Troubleshooting FAQ
My printer prints green, or blue, and the colors are
not correct
I have streaks and faded places in my printouts
One or more colors won't print
My cartridge printed a few pages and quit
Cartridge is leaking after refilling
Lexmark printer won't recognize cartridge as full
Printer won't recognize cartridge at all after refilling
HP Printer continues to show low ink level after refilling
What do the letters on the end of the cartridge number mean?
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Inkjet Refilling Discussion
Board
Question: Why does my printer print green, or blue and the colors are not right?
Answer: You have cross-contamination between two or more of the color chambers.
Solution: If you put in too much ink it will run over the top and into the neighboring chamber. This is a real mess and the only way to fix it is to take the internal sponges out and rinse them out and put them back (With the HP 23/78/41/25/17 cartridges this is just impossible to do without ruining the cartridge). Then refill the cartridge and try again.
However, cross-contamination almost always occurs from the bottom of the cartridge. As you put the ink in one chamber and it runs out the print head it can be drawn up into another chamber through the print head. Watch the print head as you fill the cartridge to make sure the ink doesn't hang in a droplet from the bottom of the cartridge. Keep it daubed off with a paper towel. As soon as you see the ink start to ooze out daub it off with a tissue and then back your needle out and disperse the rest of the ink higher up in the cartridge. If the ink still tries to ooze out the chamber is full, you don't need to put any more ink in it.
If you do have cross-contamination from the bottom your cartridge is not necessarily ruined. Just take a big wad of paper towel or toilet tissue and start daubing the print head. Just hold it tightly against the print head for a few seconds and then move to a clean spot on the paper towel and do it again. Doing this over and over will draw out the contaminated ink. There is likely only a small amount of contaminated ink in the cartridge and you should see the colors start to clear up pretty quickly.
Question: Why do I have streaks and/or faded out places in my printouts?
Answer: You have clogged jets or air pockets in your cartridge.
Solution: Take the cartridge out of the printer and take
some toilet paper, or paper towel, and wad it up over the print head of your ink cartridge
(that's the thingy on the bottom of the cartridge where the ink comes out). While
standing, hold the cartridge in your hand, with the print head toward the floor and swing
it hard, sort of like a softball pitcher winding up for the pitch. On the down swing
really put some force into it. The force of gravity on the ink will force it through the
clogged jet and clean it out. Swing two or three good swings and look at your tissue
paper. When you see all three colors coming out about the same (or a good flow of black,
if it is a black cartridge you are working on) you have gotten it unclogged. Put it back
in the printer and you're ready to go. If all three colors will come out this way, but it
still won't print all the colors then you have burnt-out resistors or an otherwise faulty
cartridge.
If it still won't work soak the print head on the bottom of the cartridge in amonia, or
alcohol, or hold it under HOT running water for a few minutes and then try the gravity
trick again.
Burnt out resistors are generally caused by trying to keep printing with a dry cartridge.
The ink is the cooling agent for the resistors and when it is gone they overheat very
quickly. They can sometimes just fail under normal use, though, as can any piece of
equipment. If this is the case there is nothing to do but buy a new cartridge.
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Question: It won't print one or more of the colors, what's wrong?
Answer: You have burnt-out resistors, or clogged jets. If the cartridge is used until it runs completely out of ink it is likely to burn out the resistors. They operate at a very high temperature, and the ink is the cooling agent. When the ink is gone they overheat and melt down rather quickly.
Solution: The cartridge is ruined. You must discard it and get a new cartridge.
Question: Why did my cartridge print a few pages and then quit printing altogether?
Answer: If this is a color cartridge for the HP, Lexmark, or Canon BC-05, the vent holes must be left open. The cartridge has to "breathe" or it air-locks and stops printing after a few pages.
Solution: Open the vent holes. Do not seal them completely with tape or glue. It is best to put a piece of tape over them and then punch a small hole in the tape over each vent hole with the needle on your syringe.
Question: Why is my HP black cartridge leaking?
Answer: The ink in the HP black cartridges is retained by a slight vacuum. After you have put the ink in the cartridge you must squeeze and hold the sides of the cartridge tightly WHILE you reseal the hole. After the hole is resealed you may release your squeeze on the cartridge. This sets up the vacuum needed to retain the ink.
