3050A Black Cartridges don't work...well

[Sadar7]

Ran out of black ink, no problem, have stored some next to printer, room temperature in house.  First one prints no black on alignment page.  Level says full, but Is 4 months past expiration date. Run through all the cleaning protocols I can find.  Still no luck.  Try second cartridge (also from same batch of 61xl that I bought roughly a year ago).  No black.  Cleaning protocols.  Nothing improves. Out of desperation go for 3rd cart out of 4 that I own.  Finally some black.  However, now there is banding, missing sections of critical lines.    Alignment won't work although there is most of it there.  Other than cleaning protocols, am finding no other help on this or any website.  Is there anything to be done or do I need to get a cheap Brother Laser Printer?  Notice the difference in the first alignment page from the second and the cleaning report.  Thanks.

[sandytechy20]

@Sadar7

Welcome to HP support community.

Manually clean the area around the ink nozzles

1. Gather the following materials:

   • Dry foam-rubber swabs, lint-free cloth, or any soft material that will not come apart or leave fibers (coffee filters work well)

   • Distilled, filtered, or bottled water (tap water might contain contaminants that can damage the ink cartridges)

        CAUTION: 

     Do not use platen cleaners or alcohol to clean the area. These can damage the ink cartridge or the printer.

2. Make sure the printer is on.

3. Open the ink cartridge access door.

   The carriage moves to the center of the printer.

   Figure : Open the ink cartridge access door

   

4. Wait until the carriage is idle and silent to continue.

5. Lightly press down on the ink cartridge to release it, and then pull the ink cartridge toward you out of its slot.

   Figure : Press down to remove the ink cartridge

   

      CAUTION: 

   Do not remove both ink cartridges at the same time. Remove and clean each ink cartridge one at a time. Do not leave an ink cartridge outside the printer for more than 30 minutes.

6. Hold the ink cartridge by its sides.

   Figure : Hold the ink cartridge by its sides

   

7. Inspect the ink cartridge contacts for ink and debris buildup.

      CAUTION: 

   Do not touch the copper-colored contacts or the ink nozzles. Touching these parts can result in clogs, ink failure, and bad electrical connections.

   Figure : Do not touch the contacts or nozzles

   

8. Lightly moisten a clean, foam-rubber swab with distilled water, and then squeeze any excess water from it.

9. Clean the face and edges around the ink nozzle with the swab.

      CAUTION: 

   Do not clean the ink nozzle plate.

   Figure : Clean the area around the ink nozzle

10. 1. 

       Nozzle plate - Do not clean

    2. Area surrounding ink nozzle - Do clean

    3. Ink cartridge contacts - Do not clean

11. Either let the ink cartridge sit for 10 minutes to allow the cleaned area to dry, or use a new swab to dry it.

12. Slide the ink cartridge at a slight upward angle into the empty slot, and then gently push up on the ink cartridge until it locks into place.

    Figure : Push the ink cartridge into its slot

    

13. Repeat these steps to clean the area surrounding the ink nozzle on the other ink cartridges.

14. Close the ink cartridges access door.

    Figure : Close the ink cartridges access door

    

You can refer this HP document for more assistance:- Click here

I hope that helps.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.