Tip & How-To about Office Equipment & Supplies

How to Clean Your Printer once in a while

Step one: Clean the contacts on the printhead CAUTION: Electrical contacts contain sensitive electronic components that damage easily.

Gather the following materials:
- Dry, soft, lint-free cleaning cloths (coffee filters and eyeglass-cleaning cloths work well)
- Paper towels or clean sheets of paper
Lift the product lid. The top cover rests in an open position. Figure 1: Lift the lid
Press and hold the OK button for five seconds. The carriage moves to the left side of the product.
Unplug the power cord from the rear of the product. Figure 2: Unplug the power cord from the rear of the product
Inside the product, lift the blue printhead latch. Figure 3: Lift the printhead latch
Lift the handle of the printhead, and then pull the printhead out of its slot.
Hold the printhead by its sides, and wipe the electrical contacts on the printhead with the cloth. Do not touch the nozzles. Figure 4: Clean the printhead contacts, but do not touch the nozzles 1 - Nozzles - Do not clean 2 - Contacts - Clean
Set the printhead on a sheet of paper or paper towel with the nozzles facing up.
If necessary, repeat these steps to print the other printhead.

Step two: Clean the contacts inside the All-in-One

With a fresh cloth, wipe the electrical contacts inside the carriage. Figure 5: Wipe the contacts inside the carriage
Plug in the power cord to the rear of the product.
Press the Power button ( ) to turn on the product, if it does not turn on automatically. The message 'Printhead missing ' displays on the control panel.
Hold the printhead by its sides with the nozzles toward the product, and then insert the printhead into its color-coded slot.Insert the Black/Yellow printhead into the slot on the left.Insert the Magenta/Cyan printhead into the slot on the right. Figure 6: Insert the printhead into its slot
Repeat these steps to insert the other printhead into its color-coded slot.
Pull the blue printhead latch all the way forward, and then press down to fully engage the latch. You might have to apply some pressure to engage the latch. Figure 7: Lower the printhead latch
Close the product lid. Figure 8: Close the product lid
Wait for the product to initialize the printheads and print an alignment page. This process takes about 20 seconds.

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how should i clean its printer head

There are three areas of the printhead that need to be cleaned: the plastic ramps on both sides of the ink nozzles, the edge between the ink nozzles and the electrical contacts, and the electrical contacts. Follow these steps to clean the printhead. Figure 4: Three areas to clean

1 - Plastic ramp on the side of the ink nozzles 2 - The edge between the ink nozzles and the electrical contacts 3 - The electrical contacts
CAUTION: Do not touch the ink nozzles. Do not touch the electrical contacts with your finger. Use only cleaning materials to touch the electrical contact areas. Figure 5: Do not touch the electrical contacts

Gather the following cleaning materials:
- Several clean, lint-free cloths or papers. Coffee filters and glass-cleaning cloths work well.
- Distilled or bottled water. Do not use tap water, because it can contain contaminants that can damage the printhead.
Lightly dampen a clean, lint-free cloth.
Use the damp cloth to wipe the electrical contacts from the bottom to the top. Do not go past the edge between the electrical contacts and the ink nozzles. Repeat this motion until no ink appears on the cloth.

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Feb 20, 2011 • HP Officejet Pro L7480 All-in-One...

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Cleaning Printheads

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Oct 05, 2010 • Office Equipment & Supplies

