refilled colour cartridge not working in HP843C printer

[paulgault]

Hi,
i'm new to all this and would appreciate some help.
the mother-in-law give us a Hewlett Packard 843C printer when she got a new computer. the colour ink cartridge (it has hp c6625a on it) wasn't working so i put 10ml of ink in each reservoir but it still wont print anything. i think it has been empty for a long time.
can it be rescued? if so, how? i'd be very grateful!
Paul.

 

[mikling]

Rub the head under hot water from a faucet for a minute or so. Dab the head and see if there are colors. If yes, do it again. Then try in printer. If there was no color.... get a new cart. If the colors are spotty... get a new cartridge. Otherwise it might take a lot of work and still not work.

 

[ustilago]

HP 17
Not one of my favorite cartridges. If the cartridge weight exceeds 130 grams it will not print properly.

Try soaking the print head in warm water and/or windex. If you still cannot get the cartridge to stamp on a piece of shop towel, try forcing some air through the vent plugs on the top of the cartridge. A syringe with a piece of aquarium tubing over the nipple makes a good inflation tool.
Be gentle, the print head is just glued on.

If none of those work, a couple of cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner might do the trick.

 

[paulgault]

Thanks for the advice!
i've had some joy but it's not 100% yet.
i tried rubbing it under a hot tap for a few minutes but nothing came out when i tried to print.
next i soaked it in windolene overnight and forced air through the vent plugs. as i haven't got any aquarium tubing i had to get a good airtight seal between the syringe and the vent plugs a different way.
i figured the best bet would be to use rubber. i covered the holes with a wide elastic band and used a pin to put a hole in the centre of the band straight through to the vent holes. putting the rubber between the cartridge and the syringe made a brilliant airtight seal and when i pushed down on the plunger the air could flow from the syringe to the cartridge through the hole i made in the band.
while inflating the chambers ink started coming out the print head and after cleaning it up i finally got some colour printing done. my test print showed that the yellow and the magenta worked perfectly (time will tell if it stays like that though!!) but the cyan came out all streaky.
do you think a second cycle of soaking and inflating will help or is streaky/stripey colours caused by something else?
thanks alot,
Paul.

 

[ustilago]

Another round of overnight soaking and/or a dip in the ultrasonic cleaner is warranted.

As long as the print head has not come unglued, you should be able to revive this cart.

 

[paulgault]

Hi Guys, i gave it another round of soaking and forcing air through the print head. as i was putting the air through the cyan vent plug loads of ink came through into the kitchen paper i'd put down to contain any mess.
i tried a print test but no cyan came out. i thought maybe the cyan was now empty so i put 4ml in and tried again but still no cyan printed.
any ideas what i can try next? (i don't have an ultrasonic cleaner)
thanks

 

[mikling]

Give up? maybe?
Sometimes these old things that lay around simply refuse.....dead.