HP Officejet Pro 8600 inkjet printers use four large, high-capacity HP #88 ink cartridges for printing–one black and one each for cyan, magenta, and yellow. The ink nozzle can occasionally clog, resulting in blank patches and spaces with missing dots, lines, or partially non-printed letters. Additionally, print heads may fail to function due to clogged electrical connections.

Methods To Clean HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Printhead

Household Cleaning Methods

Method 1

Use the printer’s built-in feature. HP has three cleaning stages. HP will clean the Printhead at the first level. If you choose “continue” and the print is unsatisfactory, the printer will go to the second and third cleaning levels. The printer will inflate and deflate an air bladder inside the cartridge at certain values. Ink will be squeezed out of the cartridge, pushing blockages out of the printhead.

To get rid of harder clogs, combine and alternate cleaning levels. Avoid doing too many cleanings in a row. Flooding the ink pad beneath is an option. Excess ink may cause new clogs and worsen the situation. Allow a few hours for the clogs to soften before running the cleaning.

Method 2

Fill a set of spent cartridges with water or cleaning fluid. On eBay, search for the cartridge model + “empty” keyword to find spent cartridges. The cartridge must be operational. If you have BCH’s ARC chip, you can install it on those cartridges. Insert the cartridge into the printer and run the cleaning cycle. Again, utilize a combination of all three levels and provide sufficient time between them.

Method 3

Instead of using HP’s built-in feature, you can remove the cartridge and do a cleaning simulation.

• Remove the cartridges from the printer and pull up the handle on the right side of the printhead. Remove the printhead from the printer.

• Once you’ve got the printhead in your hands, you can do one (or more) of the following:

1. Clean the bottom of the printhead with hot water. Because the temperature of the household water will not be high enough to damage the printhead, you can set the water temperature to the highest level. It should be washed for 2-5 minutes.
2. Fill a bowl halfway with cleaning solution and soak the printhead for a few hours.
3. Flush the printhead with cleaning solution (or water) using a syringe. This procedure should only be used if the other two methods have failed.

• Using paper towels, dry the circuit board. Do not wipe the printhead’s bottom. Paper towel fibers will clog the printhead’s micro-openings, permanently damaging the printhead. If you don’t completely dry the circuit board, your printer will think the printhead is damaged. It is acceptable to leave the bottom of the printhead wet. To dry the bottom, use lint-free lens paper.

• Run two printhead cleaning methods back-to-back for roughly an hour, then repeat until all of the colors come out naturally.

Also Read: How To Download and Update HP Officejet Pro 8600 Driver

Other Methods To Clean HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Printhead

Ink Clog Removal

• On your HP OfficeJet 8600 printer, press and hold the “Power” button.

• Press the “Cancel” button twice, followed by the “Resume” button once.

• Press and hold the “Power” button to initiate the electronic printhead cleaning process. 

Electrical Contacts Cleaning

• Open the printer cover and place three or four stacked pieces of paper in front of your HP 8600 printer. If the carriage isn’t moving to the far left of the printer automatically, press and hold the “Resume” button until it does. Once the carriage has moved to the far left, unplug your printer.

• Grasp and raise the printhead latch, then raise the handle on the first print head. Remove the printhead from your printer.

• Hold the printhead with one hand carefully over the paper in front of the printer, not touching the nozzles. Wipe the printhead’s copper-colored square electrical connections carefully with a lint-free microfiber cloth, lens-cleaning cloth, or soft coffee filter.

• Place the printhead on the paper so that the ink nozzles face up.

• Steps 3 and 4 must be repeated for each printhead.

• With your lint-free cloth or filter, carefully rub the electrical contacts inside the printer.

• Insert your printer and press the “Power” button.

• Replace a printhead into its color-matched housing, pressing it firmly into the slot to ensure that the printhead’s electrical contacts make contact with the contacts inside the printer. Pull the printhead latch down over the printhead and firmly push down to secure the printhead in place. Rep with each printhead, and then close the cover.

Hope this guide has helped to clean your HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Printhead.

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