HP 81 and HP 83

INK TANK – These do not have the print heads integrated. The print heads are a separate, replaceable, maintenance item. Do NOT do the paper towel method with these cartridges.

The 81 cartridges are dye cartridges while the 83 cartridges are UV pigment cartridges. UV means they are fade resistant to ultra-violet light found in sunlight and other light sources.

Not Recognizing

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

There is a smart chip located on the end of the cartridge above the nozzles. Check the chip for damage or debris. You can use a Q-tip to gently clean off the gold contacts.

Verify the cartridge is installed correctly and fully inserted into the printer. Also, check to make sure they are installing the correct color into the correct slot.

Colors from left to right are light cyan, light magenta, yellow, cyan, magenta, and black.

Print Quality Issues

The printer has an Image Quality Print page that can be printed to help determine print quality problems. To print this pages use the front panel on the printer and Go to Utilities>Test Prints>Print Quality and press the Enter key.

Check the printed page to try to determine what the print quality issue is and which color might be causing it.

The print heads are separate from the ink cartridges. To resolve most print quality issues try running a print head cleaning. On these Designjet printers HP has it listed as Print Head Recovery under Utilities on the front panel. You can choose which color print head you want to clean or you can clean all the print heads if necessary.