T120 print quality issue not resolved by replacing print head

[sterlingrachel]

We are experiencing smears of black ink on the leading edge of printing. I performed 3 levels of cleaning and also the printhead alignment - when I cleaned again after that alignment the smears were actually worse, not just on the leading edge of the black block but also a large smear across the top of the upper yellow block.

The upper black block is always the worst, the bottom block is usually fine.

After the 3rd level of cleaning the message states that if the quality is still bad to change the printhead, so I changed the printhead, installed new ink per instructions, then when the automatic printhead alignment finished (which didn't look great) the test patterns were still smeared - I did another set of cleanings and the problem is just not solved.

I am attaching a picture of the most recent 3rd level cleaning pattern AFTER changing the printhead; here you can see the black is smeared across both blue blocks. 

We have had no changes in software, are printing from the computer using Windows 10 connected by hard cable, have not set up for wireless printing. 

Thank you for any suggestions - Rachel

[sterlingrachel]

I am adding a photo of the test pattern 1 from after the printhead was replaced, aligned and cleaned.

[Mikeg81]

Hi,

What type of paper are you using?

[sterlingrachel]

Usually the HP 21lb roll paper for projects, which is where the problem shows up. In order not to waste paper,for tests/cleaning I load 20lb 8.5x11 into the multi-sheet tray.

[NCoady]

Have you checked to see if there is any dust or hair under the print head assembly?

It looks as if something is dragging through the print before the ink gets a chance to dry.

I have seen a similar issue with smaller inkjet printers in the past.

[sterlingrachel]

Thanks, will check; I did clean the encoder strip, which did help. So far doing ok if printing on "best" quality... lot of ink being used.