Head cleaning does *nothing*

[HeyRick1973]

Hello,

I recently purchased this printer and installed the Instant Ink colour cartridge. It is still using the setup black one as that isn't empty yet.

Today, a printout is stripey, affecting cyan and magenta. The printer is unusable in this state, printouts look like something from the nineties.

I logged into the printer's web control and ran a cleaning cycle. It immediately printed a report, which was bad, and invited me to do a level 2 clean which would take about three minutes. I did, and it immediately printed a report and invited me to do a level 3 clean which would take about five minutes. I did, and it immediately printed a report. Just don't this twice, the printer doesn't even attempt to clean the cartridges, it just prints the same report with the same missing bits in the colour blocks.

I have now replaced the setup black with the Instant Ink black in case it was that, but no. Cleaning, level 2, level 3, it simply spits out the report and doesn't even attempt to clean the cartridge.

What's going on here? How can I get the printer to actually perform a proper, complete, cleaning cycle?

Thank you.

[HeyRick1973]

Follow up (the next day):

I did a factory reset. The printer still refused to attempt to clean the print heads, however I noticed that it did a brief clean just after the reset, so I did a bunch of factory resets in a row and now the printer is printing correctly.

I got in touch with HP support. The woman who replied clocked that I was English and wasn't the slightest bit interested in helping. She gave me the number for the English speaking helpline which she confirmed was an eleven digit number. Phone numbers here in France are ten digit. But, okay, I tried various combinations but none of the ones I tried worked. Thanks for that...

So I called back and explained the problem to somebody else (a man, who attempted to understand me, yay!) who said that it was a problem with the cartridge. I asked why the printer was not attempting to clean and he kept saying "the cartridge is blocked". An Instant Ink cartridge that is perfectly fine in every other way, and as my ridiculous factory resets demonstrated, would be fine if only this stupid machine would attempt to clean the things.

HP's solution? Send out new cartridges.

And, what, I need to ask for new cartridges (or endless factory resets) every time the printer fails to do a basic cleaning when asked to?

Okay, I'll use the current cartridges until the print quality suffers and then I'll pop in the replacements, but I'm not hopeful. I'm a programmer and I work at assembler level and I do that sort of thing for fun, so I do understand tech things and I'd really love to know what kind of screwy logic would result in a cartridge failing to clean but operational in every other way. This story just doesn't make sense to me.

Oh, and just to clarify, the printer is new. The colour has only been in a week or two, and my "free" Instant Ink trial is 50 pages, I haven't done anything like that many. The black was inserted yesterday, as explained previously, so it's not as if they're out of ink or old or whatever. The indicator on the front panel has three bars (full) for both.

"Affaire à suivre" as they say here. 😉

[A_Gayathri]

Hi @HeyRick1973,

Welcome to The HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I understand you are facing an issue with your HP DeskJet 4222e is having difficulty performing an actual cleaning cycle, and the reported issue is not improving despite attempts. This may be related to firmware issues, clogged printhead nozzles, or cartridge alignment problems. Here are steps to try and resolve this issue:

1. Manual Printhead Cleaning

If the automated cleaning cycles fail, manually clean the printhead:

• Power Off the Printer and unplug it from the outlet.
• Open the printer to access the cartridges.
• Remove the Cartridges carefully and place them on a clean, lint-free cloth.
• Dampen a lint-free cloth with distilled water and gently wipe the copper contacts on the cartridges.
• Use another damp cloth to clean the printhead inside the printer where the cartridges rest.
• Let the parts dry for a few minutes, then reinsert the cartridges and close the printer.

2. Alignment of Cartridges

Ensure that the cartridges are aligned:

• Use the HP Smart app or printer control panel to run the alignment process.
• Check the printed alignment page and follow the on-screen instructions if adjustments are needed.

3. Check for Firmware Updates Update the firmware on an HP printer

Ensure your printer firmware is up to date:

1. Open the HP Smart app.
2. Select your printer, go to Printer Settings, and then Advanced Settings.
3. Check for and apply any available firmware updates.

4. Test with Different Paper

Sometimes, poor quality or inappropriate paper can contribute to print issues. Use clean, high-quality, plain white paper to eliminate this variable.

5. Reset the Printer

Perform a factory reset on your printer:

1. Turn off the printer and unplug it.
2. Wait 1-2 minutes, then plug it back in.
3. Hold the Cancel and Power buttons simultaneously for 10-15 seconds or until the printer resets.
4. Reconfigure the printer settings using the HP Smart app.

Refer to this document: HP DeskJet 4222e All-in-One Printer User manual

I hope this helps. 

Take care and have a good day.

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