HP 6978 cyan streaks on large areas

[joeelectro]

Officejet Pro 6978 printer worked great for 12 months, then I started getting streaks when trying to print a large area with cyan in it. Test pages look perfect, but when I COPY or PRINT a photo with cyan, only the "top" (first printed area) looks OK, then the cyan starts to streak and fade out, making the photo look pinkish.  I have checked/trimmed the plastic nubs from the protective cap on the underside of the cartridge, and also opened up the vent on the top of the cartridge. This is the second cartridge that has exhibited this behavior. I have run the alignment and cleaning routine with no improvement at all. Also done the unplug/reset routine. Any ideas?

[Raj1788]

@joeelectro

Welcome to the HP Community

I suggest you do a Hard Reset on the printer

(1) Turn the printer on, if it is not already on.

(2) Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.

(3) With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.

(4) Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

(5) Wait at least 60 seconds.

(6) Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.

NOTE: HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to the wall outlet.

(7) Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.

(8) Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.

The printer might go through a warm-up period. The printer lights might flash, and the carriage might move.

Wait until the warm-up period finishes and your printer is idle and silent before you proceed.

Update the firmware for the printer using this link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/product/hp-officejet-pro-6970-all-in-one-printer-series/8289585/model/1...

Restart the printer.

Try using a different set of cartridge and check if that works out.

Refer to this document: https://support.hp.com/in-en/product/hp-officejet-pro-6970-all-in-one-printer-series/8289585/model/1... for Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues.

Keep me posted, how it goes!

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Have a great day!

Cheers:)

[joeelectro]

Hi Raj-

Thank you for the prompt response!

Printer is set to auto-update, so when I tried to do the firmware update, it said it already had the latest version. I tried the Hard Reset also, and it made no difference. Still have the problem of only the top left of a picture fully printing cyan for about 2 inches horizontally, and rest of picture has no cyan except for some small streaks. Funny thing, streaks are in exactly the same location on 2 identical pictures I printed a week apart! I don't think the printhead is clogged or bad, or the area in the top left would not print either. It's almost like something is restricting the flow of ink to the cyan area of the head. It gets enough to print a test page, but not enough to print a picture, except for the top left corner.

Anything else I could try?

[Raj1788]

@joeelectro

This could be a hardware issue with the printer. 

I would personally suggest you contact our HP Support. 

Click here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp?openCLC=true

Make sure you select the Country and Region.

Keep me posted on further assistance. Hope that helps! 

Have a great day ahead!