Unusual streak lines on paper being printed..what are they?

[torrenter]

I have these consistent, straight, faded lines on the paper I print on when they come out of my HP Photosmart Inkjet printer. (Like as if there's a roller inside the printer which isn't calibrated, and doesn't put equal pressure on the paper). Has anyone had this problem, or know what I'm on about?

The printer is refurbished, second-hand off eBay but I don't think this has anything to do with it. I remember using a relative's printer and seeing the same lines in the past.

What gets me is that the inks are brand new, and not near empty...

 

[SNGX1275]

I've seen stuff like that happen on epson inkjets when the heads are slightly clogged. May want to look into that barring any other suggestions.

 

[Mekaonija]

Its happened to my printer a few times also, usualy when I do a fast print or the ink cartrage is low/clogged/low quality. It comes and goes with mine so im not very sure what could be causing it.

 

[torrenter]

Thanks again people for the info and suggestions. SNGX1275, how would I go about sorting the problem if the heads do turn out to be slightly clogged?
Also, the inks I used are HP Official, and the marks are more noticeable on a normal quality print, not a higher resolution print.
I guess my main concern/fear, is it being a major problem. Will it go away with time I wonder? Also, as I've bought it off eBay second hand the printer did not unfortunately come with a warranty. Do you think guys, that it's possible to sort this out, without any major surgery?
Thanks again for you kind help.

 

[torrenter]

Hey guys, I've seen that the HP software allows you "clean" the cartridges. It also has a section in it's troubleshooting guide on these horizontal lines which come out on print. I'll follow the instructions from there. Thanks again.

 

[SNGX1275]

Did it work? I was busy yesterday and didn't have a chance to check the boards. What I would have said though is that I don't know how to clean them on an HP because I haven't used an HP inkjet in over 10 years, but that I'd check any printer utility software that came with the printer.

 

[torrenter]

Well I used the software to "clean" the cartridges. I "cleaned" them to the max. Gives the option to "prime" clean. Just takes 2 minutes, using more ink, instead of one minute. I can still see the lines when I do a normal quality print (600dpi), but it's not as noticeable on the higher resolution prints.

I suppose it's not a huge problem. I just wanted nothing to be wrong with the actual printer, nevermind the inks. The troubleshooter guide does go on to talk about manually cleaning the cartridges with a wetted or damp, lint free cloth. I can't be bothered with that for the moment though. I'm only going to be using it for printing my CV at the moment. Maybe when I start to print photos more regularly I might remove the cartridges and then manually clean them. Maybe then the problem will be sorted.

I'm just hoping the problem is isolated to the cartridges, and not anything else in the printer Again the cartridges are official HP, were unopened but second hand. How clogged could they be??