Photosmart 3310 printing issue - seemingly ink leaks and alignement failures

[jeffwettlaufer]

Great thread, thanks everyone for the contributions.  I am experiencing the exact same issue.  Ink leaking everywhere, replaced cartidges, alignment failing, paper not getting ink accurately to paper, ink bleeding onto paper, and ink pooling and splattering inside chassis.

TImely that I had this the same week as others :).

I am totally up for taking my printer apart, however the chassis is held together by some odd screws that I havent got any way to remove.  I am happy to get this serviced, but we have to understand the price point for this unit, 4-5 years ago, and how much the service may cost. 

Why was this thread marked solved? 

[NAouin]

Back in business, I'm heading toward fiding a solution to my printer issue. Still couldn't get the relevant info from HP since I'm completely unable to reach any customer service to have a few minutes talk. The Tech Service tried to reach while I was on leave, I sent back a mail, hope I'll get some fresh news soon.

@jeffwettlaufer => I marked this thread solved since I opened this thread to better understood my printer's problem. Since Dexter kindly gave me a few relevant tips (imho) I ended marking it solved for this part of the story. Now my remaining issue is how to proceed with the printer. I found several ways, but I'm lacking info, so I'll wait for some reliable tip from HP about the replacement programm or so. Depending on the info I'll get, I'll chose what will happen next.

@dakealii => Did you get some more info about the printhead availability or so. I still didn't dismount it now, I'll do so only if I don't go with the HP replacement program. So I can't state for certainty what the problem is, still relying on Dexter's info and on the pics, it seems located at the sponge pad and printer head. I'll give some more detail if I get into disassembling the whole printer.

anyway, thanks for all the inputs guys !

[andyjc]

I have an HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One printer connected wireless-g-ly to an HP dv8000 series laptop. One day printer started to print wrong colors/missing colors to create proper color combinations. Always used genuine HP replacement cartridges (though a few may have had old expiration dates but still worked fine). Changed all carts to new HP, ran clean printhead and align print functions to no avail... colors were mixed wrong in test prints, some with HORIZONTAL white streaks and/or missing ink altogether. Noted that some magenta ink had been depositing inside the printer (opened the scanner bed/hatch to change ink carts) on the right side of the opening on the metal platen with the tiny rollers near the front of the printer and some absorbed into sponge like material in the crevase between platen & sidewall. Also a **bleep** of cyan ink leaked onto platen too. After wiping up the ink inside best I could, ran clean & align again, again with no results (only different colors/streaks/etc from previous print) and to add insult to injury, the last alignment failed (twice in a row). Help! Can this be fixed? Or should I just buy a new printer? I really liked this unit.

Very helpful thread. I also have this problem (starting to seem common with all these replies - wish we knew the underlying cause). Any one have any luck actually fixing the problem? I am I to understand that HP possibly has an exchange/trade-in/upgrade program for getting a new printer? And it can be for those of us who have an expired warranty? What kind of savings would we get with an exchange? More info would be appreciated.

[Robyn16]

Hi I just wanted to say thankyou for your imput as i too have this Alignment failure, after replacing the Magenta ink cartridge a week ago, (i always use HP original) I followed all the steps in the help areas to no avail. Never dreamed to look inside the machine looking for ink spills until i read your posts, thanks for this info as i do have leaking Magenta as well.

So this comes to my Question, where is the nearest HP repair dealer to Tweed Heads NSW 2484 & does Australia have this replacement for new thingy as well & at what cost ? 

I really do not want to change my printer as i love it & it took me ages to save for it, as i am looking after my 92yr old dad so i don't have heaps to spare. 

Thankyou to all those who have shared their problems as i'm a beginner at this & you have opened my eyes to look deeper into things.:smileysurprised:

---

@andyjc wrote:

I have an HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One printer connected wireless-g-ly to an HP dv8000 series laptop. One day printer started to print wrong colors/missing colors to create proper color combinations. Always used genuine HP replacement cartridges (though a few may have had old expiration dates but still worked fine). Changed all carts to new HP, ran clean printhead and align print functions to no avail... colors were mixed wrong in test prints, some with HORIZONTAL white streaks and/or missing ink altogether. Noted that some magenta ink had been depositing inside the printer (opened the scanner bed/hatch to change ink carts) on the right side of the opening on the metal platen with the tiny rollers near the front of the printer and some absorbed into sponge like material in the crevase between platen & sidewall. Also a **bleep** of cyan ink leaked onto platen too. After wiping up the ink inside best I could, ran clean & align again, again with no results (only different colors/streaks/etc from previous print) and to add insult to injury, the last alignment failed (twice in a row). Help! Can this be fixed? Or should I just buy a new printer? I really liked this unit.

