Help! I accidentally cleaned the electrical copper strip on my ink cartridge

[kellyh1218]

I was trying to print out a barcode for a return order and noticed a bit of smudging with the ink so I decided to go in and clean the cartridge (this fixed the problem in the past when I had ink smudging). I got clean cotton swabs and cleaned the areas that I thought I was okay with cleaning. I should have read the instructions in more detail because it said NOT to clean the copper electrical strips, which I did. 

I put the cartridges back in the printer and lo and behold, the ink smudging is 10x worse and the barcode comes out completely illegible, just a black box of smudging. 

How do I fix my cartridges?? They are fairly brand new so I really don't want to buy more at this point. Is there any way to resolve the issue? Thank you!!

[senan6806]

@kellyh1218

A warm welcome to HP Support Community!

Cleaning the area around the ink nozzles may resolve the issue. Instruction on how to clean the area around the ink nozzles can be found on step 6 on this document. 

Let me know 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!

[kellyh1218]

@senan6806 Thanks for getting back to me. I actually had cleaned the cartridges beforehand. The problem is that I had accidentally cleaned the electric copper strip, which in the video they said NOT to clean as it would cause further problems. Not sure now if that means I have to dispose of them or what...I only bought these cartridges not too long ago and would hate to waste them simply because I accidentally wiped the copper strip. 

[senan6806]

@kellyh1218

As per the user guide available here, it's okay to clean the print cartridge contacts to resolve any print quality or ink cartridge error. Since you have already tried cleaning, its possible that the ink cartridge is defective. Please call HP Support to obtain all available replacement options, you may use the following steps to contact your regional HP Support:

1) Click on this link.

2) Select your product type below.

3) Enter the serial of your device. 

4) Select the country from the drop-down. 

5) Select the chat or get phone number options based on your preferences. 

6) Fill the web-form and proceed further.