Solution: If the cartridge is leaking slightly then most likely your problem is not enough vacuum. Unseal the cartridge and then squeeze it tightly and reseal it while holding the cartridge firmly squeezed.
If the cartridge is leaking profusely you probably have more serious problems. The internal bladder has been punctured with the needle or has become damaged some other way. In this case the cartridge is ruined and must be discarded.
Question:
After refilling and installing my Lexmark cartridge into my printer the ink gauge still
reads empty.
Answer: The printer software should ask if the cartridge you are
installing is a new cartridge or the old one. If you answer the cartridge is the old one
the computer will not reset the gauge.
Either remove and reinstall the cartridge and answer the question with a "new
cartridge" has been installed or go to the printer properties and reset the gauge
manually. See your printer documentation for the proper procedure.
Question: Why won't my printer recognize the cartridge at all after refilling?
Answer: The copper-colored strip that has the dots on it is the connection between the printer and the cartridge. Just handling this during the refilling process will sometimes cause the connection to fail. A faulty cartridge will also cause this problem.
Solution: Clean the contacts on the cartridge with a cotton swab, or cotton ball, and some alcohol.
Answer #2: The cartridge is too full of ink.
Solution: Only put in the amount of ink recommended in our instructions. If you have put in too much draw some of it back out. Draw it off the top and not the bottom of your cartridge. In other words, only insert your needle about half-way into
If the cartridge is faulty it must be discarded and replaced.
Question: Why does my HP printer continue to show low ink level warning after the cartridge has been refilled?
Answer #1: This is a problem that we are running into more and more with the HP printers. There are some ways to work around the problem, though. The later model HP printers are able to "remember" 2 cartridges at a time.
Solution: If you take your cartridge out and refill it, then
put it back, the printer recognizes it as the cartridge you just took out. The only way to
fool the printer is to have 3 cartridges on hand. They don't necessarily have to be good
ones. Take out the cartridge and refill it. Put the second cartridge in the printer and
let it run through its cycle of resetting and printing a test page. As soon as it is
finished take the second cartridge out and put the third one in. Again, let the printer go
through its cycle. Now take the second cartridge out and put the first one back in. The
printer will have "forgotten" it and will recognize it as a new cartridge.
NOTE: Most folks don't pay much attention to the ink levels because they
aren't very accurate, or reliable. These printers all continue to print fine, they just
annoy you with the low-ink level warning.
Answer #2: The HP cartridges generally have a serial number
embedded on the electronic contacts. The printer reads this number and counts the number
of ink droplets that come out. When the counter reaches a predetermined number (it does
not matter which color gets to that number first) the low ink light will come on. The
colors are not used at the same rates so not all colors will take the same amount of ink.
After you have refilled the cartridge the low ink light may continue to show low ink
levels. This is because the printer still thinks that the cartridge is empty. The
cartridge will still work even with the light on.
Solution: There are six gold contacts across the top row of this cartridge. As you face the contacts, with the nozzle pointed down, find the contact that is the third from the left edge. Cover this with a small piece of scotch tape and ink levels should measure correctly. If it doesn't take care of the problem try covering the third contact from the RIGHT instead.
Question: What do the letters on the end of the cartridge numbers mean?
Answer:
HP (Hewlett Packard) Ink Cartridge Codes:
HP ink cartridges have two types of codes e.g. C6578A & 51645A. For those with a C in
the code, this is the constant and for those with a 516 in the code, this is the constant.
e.g. 51626A, 51629A, C1823A, C6625A etc. They also give their ink cartridges additional
easy to use codes, so C6578A is a No.78, 51626A is a No.26, 51625A is a No.25 & C6625A
is a No.17. The 'A' at the end of the code is the capacity of ink in the ink cartridge,
'A' meaning full (Large). If the code has a 'G' it is half full of ink and if the code has
a 'D' at the end it usually means ½ to ¾ full (Economy). 'AE' the 'A' means large
capacity and the 'E' means produced for the region of Europe.
Region
C6578A
C6578D
North America C6578AN C6578DN
Canada C6578AC C6578DC
Europe C6578AE C6578DE
Latin America C6578AL C6578DL
Asia Pacific C6578AA C6578DA
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