Arts and Crafts: HP Printer repair

I have an HP officejet 4620.  But I don’t do much home printing.  So I figure this printer hasn’t been used in about 2 years.

The expected happens, as expected.  Printer doesn’t work.  Rather everything works perfectly, but no ink reaches paper.

I run the built in print head cleaning subroutine… twice.  Here are the results.

Total crap.  So I go to the HP support site to see how to fix it.  Their advice is: 1. New genuine HP ink cartridges, from a company that sells ink cartridges (accept no substitutes or refills).  2.  Run the printer head cleaning subroutine.  3.  Buy a new genuine HP printer (accept no substitutes).

I found on YouTube a video of a guy who invented and markets a cleaning kit.  Active ingredient… rubbing alcohol.  Well.  I have that.

I warm it up in the microwave.  20 seconds is plenty.  Then I devise a dropper using one of those thin straws that comes with wd-40.

Insert some paper towels under the print head tray, to catch drippings.

Apply a few drops to each color input port and let it sit.  It will dissolve hardened ink in the lines.

Then blot up the excess, remove the paper towel and run the head cleaning subroutine again.

Now we’re getting someplace.  Black and yellow are still not spec.  I need new ink cartridges.  My previous shelf stock are all dried out.  And a few more drops of premium quality cleaning solution to help dissolve more overnight.

More results to follow.

SAFETY TIP:  DON’T drink the leftover alcohol.  The straw I used was from brake cleaner.  Despite the tangy flavor, I suspect it’s REALLY bad for your liver.

Update:  New ink from a reliable retailer in my area:

• Staples:  $114 for 4 pack of XL inks (one per color).
• Walmart:  $70 for a complete set of “value priced” (small sized) cartridges.
• COSTCO:  $127 for a three pack of color and a three pack of black inks for a total of 12 cartridges, All XL sized.
• EBAY:  $15 for a 10 pack of Inks with two of each color and 2 “photo black”.  But I would need to wait a week to get it.

Guess which one I picked.

 

Continued here.