HP 9018 ... Color printer not printing in color

[BananaFrappe]

When the blue, red, yellow cartridges started to run low, it would not print in color unless I ran a cleaning sequence first. There seemed(?) to be enough ink there, but it was sorta low-ish. I physically cleaned the printhead from a video published on youtube published by hp.com. The cleaning involved putting the printer head in on a water soaked lint-free towel in about. Then the printer printed color fine... for a day or so, then it stopped printing in color again.

At this point, I figured this was because the cartridges were a bit old and pretty low -- aided of course by the multiple head cleanings -- I replaced them with new HP cartridges. I printed test pages and it printed color just fine. This was about 10 days ago.

I have not printed anything in a week. I tried to make a copy today... black only. I then printed a Word document that has color in it... black only.

I ran a cleaning, and only black and blue came out.

Then I ran it again!.....  now all the colors came out, but NOT well.

Now a THIRD TIME!.....  a repeat of the previous cleaning.

Now a "second level" cleaning (HP Smart app)..... now it comes out with all 6 colors tests on the bottom (blue, pink, yellow, purple, green, orange). But is still streaky.

This multiple cleanings is what I had to do to get a color print done prior to the ink cartridge replacements.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?

[Jay_G24]

Hi @BananaFrappe,

I'd like to help!

I understand you are facing a print quality issue.

If you have already performed the steps from the document Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues and the issue persists, it could be a printhead failure.

Please reach out to HP Support in your region regarding the service options for your printer.

If you are having trouble navigating through the above options, it's most likely because the device is out of warranty. If yes? please send me a private message with the region you are contacting us from. Check next to your profile name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it. 

Hope this helps!

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

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

Click the “Yes" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping

[BananaFrappe]

As requested, I sent you the private message.

[Jay_G24]

I have responded to your message, please check.

[BananaFrappe]

Sorry, but how does giving me the customer support toll-free number help me? My printer is out of warranty. I could have found this number with a simple Google search.

I honestly thought that you were going to offer me some actual help with replacing the part not offering me a way to purchase another part that I should not have had to buy because HP's parts are so defective!!!!! Why on earth would I want to pour more money into the money pit that this defective printer has become???

[Jay_G24]

We do not have to replace a part or the printer itself.

HP Phone support team may be able to offer you service, repair, replacement, or upgrade options.

I recommend you reach them.

Hope this helps!