Printer Problem

[coccinelle]

I have a HP deskjet 1050A printer. Today, when I've gone to print it goes through the movements but the page comes out white, tried another page and only the colour is printed. Checked the levels of the ink and the black is nearly full. I know i can solve the problem by buying another ink cartridge but at the price they are... I used the printer last week and no problem so i find it strange that it's 'dried' up. Any tips or ideas?

[Old_Geezer]

Blocked somewhere ?
I'd hope that either from the printer front panel menus, or start / devices printers / whatever on the PC you could find a 'clean' instruction that might clear it.

[Wak]

If you think that the cartridges are drying up then stand them with the print head in a saucer of hot (not boiling) water and leave until cool then dab the print head on a damp paper tissue until the colours show properly on the tissue.
Repeat as necessary.
Also try cleaning the electrical contacts on the cartridges with methylated spirits and a small brush as grease from finger prints on the contacts can affect the operation.
If you find cartridges too expensive, have you tried refilling them?
Some people poo-poo this idea but I've refilled the same cartridges for two years now. Cost about £5.00 total.

[coccinelle]

Old Geezer, I have 'cleaned' them to no avail.
Wak; I'll try that, it's now standing in a cup in hot water so hope it works...

[coccinelle]

Wak, it has worked! Though there is a printing problem as every now and then a line isn't right, the top of the letters are missing. I'll wait and see if the problem solves itself if not I'll try it again. Thank you.

[Wak]

Hi Coccinelle,
I think that you will find that most printer cleaning programs waste a hell of a lot of ink as it cleans all colours repeatedly whether they need cleaning or not.
Make a small .doc file with a single line of capital letters of each colour, ie., black, yellow, cyan and magenta then print it out.
If a certain line of colour has a white or pale streak running through it, then simply print half an A4 page .doc file of that particular colour to see if it clears itself.
If it doesn't clear then repeat the saucer of hot water (about 1/4" ) as necessary and then try the coloured .doc file printing again.
Continuing to print after a fault (white line) appears in the printing could cause that particular nozzle of the print head to burn out due to the surrounding ink not keeping the heating element cool, consequently that particular nozzle cannot be repaired. Therefore stop printing as soon as the fault appears and try to get the ink flowing again
I always refill my cartridges when they are still half full, thus avoiding any fault lines appearing in the first place.
Hope this helps.

[coccinelle]

I'll do that for another time. It was the black ink cartridge which was dry. Today, it's printing as normal. Thank you so much you saved me a new cartridge!