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Repair and disassembly guides for HP printers.

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HP deskjet 1220c prints b&w but not colour

Printer prints B&W but only Pink colour. Have put two new cartridges in but to no avail. Have soaked cartridge in hot water but to no avail. Please help.

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How long has the new color cartridge been sitting on the shelf? It could be dried up.

Yeah, I worked with a 7' wide inkjet before, you can heat up some water and just put the tip of the head in the water for a few seconds. When you remove it, use a paper towel to blot it lightly (do not rub it).

Check your manual on printing a test page too. If the cartridge is not completely dried up, and there are no problems with the head or printer itself, it should clear itself up.

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added: print the test page using the printers controls, not from Windows, this eliminates any issues on the Computer side of things.

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I have printed a test page from the printer and dipped the cartridge in hot water. Still no luck just pink could it be the head or ribbon?

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On the inkjets, the head is built into the cartridge, flip it over and look, its metal. I believe the 1220c has only a black and color cartridge (some inkjets have separate cartridges for black, red, blue and yellow). I would try replacing the color cartridge. You may have bought one that has sat on the shelf way too long.

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I have tried two brand new cartridges.

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Allan Denham, Country Computer Service offers very sound advice. This answer is just to augment that answer. Here is some information that I found and should work for your printer as well."To determine if the cartridge set can produce the correct basic colors, run the "Clean The Print Cartridges" function under Services in the printer driver properties. The cleaning process will produce black, cyan, magenta, and yellow if both cartridges are good. If one or more of the colors is missing:

1. A cartridge has failed or is empty.

2. The print nozzles may be plugged, i.e. dried out or not being cleaned properly by the service station.

3. The cartridge and carriage electrical contacts may be dirty.

4. The printer may have failed.

If there is an incorrect color, the ink is mixed inside the color cartridge.

-- Do not continue until you have worked through any issues revealed above. --

After establishing that the printer is capable of producing the basic color set, print from a software application. If you are not getting the expected colors, consider these possibilities:

1. The software is not configured properly.

2. Uninstalling and reinstalling the printer driver.

3. The printer may have failed.

Try the color cartridge in another printer just to be sure it is good. It does happen that the cartridge doesn't make good contact with the pins in the carriage, either through the fault of the cartridge or the carriage. You should be able to find a friend or coworker who uses one of these: Deskjet 900 series (950, 960, 970, 990), or the original Photosmart line (P1000, 1115, 1118, 1215, 1218, or 1315) and either use their working cartridge, or place your cartridge in one of those printers" There is plenty of more information on this great site.Hope this helps, good luck.

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Allan Denham will be eternally grateful.
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