Troubleshooter

Troubleshooting a print quality problem when using a HP original or third party cartridge will vary depending on whether the printer head which transfers the ink from the cartridge on to the paper is built in to the printer or is present on the cartridge itself.

 

Printer Head in Printer
These machines will utilise incredibly simple ink tanks that are usually transparent.  There will be no printing technology in the cartridge itself but simply a hole in the bottom of the cartridge that allows the ink to feed in to the printer which then takes care of distributing the ink on to the paper.  HP printers which feature an integrated printhead usually use at least four different coloured ink tanks.

If you are using one of these printers and the printout that you are receiving is of poor quality (for example washed out colours or striping) then please run your printer head cleaning cycle from your printer software first of all as this is likely to solve any problems that you may be having.  As your printhead is part of the printer itself it is unlikely a problem of this nature will be down to the cartridge so if the initial clean does not help I would recommend doing a couple more at least 30 minutes apart.

If it still doesn’t print correctly and the printer hasn’t been left unused for a long period of time then it is likely to be faulty.  Return instructions are at the bottom of this article.

 

Printer Head inside Cartridge
HP printers which utilise cartridges which include a printer head typically only take one or two cartridges.  The cartridges themselves will include all the printing technology designed to transfer the ink from the cartridge to the paper and this metallic printhead will be clearly visible from the outside of the cartridge.  They are not usually transparent and don't contain simple 'holes' which the ink will be released from.

If you are using one of these cartridges and the printout that you are receiving is of poor quality (for example washed out colours) then please run your printer head cleaning cycle from your printer software first of all as this is likely to solve any problems that you may be having.

If this still fails to solve your problem please take the following steps

- Remove the cartridge from the printer and stand it on a hot wet cloth or kitchen towel with the print head touching the cloth.
- Leave for 30-60 seconds and this should remove any ink that may be blocking the nozzle.  The cloth will begin to soak up ink from within the cartridge.
- Reinstall and run one more head cleaning cycle which should resolve your problem.

 

If it still doesn’t print correctly and the printer hasn’t been left unused for a long period of time then it is likely that the cartridge is faulty. Please feel free to send the cartridge back to the address below with a brief covering note so that we can locate your details and send a replacement:

Refresh Returns, Unit 3, Longpark, Torquay, TQ2 7AL

Please contact us before returning any products for refund or replacement so we can provide a prepaid return label.  If you are in urgent need of a replacement, please feel free to purchase a replacement off our website and we will immediately reimburse you when the faulty unit is returned.

  If you are in urgent need of a replacement, please feel free to purchase a replacement off our website and we will immediately reimburse you when the faulty unit is returned.