[dmcmillen]

I have only had my 5510 for 7 months. I refill my HP 564 cartridges until the refill and head cleaning doesn't work and then I replace the cartridge(s). This time, the 3rd time in 7 months, I replaced all 4 cartridges with brand new HP 564 cartridges and I continue to get streaky color blocks on the test print page. I have cleaned heads, 1st and 2nd level, twice to no avail. Nothing I have tried works. Wonder if I can clean the heads with some type of solvent and blow out with compressed air?

I have not been happy with this printer or HP. The 4ml cartridges are a joke. My old HP had 17ml cartridges. These don't last long at all. HP sells the xl cartridges, for twice the price of course and that's still only 8ml, still half what their old cartridges held. Cartridges were expensive before, but this is absolutely ridiculous and what a pain. I would like to have been a fly on the wall in those design meetings to find ways to increase profits. The newer print technology may have better ink utilization, but I don't see it, and I don't see how increased utilization could make up for 4ml cartridges. This is so obviously a way HP has chosen to sell more cartridges. Shame on you HP.

I bought this printer because I wanted wireless and needed to replace my old scanner and never suspected that anyone would design a printer with 4ml cartridges. I'm ready to switch to Canon or Epson.

Ok, enough ranting.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get this thing working.

[LiveBrianD]

What did you clean the heads with? The last time I had to clean the ones on my inkjet printer (which sits in the attic as a backup most of the time), I simply used a cotton swab.

By the way, if you end up buying a printer, buy a laser! They're a LOT cheaper per page, and the toner doesn't dry out (it's dry to begin with).

[mjd420nova]

The ink jet units have a little small repository for the ink when it's in the rest position and doing the startup routine it squirts a tiny amount. If this little cup and its top edges get gummed up with dried ink, it will cause the printheads to streak as they don't get cleaned by the edge properly. These little cups are buried inside the unit and requires a skilled tech to get the covers off and clean it out with a cotton swab and alcohol. I have the C5500 (all in one) and have cleaned that thing once every six months. I refill my cartridges but keep HP inks for photo printing.

[dmcmillen]

mjd420nova, on 30 July 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

The ink jet units have a little small repository for the ink when it's in the rest position and doing the startup routine it squirts a tiny amount. If this little cup and its top edges get gummed up with dried ink, it will cause the printheads to streak as they don't get cleaned by the edge properly. These little cups are buried inside the unit and requires a skilled tech to get the covers off and clean it out with a cotton swab and alcohol. I have the C5500 (all in one) and have cleaned that thing once every six months. I refill my cartridges but keep HP inks for photo printing.

Appreciate the feedback. This is a common problem with inkjet printers, of course, but I usually don't see it this early in the life cycle unless it's a defective printer. The more general problem is one where companies like HP are moving from design to market too fast with poor quality control. The smaller cartridges are just a blatant way to increase profits.

The cups you are talking about are located in the cartridge transport that moves back and forth. Looks like they would be very difficult to get to. And it looks like there is a small screen over each of them. Any suggestions or instructions on how to get the covers off to clean. Do they pry off or what? Don't know how similar they are to your C5500. I will try the compressed air, but suspect if there's dried ink that's not going to fix the problem.