OfficeJet Pro 6978 - suddenly Cyan ink not working

[OfficejetJ6480]

Hi,

My OfficeJetpro 6978 has lost ability to print out from the Blue/Cyan. I have done extensive print cleaning, maintenance, tricks from youtube.com and damp paper towel, and have changed cartridges 4 times! (all new cartridges) All other colors are great. I don't know what happened.     I have not bought any liquid product to clean anything (cartridge or case).

Someone posted similar question here and after the reply with basic instructions the poster reported no luck.  There's no reply/assistance after that.  So I post here.

Thank you!

[Irfan_06]

Hi @OfficejetJ6480,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

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

I see that you are facing an issue with one of the color ink cartridges on your printer.

A) Please follow the steps below to perform a power drain.

1) Take out the cartridges

2) Unplug the power cord from the printer & wall.

3) Press and hold the power button down for 15 seconds and release the power button, wait for about 30 seconds.

4) Plug the power cord back into the printer and wall, ensure the printer is plugged into the wall & not into a surge protector.

5) Insert the cartridges back into the printer.

Remove the cartridges > Unplug the power cord > Wait for 30 seconds > Plug the power cord back in > Insert the cartridges

B) Kindly refer to the steps on this link to update the printer firmware and let me know if that resolves the issue.

C) If the issue still persists, refer to the steps on this link to further troubleshoot.

Please click “Accepted 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!

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day

Irwin6

HP Support

[OfficejetJ6480]

Hello Irwin and to everyone.   Thank you for the info.

From the troubleshoot instructions, I have already done those so many times around.

Firmware.  I believe that may be cause of the problem.

Otherwise, there's a bad clog just for the Cyan ink area.

The other colors continue to work fine.

I  Youtube'd and put together my own idea based on some of them.

To place liquid onto the nozzle in top of printerhead base  after taking out the cartridges.

I am using Isopropyl alcohol.  Can use a syringe or even a sipping straw for drops at a time.

But first:

I take out all the cartridges (after shutting down printer).

I place wet paper towel folded to fit under the printerhead area so it's firmly down.

Manually sliding the cartridge holder back and forth across that area will show which colors are coming through.

The Blue showed up briefly only one time and then disappeared since.  (I have made many rounds of this attempt.)

I then slide printerhead on damp towel and leave there.   I apply the alcohol to the nozzle on top.  And a while later

I test sliding printhead to look at what comes through onto paper towel.

So I keep changing the damp paper towels because they become full of mostly black ink and I can't see the other colors.

When the alcohol is dried, or I wipe off on the nozzle opening I add more.  And keep going with this.

I'm trying to continue this cleaning to unclog wherever inside the printerhead is clogged.

I NOTICE SOMETHING:    I've been placing the alcohol on the blue nozzle opening.   Later I began adding it to the magenta and yellow nozzles just to see what happens.     I soak up and pat dry the nozzles, and begin a new round.  Only a few times for the colors (not black) because I've learned what I needed. (They are printing fine.)     I continue only with Blue.

I didn't think much of it in previous multiple attempts but now notice that the Blue nozzle rather quickly  becomes very blue and liquidy when alcohol added.    I added alcohol to magenta & yellow to see what happens.  I'm not seeing any color on top of those nozzles. No "overflow"?   And indeed, this test shows only the Blue nozzle to be very blue and moist.  But not with the other two.

When sliding printerhead back and forth over the damp cloth, magenta and yellow show well.  The Blue does not.

It would seem the Blue is clogged somewhere and backing up to nozzle because the alcohol applied maybe catches ink (clogged or not)  inside and comes back up through the nozzle and not filtering down to paper towel underneath.  Like an overflow when tank is full.          Maybe this is a sign why the blue is not flowing through printerhead base onto the damp cloth.

So how does one get further inside the printerhead?   I understand it cannot be removed, or can it?  Would love that.

Can air or pressure of some sort be applied through nozzle?  I have not tried this yet.  I would try this with only with the Blue nozzle.  Not doing this until finding out if this causes further damage.

Otherwise, I will continue applying alcohol and checking if Blue will flow out from bottom onto paper towel.

Until next step....

Sorry this was so long and involved.  I appreciate anyone understanding my question and replying.

Thank you!

[Irfan_06]

Hi @OfficejetJ6480,

I am sorry to hear that the above steps did not help much but i do appreciate your efforts in performing the troubleshooting steps.

The support here is limited and this issue might require one-on-one interaction to fix it.

I've sent you a private message with the instructions. In order to access your private messages, Click the Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link

Take care and have a great day ahead!

Irwin6

HP Support