Hp Photosmart C3170 don't print with new Hp Cartridges...

Hello there,

Jumping from a Canon thread to an Hp...

I got (also) from the Recycling (junk) place a nice Hp Photosmart C3170 which looked in good condition.
Brought it home, plugged it in and it worked (at least, it powered on).

I inserted 2 Hp brand new Original cartridges (92/93) and tried to print out some doc.
Everything sounded beautiful, nice, and a blank paper came out. Nothing on.
Tried to print (copy) in colors... the same.

Funny was the sound, like if it would print perfectly and in fact nothing happened.
And of course no "Error" signal. No troubles. Just nothing.
Any ideas?

Did anybody experiment the same thing ??

Thanks in advance

Newer HP cartridges are regionalized like newer Canon cartridges. The HP 92/93 cartridges are the proper cartridges for a US version of the printer. For the European version the proper cartridges are the HP 338/343.

I wonder why the printer didn't give a "Cartridge Error" signal?

Maybe the cartridges are not delivering ink? You could test them by pressing the nozzles against a piece of soft tissue paper like a paper handkerchief. You should should then get a stamp like this from the two cartridges:



If the cartridges won't deliver ink, probably due to a long storage time, then pressing the nozzles against a piece of soft paper moistened with a window cleaner with ammonia or even plain water might bring them back to working order.

I have experienced "starting problems" with HP combined sponge and print head cartridges, and have had to start the cartridges delivering ink using the paper handkerchief method. But the cartridges with problems were either very old but unused OEM HP, remanufactured cartridges or cartridges I had refilled.

Hello PeterBJ,
thanks for replying. I wonder too and I suspect,if the cart are not the right ones, that's there might be a contact problem.
Otherwise I should have got an "Error" message.
I cleaned everything with Isopropalic Alcohol and I got both of the stamps on the kitchen absorber paper from both Carts. Carts seems to be in order.
New enigma for me to resolve.
I used to refill my Hp 78 and 45 for my old Hp Officejet G85 with german provider www.Qreax.de but I wonder if there is a good provider in France.
Do you have any idea?
where do you get your ink from? England, USA, Danemark...??
Best regards and thanks in advance

The failure to check cartridges and putting no ink on paper might be the reason the printer was dumped. I would spend no money on proper cartridges for the printer, not even remanufactured cartridges. Instead I would look for Canon printers with a separate print head and single ink tanks.

Here is a post with links to a lot of info about HP printers, and here is more info in German.

I buy my refill ink and accessories from Octoink UK. Only no-name inks seem available from Danish suppliers. I don't know any French ink distributors, maybe others know?

Thank you so much for your reply PeterBJ.
What kind of Canon model do you suggest me?
There are so many...
Best regards

Some news concerning the HP Photosmart C3170...
Back from Germany with Ink, I refilled 2 originals HP 338 and 343 cartridges and the printer started a new life!!
Only problem was to make the Scanner working with Mac OS 10.6.8... Hahahaha...
I spend a day to make it working.
I will take time in the next days to write a thread how to make it working.
Anyway... it's working!!

Another question...Does anyone has an idea how to get out of the "Paper Error" on HP Photosmart C3190 and PSC 1510 ??
I tried many things... looked for piece of paper,reset, cleaned the code wheel, controled the carriage plastic part...Everything seems to be all right...I can't print and the light is always flashing orange slowly but constantly...
Any ideas?

HP makes a lot of small AIO's which are all very similar in design. The paper error could mean both that a piece of paper is stuck inside the printer and that a sheet of paper doesn't feed. Most if not all inkjet printers cannot detect if paper is present in the tray, instead they detect if a sheet of paper enters the printer.

These HP printers use a rubber pick-up roller to start the paper entering the printer. These rollers can loose the grip from old age or from paper dust. A cleaning of the roller might bring the printer back to working order. HP recommends that only warm, not hot water is used for the cleaning. Dont use alcohol or stronger solvents, as these might damage the rollers.

The pick-up roller is not easy to reach, but I have used an "oversized Q-tip" made from a bamboo skewer and some cotton. Instead of water you could also use a special rubber roller restorer. I have used the AF Platenclene with success on both Canon and HP printers.

The pick-up roller is accessible from the front of the printer without taking the printer apart. Here is a photo showing the position of the roller:

Thanks very much PeterBJ,
I did clean up the Pickup roller already with some
demineralised water not hot... it didn't change anything.
I'll try again with hot one.
Keep you posted.
Thanks in advance anyway

zepat said:

Another question...Does anyone has an idea how to get out of the "Paper Error" on HP Photosmart C3190 and PSC 1510 ??
I tried many things... looked for piece of paper,reset, cleaned the code wheel, controled the carriage plastic part...Everything seems to be all right...I can't print and the light is always flashing orange slowly but constantly...
Any ideas?

Click to expand...

You could try and manually feed a sheet into the printer yourself, just assist it as far as you can till it stops, then turn on the printer and wait for the error to appear again and this point just eject the sheet using the button and see if that clears the error message..

The paper error could also be caused by the paper sensor. This sensor consists of a small plastic arm that moves a light blocking vane in and out of an optical detector. This arm must move freely, so check that it is not damaged or blocked by a scrap of paper. The sensor can be seen at the left when removing the rear door of the printer:



And here is a close up:



The sensor is fragile, this is one reason that a jammed piece of paper should be removed in the normal direction of paper movement.