Some HP 02 ink cartriges work, some don't

And yet. I'm getting close, yea! I'll pass on an electrical issue for now!

Today I left the machine on (stand alone). About nine hours, came home from work and ran a sample page. (It's a starfish/ reef picture.) Previously mostly yellow tinted, because the magenta wouldn't make the reds and browns.

The top 25% had the correct colors. Shweet. I ran another and just the top 10% came out correctly. I guess the little douche I gave the magenta pipe at the printhead did some good.

I'm torn between taking a less full magenta cart and filling it with alcohol and just douching the printhead like I did before. I also have some very serious bowling alley lane cleaner, Kegel Defense-C. Extremely strong liquid cleaner. Reduced 6 to 8Xs with water for use.
MDS for it: http://www.kegel.net/userfiles/file/msds/Defense-C SDS.pdf

Has 2-butoxyethanol 111-76-2 6, sounds similar to combustion chamber cleaner for autos. It's used on the synthetic plastic surfaces on our bowling lanes.

The printer has a CIS system with stationary cartridges connected to the print head with hoses. I don't know if a pump is used to transport the ink, or the ink supply to the print head relies on suction from the print head alone?

If the top 25% of a picture prints OK I think nothing is clogged. Instead I suspect an air leak in the system.

The 2-butoxyethanol is a glycol ether; glycol ethers were commonly used in household cleaners 5-10 years ago. Some household cleaners recommended for print head cleaning contain glycol ethers, so I think the bowling lane cleaner actually might be suitable for print head cleaning. Another recommended print head cleaner is a window cleaner with ammonia like the "Original Windex with Ammonia-D" if you are located in the US. In Europe an "Ajax" window cleaner with ammonia from Colgate-Palmolive is recommended.

Another print head cleaner is "Pharmacist's cleaning solution" found here. I think that adding a few percent of the 2-butoxyethanol to the cleaning solution could make it even more effective.

PeterBJ said:

The printer has a CIS system with stationary cartridges connected to the print head with hoses. I don't know if a pump is used to transport the ink, or the ink supply to the print head relies on suction from the print head alone?

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your response.

Good description of this HP ink system. There seem to be two pumps. And (perhaps) an air separation/ priming container.

From the carts, which are only simple reservoirs as you said, a CIS system, the ink goes to the air separation/ priming vessel (marked vent chamber below). (six inks) Then routes to a rotary piston style pump. Out from there to the printhead. On the printhead there is another double six station bellows style pump. The cart positions are accurate, the routes and placement of the colors, on my US machine, are not accurate. Though the (dark) magenta is on the outside edge as pictured.

I'll be a son-of-a-gun (or SOB.-grin-) I just printed an alignment page to give a more accurate description of the ink routing and the alignment page printed perfectly. Bottom has all six cart colors completely accurately done. Now I'm thinking of ticking the "return to factory standards" button in the Tools menu.

If the top 25% of a picture prints OK I think nothing is clogged. Instead I suspect an air leak in the system.

The 2-butoxyethanol is a glycol ether; glycol ethers were commonly used in household cleaners 5-10 years ago. Some household cleaners recommended for print head cleaning contain glycol ethers, so I think the bowling lane cleaner actually might be suitable for print head cleaning. Another recommended print head cleaner is a window cleaner with ammonia like the "Original Windex with Ammonia-D" if you are located in the US. In Europe an "Ajax" window cleaner with ammonia from Colgate-Palmolive is recommended.

Another print head cleaner is "Pharmacist's cleaning solution" found here. I think that adding a few percent of the 2-butoxyethanol to the cleaning solution could make it even more effective.

Click to expand...

The cleaner I have is the concentrate and I've gotten a few drops on some work clothes. Knocked the dye right out of my pants. But with the current good "head alignment" page it is starting to look like a s/w issue.

Oye, the "return to std" isn't in the Tools menu. I think it was navigated to - through a button-push sequence. Well it still looks like progress.

I have an 8250 and a C6180 with the same ink system. Both are very old but always work. In the past 2 months both are complaining about the ink cartridges but continue to print well. The 8250 says the cartridges are old or out of date. The C 6180 shows yellow and magenta as always completely full but every time I print says to print in color install yellow & magenta. I click print black only and get a great color page. Interesting that both printers, in different locations, developed this problem about the same day.

Hi all , here is the work around on the expired ink message. I tried myself on my 8250 and it worked like a charm. http://hpphotosmart8250.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-defeat-hp-photosmart-8250.html

Yeah thanks lolo and nowhere,

I pulled the battery with seemingly no positive ground gained. What did do it for me was an old and HP (I assume) removal(ed) of same, a s/w workaround on a .ru site. http://naroDd.yandex.Dru/disk/2579842000/FirDmwareEnDable_ReDlease.eDxe -remove all the cap Ds

A bit dicey, but hey, I'm still running genuine 02 HP ink, so there's that. 56Dkb and it was pointed to me, originally on an HP forum site. Though it was not directly linked by any means. Any US site that did have it, doesn't have it any more.

(orig posted to another forum)

You know what they say about people that think they know it all?

It makes it difficult for those of us who do. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: 8)

I would like to insert some appropriate British witticism, but I haven't any. My printer is good to go.

First things first, I believe the firmware reset file I acquired from the former Iron Curtain site properly opened the door to the printer. It was completely useless a week and a half ago.

I just printed an XP Pro (OS system) test page. One of the files being used mentioned the beloved, useless Vista OS. Hmmm. I did early on - use HP's latest revised drivers. It appears to be a single revision of my retail package cd.

I then, just after the XP test page, printed a .png file. A picture of some text. It printed but the colors, were reds and browns (exactly what was missing from the printer based HP sample page.) Should have been blues and blacks. Next, a poster from A Clockwork Orange. All the colors were incorrect. Deep reds instead of blacks.

I investigated what XP had for settings, as if I knew what I was looking for.


Colorsmart/sRGB was ticked. (uh, what'sthat?) I switched the box to Application Managed Colors (uh what's that!) And printed the XP Pro based test page. Perfect. I then printed the A Clockwork Orange poster. Perfect. I don't know .... nothing ..... about printers.

I then, for this post, went back to take a screen grab and I see that the properties reverted to what is shown (top) selection is in the box. But everything is still printing properly.

I'm a happy 'something'. I sure know little about drivers.

I printed the HP sample page contained within the printer's s/w. The reef picture with starfish and sea anemones. It also printed perfectly. Reds, browns, greens, everything.

I also want to say that like others that have posted to this thread, the printer is an awesome piece of kit.

Congratulations with solving the ink starvation problem, and restoring the proper colour settings. I guess your cleaning made the ink feed pump functional again. Well done!

Here is a collection of tricks for various HP printers, scroll down to page 24 for your printer. And here are more useful tricks for various HP printers.

Ah, thank you. I appreciate your links and efforts. I had visited the 411 site and I'm sure I gleaned some information. But, -chuckle- the site lists all the button sequences probably for every HP printer that uses the 02 ink carts except, -another chuckle- my 8250.

For the 8200 series without keypad, there isn't a red eye removal button on my unit, and that option is onscreen on the computer options, installed HP s/w.

I have been able to navigate to "pen test" and a surprising amount of diagnostics (at the printer LCD), but OK doesn't release the machine to action. No problem with that, the thing is functioning properly. There's plenty of numbers and info that is printed out with the tests available through the default Tools menu. I couldn't do anything with any more anyway. Hah ;-)
73. Print head calibration confidence level: 0. I have to assume that the value of 0 (zero) is proper.

In any event I have learned a few tricks thanks to everyone here. My next task is reassembling the machine.