Flashing cart light HP deskjet 940c

I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.

"john bates" wrote:
I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.

John
The cartrdige has probably failed.
Make sure you clean the contacts on both cartridges and the ones they mate with
in the printer.
When you open the top door, the carriage should move to the left, there is an
arrow on the top of the carriage and it should point to a frowning face. 3 dots
means the colour cartridge and 1 dot means the black one has failed.
Cartridges do fail, they were never designed to be refilled many times.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

On Jul 13, 4:43 pm, "john bates" wrote:
I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.

You may have read from one of the links provided by Bob Headrick

http://groups.google.com/group/comp....5dba9f1d 37b6

that the contacts on the gold foil of the cartridge and the cartridge
carrier may become whitish with crystalized contact lubricant. (That
wasn't my problem, though).

I looked closely at the black ink cartridge that failed for me, and it
seemed to be slightly darker than shiny copper. Following a
recommendation, I used a pencil eraser to rub the foil contacts on the
ink cartridge (carefully remove any rubber particles with a soft
cloth) and it seemed to rub off the dark haze. I don't know if this
"worked" because this is not now a cartridge that I am using.

This recommendation went on to use the eraser, if necessary, to clean
the contacts in the cartridge carrier. I haven't tried this. If I did
try it, I would be very careful to not bend the little contact points
in the carrier.

"Tony" wrote in message
news
"john bates" wrote:
I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.

John
The cartrdige has probably failed.
Make sure you clean the contacts on both cartridges and the ones they mate
with
in the printer.
When you open the top door, the carriage should move to the left, there is
an
arrow on the top of the carriage and it should point to a frowning face. 3
dots
means the colour cartridge and 1 dot means the black one has failed.
Cartridges do fail, they were never designed to be refilled many times.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Thanks Tony, but I 've tried 2 other carts that I bought from Incyle, still
no joy.
John.

On Jul 13, 4:43 pm, "john bates" wrote:
I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.

Those #45 black carts have a way of turning bad all of a sudden. They
can't be refilled forever. I had a couple of them quit early when I
refilled them with generic dye based ink instead of pigmented. Maybe
there was some incompatibility with the ink you were using.

"john bates" wrote:
"Tony" wrote in message
news
"john bates" wrote:
I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.

John
The cartrdige has probably failed.
Make sure you clean the contacts on both cartridges and the ones they mate
with
in the printer.
When you open the top door, the carriage should move to the left, there is
an
arrow on the top of the carriage and it should point to a frowning face. 3
dots
means the colour cartridge and 1 dot means the black one has failed.
Cartridges do fail, they were never designed to be refilled many times.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Thanks Tony, but I 've tried 2 other carts that I bought from Incyle, still
no joy.
John.

If you replaced the correct (failing) cartridge then there is a possibility
that the printer has failed but this particular failure is extremely rare.
Cleaning the contacts in the printer is well worth a try but do it for both
cartridges. It is impossible for the ink to cause this problem, the printer and
the printhead in the cartridge have no way to know what ink is present.
Have you tried replacing both cartridges? Some models can get confused about
which cartridge has failed.

Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

john bates wrote:
I have a Deskjet 940c which has been working well for
the past 9 months with me refilling the carts when needed.
Two weeks ago the black ran out whilst printing text, so I
refilled as per usual. Then (as with Andrew 1234 a few days
ago) the black cart indicator light started flashing and has
done so for the past fortnight.

I read with interest the whole of Andrew's post below
and tried all the tips written there with no avail. No matter
what I do the bl.y thing goes on flashing!

I'll be very grateful for any ideas that might fix it.

John.



Try a hard reset.
Turn on printer power.
Open printer cover, remove both cartridges, close clamps and cover.
Unplug power cord from printer.
Wait 30 seconds.
Plug power cord back into printer.
Open top cover and reinsert both cartridges.
Turn on printer power.

Andrew1243 wrote:

The eventual link to HP says,
"Ink manufacturing uses a lubricant coating to attach the electrical
contacts on the cartridges."

Wha?????????
A lubricant as a glue??? (Was this writer passing a brain stone?)

"HP has discovered that in a small number of cases, the lubricant may
form a crystalline material that blocks electrical impulses between the
cartridge contacts and the contacts of the cradle inside the printing unit."

Hmmm. I've never seen any contact preparation that forms a crystalline
residue. However, I'm puzzled that printer manufacturers do not
recommend the use of trusted liquids like alcohols to clean crud off
these contacts. And I never even see them recommend the use of the
trusted contact cleaning fluids and cleaner/lubricants that are probably
the most frequently-used tools in electronics repair shops. But printer
makers recommend "clean cloths" and "water." I've never seen any
technician in my life do this. What gives?

However, I am used to seeing user manuals repeat the same goofy
incorrect garbage year in and year out.

Clean unprinted paper (or card stock) is often used to clean precision
contacts.

Richard Steinfeld wrote:

Andrew1243 wrote:

The eventual link to HP says,
"Ink manufacturing uses a lubricant coating to attach the electrical
contacts on the cartridges."

Wha?????????
A lubricant as a glue??? (Was this writer passing a brain stone?)

"HP has discovered that in a small number of cases, the lubricant may
form a crystalline material that blocks electrical impulses between the
cartridge contacts and the contacts of the cradle inside the printing
unit."

Hmmm. I've never seen any contact preparation that forms a crystalline
residue. However, I'm puzzled that printer manufacturers do not
recommend the use of trusted liquids like alcohols to clean crud off
these contacts. And I never even see them recommend the use of the
trusted contact cleaning fluids and cleaner/lubricants that are probably
the most frequently-used tools in electronics repair shops. But printer
makers recommend "clean cloths" and "water." I've never seen any
technician in my life do this. What gives?

However, I am used to seeing user manuals repeat the same goofy
incorrect garbage year in and year out.

Clean unprinted paper (or card stock) is often used to clean precision
contacts.


Ever heard of dielectric Si grease? I got a Canon dSLR off a guy who
claimed it just quit all of sudden and it won't do anything for almost
free. The problem was battery was not making a good contacst within the
compartment. Rest is history. I got a good caemra for next to nothing.
I resold it for big profit, LOL! No, I gave it to my daughter. You can
buy special cleaning fabric or liquid gold(to revive contacts) from
electronics parts store or guitar shop where service dept. is.

Tony Hwang wrote:
Ever heard of dielectric Si grease? I got a Canon dSLR off a guy who
claimed it just quit all of sudden and it won't do anything for almost
free. The problem was battery was not making a good contacst within the
compartment. Rest is history. I got a good caemra for next to nothing.
I resold it for big profit, LOL! No, I gave it to my daughter. You can
buy special cleaning fabric or liquid gold(to revive contacts) from
electronics parts store or guitar shop where service dept. is.

Yeah. But using dielectric Si grease as an adhesive for contact strips?

Of course, you're talking sense.

Richard