In case you’ve missed the Hewlett Packard Officejet Pro-x range these printers utilise a static page wide printhead that makes for very fast printing.
These printers were released back in 2013/14 and are quite a jump in printer technology from previous models. However, the purpose of this article is not to sing the praises of these printers, it’s to detail some known issues, suspected barriers and a few work-arounds to help get the most out of them and/or compatible ink options.
Cartridge Chips
Like almost all inkjet printer supplies now, the HP-970 and HP-971 cartridges come with chips which have been designed to store ink volume information, identify the cartridge and of course help protect income for the OEM. There are a few things to note about these:
- The chips cannot be removed from the cartridge they’re on
- It is possible to place a compatible chip over the original
- Compatible chips are being rejected by newer firmware (see Firmwware)
Firmware
Newer versions of firmware are rejecting some (potentially all) compatible chips in both ARC (Auto Reset) and single-use versions.
Firmware known to work: BZP1CN1409BR
Firmware known to reject: BWP1CN1502AR
Tip: You can identify your printers firmware by printing a status report (via the “Print Reports” option) as this will include your firmware information.
Given that recent firmware releases have reduced compatibility for third party ink cartridges it goes without saying that upgrading your firmware is not recommended unless you intend to use Original/OEM consumables throughout.
Refilling options:
There are a number of approaches that allow you to refill these cartridges:
Via Original Refill Hole(s)
This video shows the process for refilling an HP970/971 cartridge via the original refill ports.
Credit: R-JetTec
Via Inlet Port
It is possible to refill via the refill port using a suitable adapter. HOWEVER, it is essential that you understand the issues surrounding use of this port and the potential damage/mess you can create in doing so (See “Inlet Port Issues”).
Tools for refilling are also useful for priming (ie: removing air) from the cartridge and can be found on our store here.
Resolving chip recognition issues
The HP970 and HP971 cartridges will be rejected when refilled until the printer has forgotten the ID information for the set last used. You can force this by making use of two sets of cartridges and rotating the cartridge sets.
Important Weaknesses/Issues:
Outlet Port
The outlet port is sealed using a black rubber grommet coupled with a spring loaded ball. These work together to create a seal against leakage in normal use.
However, it is relatively easy to damage this valve system so great care is needed to ensure you do not
- Dislodge the ball part from the spring
- Damage or dislodge the rubber seal
A number of tools exist that can manage this process but you should still take a great deal of care when inserting or removing them.
OctoInkjet is offering an adapter designed to reduce the potential for damage although, as noted previously, if you are refilling your cartridges on a regular basis (ie: not using a CIS system) you would be advised to refill using the original fill holes using any number of kits provided to facilitate that approach.
Work-arounds:
Refilling original cartridges
Have two sets of cartridges and rotate the one installed (as per “Resolving chip recognition issues“)
Chip rejection on CIS systems
Use OEM cartridges that have 30% ink remaining and either:
- Send to OctoInkjet for pre-installation and use with the Bag-CIS system
- DIY install a CIS system to the cartridges
This approach ensures that the chips will be accepted and won’t run out while their is sufficient ink available to the system.
Note: Compatible chips for these models may be available in the future but as yet there is no confirmation of this as yet.
Outlet Port Failures/Problems & Potential Solutions:
As noted above, it’s very easy to create a problem with the outlet port so some approaches to try if you hit a problem:
First of all if the port is leaking, stand the cartridge on it’s end so the port is facing up. This will stop further flow while you work out how to fix things.
Black Seal Removal
If you’ve managed to pull the black seal part out of the outlet you need to ensure the spring and ball part are still located in the port itself. If they are, you should be able to GENTLY reinsert the black port (flat, wide end outwards) back into the port hole. Some care to re-seat the part is required an a Q-tip/cotton bud is a useful tool in helping with this.
Leakage
If you have removed an adapter from the port and now see ink leaking from the port it’s likely that you have disloged the seal and/or the ball part of the valve from it’s correct place. Try gently reinserting your adapter to push the ball back and then allow it to slowly re-seat itself in the closed position. Use of a cotton bud to gently press the edges of the black seal may also help re-seat the seal in its correct position.
If the port continues to leak despite repeated efforts it is likely the the valve has been damaged and it’s time to replace the cartridge.
HowTo: Replacing & Reseating a seal
This video was produced specifically to address the issues and possible solutions to these problems.
Pro-X451dw vs’ Pro-X551dw
We wondered about this ourselves as the printers look physically identical and, on the face of it, appear to function in the exact same way but we have identified one particular difference.
When you send a reasonably big print job to these printers it seems as if the Pro-X551dw can handle and buffer these much better than the cheaper Pro-X451dw version.
To give you a concrete example, we use a 12 page publisher document (with multiple images) as our test and sent it to each printer.
Settings:
- 5 copies
- Booklet
- Collated
The Pro-X451 pauses 15 seconds between each double sided sheet that it outputs, presumably because it’s re-processing the pages it needs to print.
The Pro-X551 pauses initially, at the beginning of the print job, and then churns through each print with less than a second between one sheet being pushed out and the next being picked up.
Workaround:
The obvious solution is to buy the Pro-X551dw if you want to be able to maximise the speed of your printing…
…but if you already have the Pro-X451 then you can reduce the waiting time by printing without using the collate print option. This removes the need to reprocess the page multiple times. The downside is that you have to collate the sheets back into a booklet manually but it does offset the printers limitations.
Other Resources
This article will be updated as other resources and information becomes available.