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General discussion

Preserving Color Ink on My HP

by fitch29-21326862467848385204087712332007 May 14, 2007 12:52AM PDT

I don't do a lot of printing on my home printer (HP 6210 all in one) - maybe once or twice a month. But each time I do print, I have to reclean my ink cartridges so that the printout isn't severely distorted. Even worse, I usually have to change my color ink cartridge just to get a decent print.

The black ink seems to remain strong, it's the color ink that doesn't like my infrequent use. Is there anything I can do to preserve my ink in between uses so that I'm not changing my color ink each time I use my printer?

My machine takes 94 black and 95 tri-color ink.

thanks!

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2 Posts

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Find an ink refill person and ...

by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 14, 2007 1:57AM PDT

Refill that color tricolor with all black. They know how and why. This is only feasible for those HPs that the print head and cart are one piece.

Bob

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You need to print more

by hawk9934 May 15, 2007 5:56AM PDT

CNET had an article a while back that I make sure to tell my customers. You need to print at least one every two weeks, once a week is better. Printer cartridges are like ink pens, if they sit, the print heads can dry out.

You might want to run what we call a damp towel test. Take a damp towel, and firmly press the print head on the towel. The towel will soak up an excess ink that is built up, plus draw the ink out so you can see if you have all three colors. Now you might have to do it a couple times to get good results, but it should work.

Now why a person would put black ink in a tricolor cartridge does not make sense to me. If you need a printer only for black, get a laser, they are less costly to own.

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