INK TANK – THESE DO NOT HAVE THE PRINT HEADS INTEGRATED.  DO NOT DO THE PAPER TOWEL METHOD WITH THESE CARTRIDGES.

These are dye based ink cartridges.  There is no HP 12 black cartridge, the black is an HP 10.

Not Recognizing

 

Verify you have the correct cartridges for your specific model of printer.

 

There’s a smart chip located on the bottom inside of the cartridge.  Check the chip for damage or debris.  A Q-tip can be used to reach and wipe the gold contacts.

 

Make sure the cartridge is firmly pressed into place.  If the cartridge is not pushed down far enough the chip will not make proper contact.  Also try removing then reinstalling the cartridge.

Check to make sure the right color is being installed into the correct color slot.

 Color order from left to right; Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow.

Print Quality Issues

 

The printer will puncture the bottom nozzle area of the cartridge.  Make sure the cartridge is fully inserted into the printer.  The printer has a print head cleaning function that should be used.  To run a print head cleaning;

1. Press  (select button) on the LCD control panel.

2. Press  (down arrow button) to highlight CONFIGURE DEVICE, and then press  (select button).

3. Press  (down arrow button) to highlight PRINT QUALITY, and then press  (select button).

4. Press  (down arrow button) to highlight CLEAN PRINTHEADS, and then press  (select button).  When the process is complete, the printer prints two pages with cleaning patterns. Discard or recycle this page.

 

Smearing, missing lines, and spotting are usually print head related issues.  Sometimes print head cleaning can resolve this however the print head may also be at its end of life and need to be replaced.

 

These cartridges install into separate, replaceable, print heads.  There is a print head for each individual color.  The print heads are maintenance items and will need to be replaced after a certain amount of usage.

 

Do NOT attempt the paper towel method with this cartridge.