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- HP Community
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- Printer Ink Cartridges & Print Quality
- SmartTank 720, ink pipes problem ?

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07-04-2022 11:12 AM - edited 07-04-2022 02:09 PM
Hello.
I have a HP Smart Tank 720 ( 6UU46A ).
I received it, I fill the tanks with ink and I received a phone call of 20 minuts. When I came back to put the PrintHeads
Cartridges I can notice air inside 2 of the 4 ink pipes (blue and red), they was all 4 full of ink just before the phone call. I decided to contact the support, but no answer. I was puting the printer off for the night, of corse, and the printhead kart gone to the full right side of the printer. When I open in the morning the printer to check the pipes, now the blue and red ink pipes are with less ink (more air) and the black now is almost empty, the orange is still full of ink.
My problem is this one, and I'm searching some official informations about this printer :
1 / Is a normal use of the printer to have air in the ink pipes ?
2 / Is the valves at the end of the ink pipes, before the printheads needs to be hermetic ?
3 / If there is air in the pipes, is this air is expulsed by the printer, or it go inside the cartridges and lower the ink level of it ?
4/ If the answer is yes, is this lower the life of the product ?
Now I put the cartridges to test the hermetic part of the ink circuit, and air is going inside the 4 ink pipes all times now, when the printer dont print.
5/ Is it normal to have air going inside the ink pipes all times ?
Thank you for any official answer !
EDIT : added photos
EDIT 2 : someone removed my pictures, maybe because of the serial number, but they whas showing a level very low of ink in the pipes, almost no black ink in the pipe, red at the half, and blue and yellow at the 3/4 only. This happened before to put the cartridges, and mmafter another air purge and some print test the air is going again and again in the pipes. The only picture still accessible here just show what happened after 5 minuts...
07-07-2022 04:48 AM
@Bryce123, Welcome to the HP Support Community! I’m here to help.
I understand you have concerns related to refilling the ink. Ideally, there should be no air in the ink pipes.
Kindly refer to this document for more info on how to refill ink - Refill the ink tanks
You may also watch this video for a better understanding.
If you are reseating the printhead, refer to - Replace the printhead
Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click on the YES button to reply that the response was helpful and/or to say “Thank You”.
Have a great day!
KUMAR0307
I am an HP Employee
07-07-2022 10:28 AM - edited 07-07-2022 11:44 AM
@Kumar0307 , thx you for your answer. Regarding of your answer, can I resume it like this ? :
- the inks pipes must be without air idealy, but some air bubbles if this dont happen often are not a problem.
- Air going to the ink pipes all times and in a big quantity when the printer stop to print is not a normal mecanic behavior of the printer.
- Air going to the pipes all times and in quantity is something we can call a default,and push to change the cartridges.
Is it correct ?
Thx in advance for any official answer.
EDIT : as an exemple, I printed again some pages. I open the printer to check the ink in the pipes.
- No air visible
- All the previous big air quantity present un the pipes like all days "was injected in the cartridge lowering the ink level inside it" ?
-After 1 hour : [PICTURE]
EDIT 2 : in real time, after one hour more : [PICTURE]
And this, all times !
07-08-2022 03:55 AM
@-BR-
Yes, you have summarized very well. The air bubbles in the pipe are caused if the printer is not regularly used or if the ink is dry.
How is the print quality? If the print quality is affected, the printer has to be serviced.
- I've sent you a private message with further instructions to resolve this issue.
- 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 or simply click on this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/notes/privatenotespage
Keep me posted.
KUMAR0307
I am an HP Employee