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HP OfficeJet 6958 All-in-One Printer

I do not need to print often yet in the last year or 2  automatic printer maintenance depletes my ink. I've had this printer many years and it did not used to do automatic maintenance. I controlled when maintenance was done. This is a big waste of money. Did an update cause this to start? Can the update be removed? Can I clean the printer by hand without using up my very costly ink? Would shutting down the printer when not in use stop this? In point of fact I used to be able to economically refill my HP cartridges at Costco but about 2 or 3 years ago my printer started rejecting refilled HP cartridges. Costco told me that was due to an update by HP. This appears to be a money making scheme by HP. Can anything be done?

3 REPLIES 3
HP Recommended

The automated cycles are required to prevent ink from clogging the heads. Your option is to power off the device but then when turned it will perform cleaning cycles and also deplete ink. Without these cleanings you will wind up with unacceptable print quality and wind up doing more intensive cleanings that use even more ink. It is what is required to maintain print quality.

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HP Recommended

I have a much older printer that did not do automatic maintenance until about a year or two ago, after updates, and my ink lasted longer. I was also able to use refilled cartridges. My printing was just fine. I always keep the settings on fast draft to save ink. This was just fine for my purposes. Now my ink depletes without even printing. So no that is not a valid answer. No printer should do maintenance before every print job. If so much cleaning is needed there should be another way to do it. Just another way to sell costly ink.

HP Recommended

Some time ago I was offered free ink if I enrolled in automatic ink and used no more than an amount specified by HP. if I used more I would be an automatic charge that I did not control.  I can see how automatic as opposed to manual maintenance would help sell more ink and make more money for the company. I'm glad I never enrolled.

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