How to stop smudging of print on some lines on Envy 5640

[DeeGee1]

Print was fine till black cartridge ran out.  New cartridge installed.  Some lines of print now badly smudged.  Went through HP diagnostics - print head alignment, print head cleaning - with no effect.

Any advice on how to stop the smudging would be appreciated.

[Kumar0307]

Hi @DeeGee1

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I'd be happy to assist you.

• Have you tried printing different types of documents like PDF, Word or Webpages and check if the issue persists?
• You may try making a copy of something to check if the issue persists.

Follow these steps to resolve this issue:

1. On the printer control panel, swipe the display to scroll to Setup, and then touch the Setup icon .

   The Setup menu displays.

2. Swipe the display to scroll to Printer Maintenance, and then touch Printer Maintenance.

3. Touch Clean Page Smears.

   NOTE: 

   Mechanical noises during the cleaning process are normal.

4. After the printer prints a test page, touch OK.

5. Review the test page to see if the issue is resolved.

Update the printer firmware

Click here to download and install the latest firmware from your computer.

Click here to know different methods of updating printer firmware.

If the issue persists, perform steps 11 and 14 from this document.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Have a great day! 

[DeeGee1]

Thank you for this information. I have worked through everything you advise and unfortunately it makes no difference.

The smudging is in lines right across the print. It is not on every line of print but nearly all the time it is on every other line. It is black print, not clearly defined at all & looks as if it is being printed behind the actual text, although obviously it must be printed at the same time. There is black ink visible in the colour cartridge compartment, & near the rollers immediately to the left of that compartment, but no sign of ink leakage in the black cartridge compartment or on the cartridge itself. The problem only started when I installed the new black cartridge. I tried printing in colour (red; purple; blue/grey) & there is no smudging at all. However, most of my printing has to be in black.

It looks as if the problem must be something to do with the new black cartridge but, as there is no sign of leakage from it, I don’t understand how.

Any further comments or advice would be very helpful.

[Kumar0307]

@DeeGee1, thank you for the response and for trying the troubleshooting steps.

If the issue persists, please contact our HP Support team for Service Options as it could be a possible hardware issue:

1) Click on this link - www.hp.com/contacthp/

2) Select your product type below.

3) Enter the serial of your device.

4) Select the country from the drop-down.

5) Select the appropriate option based on your preference.

6) Fill the web-form and proceed further.

Keep me posted for any other assistance.

If you feel my post solved your issue, please click “Accept as Solution”, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!