The date printed is the end of warranty date, two years from the date of manufacture.  


Bob Headrick,  HP Expert

I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.

If your problem is solved please click the "Accept as Solution" button 

If my answer was helpful please click "Yes" to the "Was this post helpful" question.


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cheers Bob, this is the bizarre part with a soak and the blotting paper nice strong three color patch, in the machine no yellow?

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OK, I am about out of ideas.  You might try making a large block of yellow in Paint or some similar and then print a full page of this.  If you have a cartridge that gives any yellow at all on the page then run up to three cleaning cycles in a row and see if there is any improvement.

 

I still think the issue is the cartridges.  To have yellow not print at all but other colors and black to all print OK due to an issue on the printer would require a number of electrical contacts to be not working while all the others were OK.  This is very unlikely.


Bob Headrick,  HP Expert

I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.

If your problem is solved please click the "Accept as Solution" button 

If my answer was helpful please click "Yes" to the "Was this post helpful" question.


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