Computer questions and solutions....thereof...

[jonnythan]

I have an inquiry regarding printers.

My printer has just run out of ink. So, Instead of going out to buy some new cartridges, I attempted to refill the ones I had with a refill kit that was given to me when I acquired the printer.

The colours are hideous. I can print a word document ok, but the photos are way-y-y-y-y-y-y-y off.

Do inks have expiry dates? Do the pigments lose their viability? I am going to toss out the refill kit and buy new cartridges, but I was curious to know why the ink has gone off.

Perhaps you put the wrong colors in the wrong slots...?

Can you describe how they're off? Maybe take a picture? Do you get red where you should get blue, or is the saturation poor, or what?

Saturation is good. Green grass comes out yellow....
Hmmmm. I will have to ask the person who helped me refill if it is possible the ink went in the wrong slot. If it did, I will still have to buy new cartridges anyway.

I will have a look at the cartridge. Thanks for the idea.

It could be that one of the colors is blocked. Green would be made by... cyan and yellow? Maybe the cyan is clogged.

I'd run it through a print nozzle cleaning. There should be a way to perform this in the diagnostic utilities.

[dr_bar]

Inks went into the right slots. I think the colours are toast in the refill kit...

[blues2cruise]

Inks went into the right slots. I think the colours are toast in the refill kit...

The ink is ok. I did what Jonnythan suggested and ran a clean cycle and then a prime cycle.
I have now printed a few photographs on photo paper an they are half decent.
The colours are not as good as actual HP ink colours but they will do for now, depending on what I print.

I guess what is missing now is the vibrancy of HP inks...but at least the colours in the right place now.

[roscowgo]

Just tell people you were messing around with different filters for your camera. They'll get all googly eyed and laud you as an arteest!

[Nibblet99]

I seem to remember HP desk jets used to feature the heads on the cartridge (like a copper piece of foil) you could work miracles on them with some very technical damp toilet paper. Not sure if this is still the case with the photo quality cartridges, but it shouldn't hurt to try with an old cartridge you're about to throw away.

[blues2cruise]

I seem to remember HP desk jets used to feature the heads on the cartridge (like a copper piece of foil) you could work miracles on them with some very technical damp toilet paper. Not sure if this is still the case with the photo quality cartridges, but it shouldn't hurt to try with an old cartridge you're about to throw away.

I don't understand...what are you supposed to do with the damp toilet paper?

[jonnythan]

I seem to remember HP desk jets used to feature the heads on the cartridge (like a copper piece of foil) you could work miracles on them with some very technical damp toilet paper. Not sure if this is still the case with the photo quality cartridges, but it shouldn't hurt to try with an old cartridge you're about to throw away.

I don't understand...what are you supposed to do with the damp toilet paper?

The actual ink nozzles are the tiny little dots on the copper strip on the cartridge. In reality there is no reason the nozzles need to be on the cartridge, but HP makes more money that way.

Anyway, you can use the wet toilet paper to wipe the nozzles clean and potentially ungunk them, but you can also gunk them or otherwise mess them up. Alcohol on a Q-tip works better.

However, in my experience, the "print head cleaning" routine built into most print drivers in recent years is better and definitely won't mess anything up.

[blues2cruise]

I seem to remember HP desk jets used to feature the heads on the cartridge (like a copper piece of foil) you could work miracles on them with some very technical damp toilet paper. Not sure if this is still the case with the photo quality cartridges, but it shouldn't hurt to try with an old cartridge you're about to throw away.

I don't understand...what are you supposed to do with the damp toilet paper?

The actual ink nozzles are the tiny little dots on the copper strip on the cartridge. In reality there is no reason the nozzles need to be on the cartridge, but HP makes more money that way.

Anyway, you can use the wet toilet paper to wipe the nozzles clean and potentially ungunk them, but you can also gunk them or otherwise mess them up. Alcohol on a Q-tip works better.

However, in my experience, the "print head cleaning" routine built into most print drivers in recent years is better and definitely won't mess anything up.

I did what you said.....I used the printer's clean program and then used the prime.....it's working now. I will still get some new HP cartridges though....the colours are richer.

Or....depending on the cost.....since printers are so inexpensive these days...I may get a new printer/scanner. I don't have a scanner and there are times when I sure could do with one.

[jonnythan]

Here's my unsolicited advice:

Get a laser printer instead of an inkjet. The cost per page of printout is *way* lower, plus there's no ink to deal with and the printing is faster and better.

If you do a lot of photo printing, you may want to think about taking your photos in digital form down to the local 1-hour Wal-Mart or whatever and having them do them. My Wal-Mart will print digital photos from their 1-hour machine for 19 cents per photo and they look better than any home photo printer.

As for scanners, they're neat, but know what I use for the occasional scanning project? My digital camera mounted on a tripod and a table. Works great

[blues2cruise]

The photos that I print are on 8-1/2 x 11 photo paper. I don't print a lot of photos. I make prints of the images that I really like and can submit for camera club print night.
Sometimes I take the negative in to a lab to get an 11 x 14....

I will however, look into what laser printers can do...I had never given any thought to new printers until now.

These days most of my photos are on CD's or in my computer.