How to unblock one cartridge colour

[Beemer]

My HP Officejet 1150 has developed a blocked yellow on a recently installed
original cartridge. The cartridge had been lying for a year unused but the
yellow did work when I installed it. I have cleaned the contacts and soaked
the head in isopropyl but I cannot get any yellow to come out. I do not
think this is an electrical problem and I actually suspect that the yellow
ink was a "short fill". Is this a possibility?

Beemer

 

[Beemer]

My HP Officejet 1150 has developed a blocked yellow on a recently
installed original cartridge. The cartridge had been lying for a year
unused but the yellow did work when I installed it. I have cleaned the
contacts and soaked the head in isopropyl but I cannot get any yellow to
come out. I do not think this is an electrical problem and I actually
suspect that the yellow ink was a "short fill". Is this a possibility?

Beemer

Now the cyan has stopped flowing. I'm surprised as I only opened the HP
cartridge this week. Obviously leaviung these too long unused is not a
good thing.

Beemer

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Some inks and some ink cartridges (containing the head) are particularly
vulnerable to aging. But all ink cartridges of consequence have a
manufacturing, or more often, expiration date on it. Some printers will
simply not even allow an outdated cartridge to operate.

I have found that yellow ink seems to settle out more commonly (even dye
ink types), as it seems to precipitate out solids more easily.

Did you check dates to see how old the cartridges are, and do you know
how they were stored? Very warm and dry climatic conditions accelerate
aging, dehydration, and such.

Most dye inks are fairly alkaline, so using a very dilute amount of
ammonia (or ammoniated window cleaner out of the bottle may help a bit.
I would not soak HP replaceable heads in this for more than a few
minutes at a time, as I don't know how vulnerable they are to etching
from corrosive liquids.

Art

 

[Bob Headrick]

Now the cyan has stopped flowing. I'm surprised as I only opened the HP
cartridge this week. Obviously leaviung these too long unused is not a
good thing.

The problem is not a blocked cartridge or a "short fill", but rather air
that has been ingested into the standpipe of the cartridge. This can happen
with very old cartridges. There is no "expiration" built into the
cartridge, but the cartridge does have a warranty date (two years from the
production date) printed on the cartridge. See:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bua02014
for information on decoding the warranty date. The package also has an
"install by" date which is 18 months from the production date.

To resolve the air problem in the cartridge you could place a damp tissue
against the printhead, then gently force air through the vent holes in the
back of the cartridge. (See
http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/inkjet/26100#27). You could put
the cartridge in an old sock with the nozzles pointing toward the toe, then
go outside and swing it rapidly around your head for 30 seconds or so. I
would not recommend soaking the printhead in Windex as this can cause
problems in the printhead.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Beemer]

Art,

Yes the cartridge was after its stamped date. Using isopropyl alcohol
causes the non blocked ink to flow very easily. Strange thing was that the
yellow worked for a day then suddenly stopped. I will try Bob's sling shot
trick. Meanwhile I bought the last available "41" cartridges in my local PC
World. Both are already out-of-date but at least the first one is working.

Beemer

 

[Beemer]

Bob,

Thanks for the tip! I had to install a new 41 cartridge so I'll wait until
it is fading then try your slingshot trick!

Beemer