Regarding
your question about the HP 920 (or 920XL) refilled cartridge usage/problem...we are guessing you are observing poor print quality or a missing color(s)? Please note this type of problem occurs now and then and is completely recoverable. The most common cause of poor print quality is trapped air between the ink cartridge and PRINTHEAD*, so we suggest you perform the "Clean PrintHead"
procedure from your printer control panel (i.e. select 'Tools' - 'Clean
Printhead', or similar), you may need to perform it twice (2X) to recover the
ink system. If this doesn't work you may wish to jump straight to procedure
E. Please read thru all the checks below
prior to beginning:
NOTE: If one
or more the colors were previously dry fired during printing (i.e. if you
continued printing using only a few colors to one, air may have been accidently
ingested into the ink lines between the cartridge(s) and PRINTHEAD*. To recover
from this problem, you may have to run the "Clean Printhead"
procedure 2-3 times:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1589
A.
Watch the video on the HP 920 support
page which describes some of the common issues you may encounter with refilled
ink cartridges:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1983
-
Please note that poor print problems are
somewhat common and is completely recoverable in most cases.
B.
Then to verify the lines are clear and working
correctly, print the "INK RECOVERY TEST PRINT" from our Test Prints page:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=146
C.
Then we suggest you run the self-test print
(under maintenance/tools menu), this will verify nozzle performance and that
each color is firing a solid band of color (i.e. you should not see any bands
or missing lines in the pattern). This is also a good test to help isolate
which color (or portion of the electronic PRINTHEAD*) may be causing the issue.
D.
If a problem persists (poor print quality/missing
colors, etc.), then we suggest that you thoroughly review the steps outlined on
our HP 920 support pages, including PRINTHEAD* removal/printer cleaning and
service station cleaning. It is suggested you refer to printer manufacturer
instructions first as the Inkjet411 procedures are provided for general
guidance purposes only. Please note that a dirty service station can also cause
poor image quality and/or ink cross-contamination or bleed between different
colors:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1495
E.
If the poor/degraded print quality problem still
cannot be corrected, then the PRINTHEAD may be dry and may need to be flushed.
Refer to PRINTHEAD flushing video procedure at the following link or refer to
steps below:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2412
1.
Remove all ink cartridges from the printer.
2.
Remove the printhead - in most cases you will
need to pull up on the lever at right side of carriage assembly to unlock the
printhead. Lift printhead straight up to
remove.
3.
Over a sink, run warm tap water directly into
the 4 ink ports for approximately 2 minutes - this will effectively saturate
the foam ports and blow ink out/thru the nozzle plate bottom.
4.
Using a lint-free towel, remove water from
rear/bottom electrical contacts. Ensure printhead electrical contacts and
exposed surfaces are fully dry.
5.
Install the printhead into the printer. You may
observe a "Replace Printhead message" so you will need to cycle printer power
by turning printer off and then on to clear the error.
6.
Install ink cartridges and retest printer. You
should observe a New PRINTHEAD alert message followed by an approx. 4-minute
preparation countdown prompt.
7.
If permissible, activate the 'Clean Printhead'.
This can be done from the printer's control panel or software printer driver
(for example, by selecting 'Tools' - 'Clean Printhead', or similar).
F.
To perform advanced PRINTHEAD diagnosis please
visit our 'HP Printer Diagnostic Test' page:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1813
*The HP 920
printer models have an electronic PRINTHEAD (customer replaceable) within the
base of the carriage assembly (responsible for pulling ink from the 4 ink
cartridges and then firing the ink droplets onto the paper) - the PRINTHEAD will
eventually fail over time depending on printed content, frequency of printing
and printer duty cycle. Video of how the PRINTHEAD functions:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2054
NOTE: "Empty" and "Low Ink" alerts are
COMPLETELY NORMAL for HP 920 ink cartridges which have been refilled! While at first this may be an unusual
workflow, it does allow print operations to proceed. Only brand new ink
cartridges support ink level monitoring. For "Low Ink", "Unauthorized
ink", "Non-HP ink", "Fraud", "Counterfeit
ink" or similar messages, you may ignore/dismiss this message by pressing
'OK' once for each cartridge, so that the printer resumes its normal operation.
We suggest you do this at the printer's control panel immediately following ink
cartridge(s) installation.
For
information on HP 920 refilling tips please watch the video here:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1983