A red line in WORD is printing out at GOLD on my HP 3830 inkjet printer

[Technbuff77]

A RED line in WORD (windows 10 PC is printing out at GOLD on my HP 3830 printer. 1st and 2nd level cleans did not work. Magenta and red do not print correctly. Print quality pages fail. I am in the middle of a project & cannot print the document. I need a new color cartridge. EVEN though Instant Ink says the ink level is fine. PLEASE HELP. [2 July 2025}  I will contact Instant Ink customer support tomorrow AM. Perhaps the "board is not able to send me a cartridge. Has anyone else had this issue? 

[Technbuff77 · Accepted solution]

FOLLOWUP: THE HP 63 Tricolor cartridge has FAILED. I tried cleaning the contacts. Twice. No change. No error message. No error codes.

SOLUTION: I went to Walmart. Purchased a NEW HP 63 tricolor cartridge. With tax, it came out to 7 1/2 months of what I pay for my Instant Ink subscription. This defeated the purpose of having the subscription. SWAPPED in the new cartridge. Did the alignment procedure. IT WORKED FINE. Working fine now. Not super happy.  [somewhat expensive solution.]

It would appear that the HP cartridges are unreliable, get plugged up over time, or have a limited life. Try your printing early in the day when HP Instant Ink customer service is open. While I appreciate the HP support pages, the failed cartridge left me stuck. I hope this helps. 2025 July 02