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It's hard to believe this story is true, but I assure you it is all true. 1- In October 2009 we purchased an HP Officejet Pro 8500. Not long after installing it we got constant messages "Printer is offline." Called HP and learned that it was a hardware fault and could only be resolved by sending us a new printer. 2- A new HP Officejet Pro 8500 arrived by FedEx with instructions how to remove specific parts from the old printer and send it back within a specified number of days or we'd be charged for the new printer. We set up the new printer and while setting up we get the message "Printhead error." 3- We call HP. They say the only solution is to send out another new printer. This story goes on-and-on. We are now sitting here 14 months later with the FOURTH HP Officejet Pro 8500 sent to us by HP via FedEx and when turning the printer ON it tells 1) Cyan cartridge is low. But it's a brand new cartridge. 2) the Printhead problem is here again. Did I mention this is the FOURTH printer that they've sent to us? When we call HP it's like starting from scratch every time. No one has a complete, accurate record of these extraordinarily bad experience with HP. We have to walk them through step-by-step what we've been through. We must almost beg them to quit putting us through this. Tomorrow I think we'll go out and buy a new printer by Canon or Epson or just any printer that's not HP and meanwhile we'll just let HP keep sending us new printers because it seems like they have endless resources to throw away rather than to just simply solve our problem. What has happened to what was once a great company? This is truly pathetic. How much money has HP spent sending us new printers and getting the old printers back via FedEx? I want to find every forum possible on the Internet to make users aware of this kind of service and response from HP.

1 you said the cartridge is low.

it happens because the ink cartridge must have been used for initializing the printer which does take a lot of ink. please purchase a new cartridge and the issue will be resolved.

2 Try the following solutions in the order presented to resolve the issue. When one of the solutions resolves the issue, there is no need to continue troubleshooting.
NOTE: If error messages also display on the computer, clear the error messages after each of the following steps. You might have to delete pending print jobs from the print queue on the computer to clear the error messages. Solution : Clean the electrical contacts Follow these steps to clean the electrical contacts on the printhead and inside the product. CAUTION: Follow these steps carefully to avoid damaging the sensitive electrical components. Step one: Clean the contacts on the printhead Follow these steps to clean the contacts on the printhead. NOTE: The ink nozzles on the printheads might clog if you expose them to air for more than a few minutes. The ink nozzles also might clog if you do not use the product for long periods of time.

Make sure that the product is turned on.
Open the top cover of the product.
Press and hold the OK button for five seconds. The carriage moves to the left side of the product. Release the OK button. CAUTION: Proceed only if the carriage is on the left side of the product. If it is not, the printheads will be damaged when you install them. If the carriage does not move over, try turning the product off and on again
Wait until the carriage is idle and silent.
Unplug the product power cord from the electrical outlet. NOTE: Do not turn the product off by pressing the Power button ( ). This causes the carriage to move out of reach.
Lift the printhead latch. Figure 1: Lift the printhead latch
Lift the handle on the printhead that the error message indicates is missing or damaged, and then pull the printhead out of its slot. Figure 2: Lift the handle to remove the printhead
Use a dry, soft, lint-free cloth to remove any ink from the electrical contacts on the printhead. CAUTION: Wipe only the electrical contacts. Wiping the ink nozzles, located on the underside of the printhead, can damage the printhead. Do not touch the nozzles. Doing so permanently damages the ink nozzles, and the ink stains clothing. Figure 3: Electrical contacts and ink nozzles 1 - Electrical contacts 2 - Ink nozzles
Wipe the electrical contacts with the swab until no ink residue remains.
Wipe the electrical contacts with a fresh cloth to dry them and remove lint.
After the electrical contacts on the printhead are clean and dry, place the printhead on a sheet of paper or a paper towel. Make sure that the ink nozzles face up and do not touch the paper.

Step two: Clean the contacts inside the product Follow these steps to clean the contacts inside the product.

Use a fresh, dry, soft, lint-free cloth to clean the electrical contacts inside the product. Figure 4: Clean the electrical contacts inside the product
Allow at least five minutes for the contacts to dry. Check the contacts for lint or debris, and then dry or clean the contacts again if needed.

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Dec 26, 2010 • HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-In-One...

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hello, the printer keeps saying alignment failure refer to device documentation for help...

Follow these steps to reset the product. Make sure you connect the product directly to a wall outlet and not a surge protector or power strip.

Press the Power button ( ) to turn off the product.
NOTE: The product might not turn off after pressing the Power button. Continue to the next step regardless.
Disconnect the power cord from the rear of the product.
Unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet.
Wait 30 seconds.
Replug the power cord into the electrical outlet.
Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the product.
Press the Power button ( ) to turn on the product.

If these steps resolved the issue , there is no need to continue troubleshooting.
If the issue persists , see the next step.

