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Maintaining the printheads
If printed characters are incomplete, or dots or lines are missing from printouts, this may be caused
by clogged ink nozzles and you might need to clean the printheads.
When the quality of printouts deteriorates, complete the relevant steps based on the following
sequence:
1. Check the health of the printheads (see
To check printhead health).
2. Print the print quality diagnostic page on a clean sheet of white paper. Evaluate any problem
areas, and perform the recommended actions (see
To print the print quality diagnostic page).
3. If the color tints on printed pages have shifted visibly towards yellow, magenta, or blue, calibrate
the color (see
Calibrating the color).
4. Manually clean the printhead contacts. See
To clean the printhead contacts manually.
5. Replace the printheads, if the problems persist after cleaning. See
To replace the printheads.
CAUTION HP is not responsible for damage to the printer that results from modifying the
printheads.
To check printhead health
Use one of the following means to check the printhead health. If the status of any printhead is not
good or fair, then perform one or more of the maintenance functions, or clean or replace the printhead.
● Configuration page: Print the configuration page on a clean sheet of white paper, and check
the printhead health section. See
Understanding the configuration page.
●
Embedded Web server: Open the embedded Web server (see
To open the embedded Web
server). Click the Information tab and click Ink Supplies in the left pane.
●
Toolbox (Windows): Open the Toolbox (see
To open the Toolbox). Click the Information tab
and click Printhead Health.
To print the print quality diagnostic page
Use the print quality diagnostic page to diagnose issues affecting the print quality of the printer. This
will help you decide whether to run any maintenance tools to improve the print quality of your
printouts. You can also view the ink level information, and the printhead health status on the page.
●
Control panel: Press and hold
(Power button), press (Cancel button) once, press
(Resume button) 4 times, and release (Power button).
●
Embedded Web server: Click the Settings tab, click Printer Services in the left pane, select
PQ (print quality) diagnostic page from the drop-down list in the Print Quality section, and
click Apply.
●
Printer driver (Windows): Click the Services tab. For Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
Windows Server 2003, click the Service this Device button (this option is available only if the
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