Printer ink drying out

[Sz10]

I purchased my printer a few years ago but noticed, that after about 6 months of only printing a few pages per month at a time, that I would get a message stating that ink was low.  I replaced the black ink, the color ink, believing that I must have used up the ink.   This has happened several times now over the past 3 years.  I have tried both original cartridges and refill type and see no difference.  I must have spent hundreds on ink already.  I can't afford to keep purchasing cartridges when I  barely use the printer except intermittently.  I've never even been able to print a good photo (the reason I bought this model printer) because there was always an issue with not having enough ink.  

I've cleaned the heads using alcohol although it wasn't gunked up.  I also cleaned soaking in water.  Both of these were recommended by sites upon looking for technical support.   

I'm in a dilemma now.  I need a printer badly and paid almost $200 for this one.  I hate to throw this one away which was barely used and go have to buy another one.  Are other people having the same kind of issue or do I have a faulty printer?  Can this issue be resolved?  Someone recommended that I print weekly just to keep the heads wet but I can't remember to do that all the time.  I can't see how this is acceptable.   Any suggestions on what I can do to fix the problem?

I would really appreciate any feedback that could help.  -Thank you.  

[Jeet_singh]

Hi @Sz10,

Thanks for engaging in HP support Forums! This is a wonderful location to converse with the community, get assistance and find tips! I came across your post and wanted to assist you. I understand you are having issues with the ink getting dried out quickly on your HP Photosmart printer. Don't worry I'll do my best to help you with this.

When the printer is not in use it will go to sleep mode, wake up from time to time to do maintenance to the printhead and then will go back to sleep.

If this maintenance is not done, the nozzles on the printhead will dry out.

I would suggest here is to Clean cartridges automatically

If print quality is unacceptable, and the problem is not low ink levels or non-HP ink, try cleaning the cartridges.

To clean the cartridges from the printer display

1. From the Home screen, press the Settings icon. The Settings Menu is displayed.

2. Touch Tools.

3. Touch Clean Cartridges.

If you have followed the steps suggested and still having the issue. I would suggest this could be a possible hardware issue with the printer. I would recommend you contact our HP phone support for available service related options.

HP Technical Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: http://h22207.www2.hp.com/us-en/?openCLC=true

(1) Once the support page opens please select the country in which you're located. Next, enter your HP model number on the right.

(2) Next, choose the 'Contact Support' tab at the top and scroll down to the bottom of the 'HP Support- Contact' page to fill out the form provided with your contact information.

(3) Once completed click the 'Show Options' icon on the bottom right.

(4) Lastly, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select 'Get the phone number.' A case number and phone number will now populate for you.

If you have any troubles, let me know and I will do my best to help!

Hope this helps, for any further queries reply to the post and feel free to join us again

Feel free to post your query for any other assistance as well,

It's been a pleasure interacting with you and I hope you have a good day ahead.

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accepted Solution.

And click on the Purple Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

Regards,

[Sz10]

Hi,  I have cleaned the cartridges before but that didn't help.  I tried cleaning again but it doesn't change anything.  I want to know why my HP cartridges that I purchase from Staples get depleted when I barely use the printer.  I've purchased them several times already and yet to have a reliable printer when I need to print a document.  Currently, I only have Black and yellow ink that have sufficient ink to print.  The others are depleted.  I purchase about 6 mos ago and printed about 10 pages since then.  (printer is always on, I don't keep off, it only goes to sleep mode)  Another point is that my Photo black is depleted and I have never printed a photo since I purchased the ink so why is it depleted?

[sabretooth04]

Read the Amazon reviews here.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Photosmart-CZ045A-Wireless-Printers/product-reviews/B0093HI558/ref=cm_cr_a...

With a 62%  1 star rating others have said what you have said.    Sorry.

I have located a document that will explain ink usage in detail:   Ink Usage in Inkjet Printers.

[ericlindellnyc]

The ink cartridges for my HP-6978 printer are dry and do not produce any ink at all during the clean cartridges test or when I submit a print job. The black cartridge works perfectly. Only the color cartridges are inoperative.

I have done absolutely everything that is recommended, done multiple clean processes via the printer's menu, turned the machine off & back on, & everything else I could think of, as a user of PCs since the 1980s.

These cartridges are straight-up busted. I'd like them replaced or my money refunded. I bought them within their expiration date at Best Buy in NYC only a couple weeks ago. Best Buy told me to come here.

This has been an incredibly time-wasting customer experience from start to end .. dealing with best buy, getting unhelpful feedback from a virtual assistant on HPs website .. taking time to research solutions and try them -- multiple times.

This is the last effort I will make. If I do not receive satisfacion on this issue now, I will probably never buy an HP product again.

[Mattia2012]

I have just got a query I would liked answered. I purchased a HP Envy 5030 Printer last week and I am a bit concerned as I don't use the printer every week and sometimes not every month and is there anything I can do to stop the inks drying out. 

Kind Regards 

Margaret