Very helpful thread. I also have this problem (starting to seem common with all these replies - wish we knew the underlying cause). Any one have any luck actually fixing the problem? I am I to understand that HP possibly has an exchange/trade-in/upgrade program for getting a new printer? And it can be for those of us who have an expired warranty? What kind of savings would we get with an exchange? More info would be appreciated.

---

[mdeck]

Hi Dakealii,

I'm having a leaking problem on my PSC 3210 (almost the same as 3300 series -- I think yours has wireless, mine does not) after installing a new cartridge.  (I've always used geniune carts.)  Although not a mechanic, my Daddy taught me how to take things apart, and I'm doing pretty well on this printer, but I can't figure out how to unlock the carriage head (so I can access the print head assembly to clean it).  Can you help?

Also, how much did it cost to replace the print head assembly?  Do you think it was worth the effort?

-- mdeck

[hpilk]

Hi All,

Same story here, 4 year old printer, Haven't used the color fcns for about a month, now no Cyans except on the floow of the platen inside, and each alignment cycle gets WORSE. 

I love tinkering, but have determined that this job may not end; I will have a printer in pieces waiting for parts that no longer exist. 

Let's not talk about all the ink I bought to replace the cartridges. 

Check out DPreview for reviews of printers with photo capabilities

[mdeck]

Hi hpilk,

If you want to make progress on disassembly, I suggest unplugging it when the carriage is in the middle of the printer.  When I did that, it was unlocked and I could move it easily by hand.  (It's locked if it gets back "home," and I'm sure there's a way to unlock it, but I couldn't figure it out.)

That being said, in taking it appart, I could not get to any place where I could do anything productive with a modicum of effort, and I wasn't willing to go any further.  With basic disassembly, I couldn't see any blown gaskets, couldn't get to the beginning or end of any of the pipes, couldn't see the origin of any leaks.  (Again, I'm sure it's possible, but it's not worth my time to go that far.  Already spent more than five hours on the issue -- wasting at least $100 in ink during the process and ruining a pair of jeans with ink stains -- before I decided that it's time for a new printer.)

I will keep it as a document and photo/negative scanner (I can't find a current model that scans negatives) and black-only printer until such time as I really need a color/photo printer (and then I'll still keep this around as a scanner).  If you want to do the same: keep the color cartridges installed, and it'll complain with every print job about you needing to replace one or more cartridges, but if you hit "ok" it'll print using only black.  (For some reason, even though I have specified "black only" in properties when I print the document, it still requires me to push the button.  I'll get over it.) 

After cleaning up the insides as much as possible (what you can see when you lift the lid, at least on my PSC3210), I try to leave it turned on all the time (I have it set to go to sleep).  I think there's something about the start-up cycle that spits out extra colored ink (that makes its way onto the page in globs). Leaving it on all the time (after cleaning), I have not had any issues with colored ink where it doesn't belong.

Anyone want to buy some #02 cartridges?  I have a bunch, mostly the XL size.....

-- mdeck

[hpilk]

Hi MD

My gut tells me that those feed lines are clogged, so I'm going to take one whack at getting the assembly off the print head, clearing them out, (like with Distilled water) , and trying one more time to print.

If it works it'll be a miracle, but I have nothing to lose.

The issue is the printer actually is the perfect marriage of size and function, and it sits in a customized space, so I would love to have it keep working.

[mdeck]

Hi hpilk,

Do you have a PSC3xxx? 

To be more specific, on my PSC3210 (very similar to PSC3300), I got stuck trying to get the printhead assembly disengaged from its tracking bar (I was able to get it to move freely on the bar, but not to get it off the bar -- without which you can't get at any of the working parts).  If you can figure that out, I'd love to know!  (Just respond here, I'll be notified.  I HATE it when I can't take something apart enough to diagnose it!)

Watch out with the ink.  It'll eventually come off your skin, but it's definitely very hard/impossible to remove completely from any clothing/fabric (although you can get it down to near-nothing).  It has a tendency to go everywhere. Consider plastic sheeting, as for painting, and definitely wear painting clothes. 😉

Rather than distilled water, you might be better off with isopropyl alcohol (as high a percentage as you can find).  Any kind of water will take longer to evaporate than isopropyl.  Water's probably ok for the first couple of flushes, but finish with a flush or two of isopropyl.  And I think isopropyl is a partial solvent for the ink (so you'll get more goop out).  (Note that HP -- and all manufacturers -- recommends isopropyl for cleaning printheads.)

Good luck!

-- mdeck

[hpilk]

Hi,

Thanks for the tips. I have real  (99.9%) isopropyl, from my local electronics store, but it's almost a solvent, so I hesitate to use unless I know for sure it won't hurt. I trust the PSC 3300 is the same as the 3300 All in One. We'll see tomorrow.