Printer will not print color

[denisehw]

RE: printer HP Office Jet 6960

My printer will not print color at all.  It's around 9-10 months old, not used much and I do not often print color.  I have not had any trouble in the past. It's been a while since I  replaced color cartridges and I recall the printer refusing to print black and white because color cartridges were empty so I turned on greyscale printing, which is now off.  I recently replaced the color cartridges corectly and the cartrifges are being detected by the printer and on my printer information from my laptop.  I have tried cleaning printer head, tried an alignment (but it wouldn't print color), tried the hard reset, tried unplugging all power.... tried everything I have found in the solutions here and nothing has helped.  No problem printing black.  When I try to print an all color picture, it appears to go through the motions of printing but comes out blank.  I've read through all solutions which seem to be the same for this issue and am having no luck. 

However, a couple of people said they cleaned printer head "level 2", or "It's working after I did a second level clean pin head"  I do not see an option for "a level 2"or a "second level"  so that is one thing I have not tried.   I do not know what to do other than return the printer at this point =(  Please help if you can.

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @denisehw, Thanks for stopping by the HP Support Forums!

I understand you have issues printing in colour from your printer.

Don't worry I'll try to help you out.

Did you make any changes to your printer?

Have you tried printing using a different ink cartridge?

Does the issue persist when you make a copy from your printer?

Are you using HP genuine ink cartridge to print from your printer?

Have you tried printing from a different application? Does the issue persist?

I appriciate your efforts for trying out the steps before reaching out to us.

Try printing a Print Quality Diagnostic report and check if the printer is printing in all the colors.

Replace any low or empty cartridges

Replace any critically low or empty ink cartridges, and then try to print again. Skip this step if all ink cartridges display full ink levels.

1. Open the ink cartridge access door.

   The carriage moves to the ink cartridge access area.

      NOTE:

   If the scanner lid is open, the ink cartridge access door does not open.

   

2. Wait several seconds until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.

3. Press the tab inward on the front of the old ink cartridge to release it, and then pull up on the ink cartridge to remove it from the slot.

   

4. Remove a new ink cartridge from its package, and then pull the orange pull-tab straight back.

      CAUTION:

   Make sure you remove the orange pull-tab and plastic wrap completely before you remove the orange cap in the next step. Otherwise, ink might leak from the ink cartridge. When you remove the plastic wrap, the paper label on the top of the ink cartridge tears slightly, which is necessary to properly vent the ink cartridge.

   

5. Hold the ink cartridge by its sides, and then twist the protective orange cap counter-clockwise to snap it off the ink cartridge.

   

      CAUTION:

   Do not touch the copper-colored contacts or the ink nozzles. Touching these parts can result in clogs, ink failure, and bad electrical connections.

6. Gently bend the tab away from the ink cartridge.

      CAUTION:

   Be careful not to bend the tab out more than 1.27 cm (0.5 in). Moving the tab too far might damage the ink cartridge or cause the tab to break off.

   1. Bend the tab away from the cartridge

   2. Do not bend the tab more than 1.27 cm (0.5 in)

7. Turn the ink cartridge so that the ink cartridge contacts face downward, and then match the label color with the color dot on the carriage.

8. Slide the ink cartridge into its slot, and then gently press the ink cartridge down until it snaps into place.

   

9. Repeat these steps to install any new ink cartridges.

10. Close the ink cartridge access door.

    

Align the printhead using the printer control panel.

1. On the printer control panel, swipe down to open the Dashboard, and then touch the Setup icon .

2. Swipe up on the display, and then touch Printer Maintenance.

3. Touch Clean Printhead, and then touch Continue.

   A test page prints.

   

4. Examine the test page.

   • If the print quality is unacceptable, touch Clean Again to continue the next level of cleaning. Repeat these steps for the third cleaning stage, if necessary.

        NOTE:

     If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes before you perform all three levels of cleaning again.

   • If the print quality is acceptable, touch Done.

Refer this article to further troubleshoot print quality issues with your printer. Click Here

If the issue still persists after trying out the steps. Try replacing the ink cartridges on your printer. 

Let me know if this helps!

Have a wonderful day ahead! 🙂

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!

[denisehw]

Thank you for answering but yes, I’ve seen this same solution given to others and nothing has worked. 

I have tried cleaning printer head, tried an alignment (but it wouldn't print color), tried the hard reset, tried unplugging all power.... I have tried everything I have found in the solutions in this and in all the other solutions in the forum and nothing has helped. 

The only thing I haven’t tried that has been mentioned by others in solutions was something about cleaning print head on a “second level”  (as mentioned in my post)

i have not seen anything on how to do this. I do not see this option on printer maintaince. 

Thank you for any help you can give me! 

[DavidSMP]

@denisehw,

I reviewed the post. Your brilliant troubleshooting skills and temperament are greatly appreciated. As @A4Apollo is out for the day, I am replying to you. It looks like a hardware issue either with the cartridge or the printer.

Let's try these steps:

• Perform a hard reset on the printer from this link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/product/hp-ink-tank-wireless-410-series/16180953/model/16180954/documen...  perform steps from the section “Step 1: Reset the printer
• Then update the printer’s firmware by following instructions from this link: https://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/c02919168
• Use a USB cable to update the printer’s firmware connecting it to a computer.

Now check if the issue gets resolved. If it continues, then replacing the faulty ink cartridge should fix the issue as long as the printer's hardware is not faulty. Otherwise, the printer needs to be replaced.

I will send you a private message to assist you with the next course of action. Check your forum private message box in the upper right corner next to the bell icon. 

Good luck and keep me posted about the developments. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue and give the post a Kudos for my efforts to help. Thank you and have a great week ahead. 🙂