HP F4210 Inkjet printer doesn't print - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ThunderZed
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 04:24:55 pm
content: I've found an old HP F4210 Inkjet printer in a garage and I'd like to understand if it can still work or not. Consider that printing heads are integrated in the cartridges in this model and consider that I'd like to print in b/w only though it carries the color cartridge on too.I've bought a brand new black cartridge and put in. The printer drags the sheets normally and its carriage goes right and left normally too as the printer worked properly but sheets are completely blank!Printer's own sw is too old to work on Windows 10 so I can only use the W10 system sw. I tried to clean printing heads both by W10 system sw and by its self-test (by pressing a certain button combination) but sheets are still blank.What's its problem in you opinion and how to fix it (if possible)?

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 04:40:34 pm
content: there's not a bit of tape or plastic tab you need to remove from the cartridge before use by any chance?

author: ThunderZed
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2023, 11:52:19 am
content: yes, there was a plastic tape on the new cartridge to protect its printing head. as i pulled it off i could see a bit of ink and i cleaned it, now and after many attempts to clean its printing head there're no ink traces.i attach some pics of the new cartridge and the printer's carriage, please let me know if you can see something to point my attention to.do you think it's a cartridge or printer matter?do you think it could be a mechanical trouble? eg. carriage can't go down enough to be in contact with paper.do you think it could be a good idea to sink the cartridge's printing head in few millimeters of ammonia bath for 24h?

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2023, 11:28:16 pm
content: Quote from: ThunderZed on April 29, 2023, 11:52:19 am1. Could be either. Note that that printer model uses different cartridges depending on what country it's from -- 300 series in Europe, 60 series in most of the rest of the world.2. It's an inkjet printer, the carriage isn't supposed to be in contact with the paper!!3. Absolutely not! If you're not getting anything at all (as opposed to streaky output), then it's likely not a problem with clogging. And even if it were, ammonia is not the right thing to clean it.Honestly, that printer was cheap even when it was new, and it's anything but new. I wouldn't invest one cent in it. Take it apart and salvage the fun parts (motors, optical encoders, power supply, etc) and buy a new printer for your printing needs.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2023, 11:33:49 pm
content: Did you prime the head.From my memory of inkjets there is a head priming task you do from the menu or with some button presses.Takes 30 sec or so and sits there pumping ink through the head and out into the waste pad inside the machine.Basically need to clear out all the air in the lines.Normally you can get away without doing it when changing ink tanks because there is ink in the lines already but if its sat for ages they may be all empty.If it doesn't have a prime mode or you cant figure out how to do it. Print a full page photo with it set to glossy photo paper so it has to pump a lot of ink.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2023, 11:37:08 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on April 29, 2023, 11:33:49 pmThat only applies to printers with permanent printheads, where the cartridges are purely ink tanks. (And even then, I've never seen one where that had to be done manually.)OP explicitly said theirs had cartridges with integrated heads, so priming is not applicable here because there are no lines at all.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2023, 11:39:34 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on April 29, 2023, 11:37:08 pmWe had to do a prime manually on occasionally for our old canon inkjet. Usually if you left it sitting for a year, or you put a new head in it.Quote from: tooki on April 29, 2023, 11:37:08 pmIn that case I dunno, maybe there is a power/data issue getting to the head. Check the ribbon cable for damage and check the connectors.Is your new print cartridge OEM or some china copy?

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2023, 02:23:25 am
content: There's a suction cup where the printhead usually rests when it's not printing, and a peristaltic pump attached to it that sucks ink through the printhead for the cleaning cycle (and deposits it into a large absorbent pad). Is there any ink coming out when you do a cleaning cycle?

author: ThunderZed
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2023, 02:43:50 pm
content: I thought it'd has been a bet to make this old combo HP print and I've been using it as scanner because I had got no one... a quite "cumbersome" one indeed! Due to that I just waited months to get a good deal buyingthischeap compatible cartridge at my local Amazon when its cost went down under 10 euros.I followed your tips (as I could understand them) and:- I put a piece of adsorbing paper upon the black color's pad and I made some printing heads cleanings to check if black ink'd has drained out or not and the paper was clean after 3 cleanings attempts (see my attachments before VS after);- by the way W10 system sw lets me do a cycle of 3 cleanings and the 2nd one is defines "mild" and the 3rd one is defined "cartridges priming" so we can do this sort of heads priming by windows system though it's not mentioned inHP user's guideso there's no way to do that pressing buttons nor by its proprietary sw because I can't install it on W10 as I said in my 1st post;- I tried to print 5 times a quite colorful image but without success: still only blank pages.Did I carry on my attempts properly based on your tips?Is there anything else I could try before surrendering and using it only as a scanner?Maybe it's a silly idea but what if I could drain out ink from the head by a sort of manual suctioning action? Anyway I'd rather not to suck it by my mouth

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2023, 09:36:00 am
content: Quote from: Psi on April 29, 2023, 11:39:34 pm(20+ year user of Canon inkjets here.)Head cleaning cycle, yes. But priming is something needed in printers where the ink receptacle is connected by hoses, so there’s distance. That isn’t the case here.Printers that need to have their heads primed, mostly during initial setup, will do it on their own.