Step two: Clean the electrical contacts on the printhead and inside the product The ink nozzles on the printheads might clog if you expose them to air for more than a few minutes. The ink nozzles also might clog if you do not use the product for long periods of time. Follow these steps to clean the electrical contacts on the printheads.
CAUTION: Follow these steps carefully to avoid damaging the sensitive electrical component

Make sure that the product is turned on.

Open the top cover of the product.

Press and hold the OK button for five seconds. The carriage moves to the left side of the product. Release the OK button.

Wait until the carriage is idle and silent.

Unplug the product power cord from the electrical outlet.

Use a dry, soft, lint-free cloth to remove any ink from the electrical contacts on the printhead.

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Nov 17, 2010 • HP Officejet Pro L7680 All-In-One Printer

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Printer will not recognize the new cartridge installed.

Solution
Follow these steps in the order presented to resolve the issue.
NOTE: If error messages also display on the computer, clear the error messages after each of the following steps. You might have to delete pending print jobs from the print queue on the computer to clear the error messages.

Step one: Perform a power reset
Follow these steps to reset the product. Make sure you connect the product directly to a wall outlet and not a surge protector or power strip.

Press the Power button ( ) to turn off the product.
NOTE: The product might not turn off after pressing the Power button. Continue to the next step regardless.
Disconnect the power cord from the rear of the product.
Unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet.
Wait 30 seconds.
Replug the power cord into the electrical outlet.
Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the product.
Press the Power button ( ) to turn on the product.
If these steps resolved the issue , there is no need to continue troubleshooting.
If the issue persists , see the next step.
Step two: Clean the electrical contacts on the printhead and inside the product
The ink nozzles on the printheads might clog if you expose them to air for more than a few minutes. The ink nozzles also might clog if you do not use the product for long periods of time. Follow these steps to clean the electrical contacts on the printheads.
CAUTION: Follow these steps carefully to avoid damaging the sensitive electrical components.
Make sure that the product is turned on.
Open the top cover of the product.
Press and hold the OK button for five seconds. The carriage moves to the left side of the product. Release the OK button.
Wait until the carriage is idle and silent.
Unplug the product power cord from the electrical outlet.
NOTE: Do not turn the product off by pressing the Power button ( ). This causes the carriage to move out of reach.
Lift the printhead latch.

Lift the handle on the printhead that the error message indicates is missing or damaged, and then pull the printhead out of its slot.

Use a dry, soft, lint-free cloth to remove any ink from the electrical contacts on the printhead.
CAUTION: Wipe only the electrical contacts. Wiping the ink nozzles, located on the underside of the printhead, can damage the printhead.Do not touch the nozzles. Doing so permanently damages the ink nozzles, and the ink stains clothing.
Figure 3: Electrical contacts and ink nozzles

1 - Electrical contacts
2 - Ink nozzles
Wipe the electrical contacts with the swab until no ink residue remains.
Wipe the electrical contacts with a fresh cloth to dry them and remove lint.
After the electrical contacts on the printhead are clean and dry, place the printhead on a sheet of paper or a paper towel. Make sure that the ink nozzles face up and do not touch the paper.

Use a fresh, dry, soft, lint-free cloth to clean the electrical contacts inside the product. Figure 4: Clean the electrical contacts inside the product
Allow at least five minutes for the contacts to dry. Check the contacts for lint or debris, and then dry or clean the contacts again if needed.
Plug the product power cord into the electrical outlet.
Press the Power button ) to turn on the product. 'Printhead missing or damaged, replace the printhead' displays on the control panel.
Insert the printhead into its color-coded slot. Press down firmly on the printhead to make sure the electrical contacts touch.
Pull the printhead latch all the way forward, and then press down to engage the latch. If the error message indicates that both printheads are missing or damaged, repeat the steps in this procedure to clean the other printhead.
Close the top cover of the product. The product restarts and then prints an alignment page.

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Apr 05, 2010 • HP Officejet Pro L7590 All-in-One InkJet...

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How to Clean Your Printer once in a while

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