Technical information

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*Ink cartridges are merely plastic holding tanks for the ink....other than connecting and being recognized
by the printhead, there isn't really anything that can go wrong here (Costco ink formulations and HP ink
formulations are 'very' similar, both are based on a dye ink based formulation, so this is not a significant
contributor toward this type of condition based on our internal longevity testing). Printing frequently,
perhaps once or twice a week, is one of the best ways to maintai n your printer’s overall PRINTHEAD
health. Here is a video of how the PRINTHEAD functions in the printer:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2054
**The HP 920 ink-series printer models have an electronic PRINTHEAD within the base of the carriage
assembly (responsible for pulling ink from the 4 ink cartridges and then firing the ink droplets onto the
paper) – these will eventually fail depending on printed content, frequency of printing and printer duty
cycle (i.e. HP rates them with a duty cycle of "up to 1000 pages a month", which translated is ~15,000
printed pages maximum over life, but the typical/average life is closer to ~8,000 pages).
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2054
NOTE: For more severe PRINTER error messages which prevent printing altogether [i.e. “Incompatible
Printhead", “Replace PRINTHEAD” or “Ink System Failure”] this is typical of failed micro-electronics
within the PRINTHEAD assembly (nothing to do with the HP 920 refilled ink cartridges). The PRINTHEAD
assembly is a separate electronic unit in which the cartridges plug into and feed ink to and is essentially
the heart of the printing system. For reference, here is how the PRINTHEAD works:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2054
For any additional questions please contact us directly: [e-mail]
-Thank you
HP 564/920 – POSSIBLE PRINTHEAD FAILURE
Regarding your recent inquiry about the HP 564/920 cartridge print quality problems and the repeated
attempts to 'recover' the ink system, it sounds like the PRINTHEAD assembly (in base of printer) may be
causing the issue. If determined to be a failure, it is unrelated to the refilled ink cartridges as all
printheads will eventually fail over time*.
NOTE: Unfortunately, alignment pages and internal self test prints will usually print Ok even if the
PRINTHEAD is internally electrically damaged. Do not use these test pages as a proxy for determining
whether a cartridge is good or bad, only the ‘Tap 41/43’ diagnostic test report can yield this information.
The issue is normally recoverable by performing the following ‘aggressive’ ink system recovery s teps:
1. Remove all 4 ink cartridges and PRINTHEAD from printer. Clean PRINTHEAD’s rear electrical
copper contacts and interfacing carriage electrical copper contacts:
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1451
2. Perform hot water flush on printhead (distilled water is recommended, though tap water may
be used since this is more of a ‘last ditch effort’: http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2412