HP PhotoSmart 5510 Problem

[dmcmillen]

I have only had my 5510 for 7 months. I refill my HP 564 cartridges until the refill and head cleaning doesn't work and then I replace the cartridge(s). This time, the 3rd time in 7 months, I replaced all 4 cartridges with brand new HP 564 cartridges and I continue to get streaky color blocks on the test print page. I have cleaned heads, 1st and 2nd level, twice to no avail. Nothing I have tried works. Wonder if I can clean the heads with some type of solvent and blow out with compressed air?

I have not been happy with this printer or HP. The 4ml cartridges are a joke. My old HP had 17ml cartridges. These don't last long at all. HP sells the xl cartridges, for twice the price of course and that's still only 8ml, still half what their old cartridges held. Cartridges were expensive before, but this is absolutely ridiculous and what a pain. I would like to have been a fly on the wall in those design meetings.

I bought this printer because I wanted wireless and needed to replace my old scanner and never suspected that anyone would design a printer with 4ml cartridges. I'm ready to switch to Canon or Epson.

Ok, enough ranting.

Anyone have any suggestions.

 

[DrB0b]

You can try to clean with compressed air to see if it makes much of a difference. The streaky color is most likely from leaky carts as Im sure you have figured out. I would call up HP and get a replacement as being this far along the odds of a refund are out of the question. Then if you are still unhappy with it, sell it and buy a new one. Most manufacturer's are going to the smaller cartridges so you wont find much relief with other manufacturers. Judging by how many times you replaced your ink, you might want to look into the home office laser printers as it could save you some money. Refilling most of their toner is fairly easy and relatively cheap.

http://www.ldproducts.com/

sells aftermarket toner for cheap. They are reliable but as with any remanufactured toner, you will occasionally get a bad one which they will replace free of charge, including return shipping.

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.