Photosmart 7520 Cartridge Problem

[SouthHawk]

Oh my goodness, I have fixed it. No thanks to the HP web support. I took out a couple of cartridges that were recognised - very heart in mouth as I wondered if they would be recognised afterwards. i inserted yet again the unrecognised cartridge and this time it was recognsied. You can guess - I put in the cartridges that I had removed and now THEY were not recognised, but the original fault was gone. I then played roulette, inserting one, pulling another, each time getting an unrecognised message for the last cartridge inserted, until, eventually, the fault stopped and the machine came back to life.

It seems to me that this is a software glitch and is often nothing to do with the so called dirty contacts, wrongly inserted or faulty cartridges that HP insist on blaming on their internet help pages. So I recommend, pull out one or more 'okay' cartridges and refit the 'unrecognised' cartridge. Shut the Access Door, check the screen. If the 'unrecognised' cartridge is now recognised refit another cartridge. Repeat, and keep shuffling until the warning disappears.

Good luck. It should not be like this.

[FL_Hawkeye]

i too had this problem with my hp 7525.... i put a new black XL in and it kept barking about the yellow one, so i just bought a new HP yellow one and it still barked. i finally just took the advice from the person below that said to clean the contacts, which i had tried on the cartridge prior but not the printer contacts where the cartridge goes. i just rubbed by greasy **bleep** finger on those contacts (pushed them up and down as they are situated in a spring action setting) and low and behold, it worked! very silly but now i know how to fix that ridiculous anomoly... 

[FL_Hawkeye]

this worked for me... rubbing my finger on the spring contacts inside of the cartridge housing where the cartridge goes...

[BobFam]

This problem has been a nightmare to me as well. I have cleaned the cartridge and print head contacts. It does not matter whether they are HP or aftermarket cartridges.  Sometimes they all are OK and when I return to use the printer it will show one or more having a problem. Wiggling them sometimes helps but not always. Is it a software or a mechanical problem. If it's a software problem where can I get the update and how do I update it.

Is there any way to print in black with one or more of the other cartridges showing an error? I mainly print in black.

Nerer will buy an HP again!

Thanks, Bob.

[SouthHawk]

Understandably, I do not touch the cartridges unless I have to, but yesterday it was time to replace another. As usual I put in a new cartridge and immediately got the 'cartridge missing or damaged' message. Learning from my previous experience I only tried the 'remove/refit/wiggle it' solution a couple of times, as I find it only seems to work occasionally.  It made no difference.

Then I tried what worked fo me back in July (see previous post) - I removed a couple of other cartridges - suddenly the 'new' cartridge was fine. However refitting one of the removed cartridges caused the 'new' cartridge to show the error again.

I removed everything except the new cartridge - which suddenly was magically fine! Then I refitted the others one at a time, each time checking that the fitted cartridge was being recognised, and that the others in the machine were still recognised too. This cured the problem.

I remain convinced that this is not about improper fitting, counterfeit cartridges, dirty heads or contacts, but is something to do with the printer software and its inability to cope with the removal and reinstallation of cartridges, nothing else seems to make sense - it is striking that a troublesome cartridge is recognised the instant it is the only one in the machine. 

One last observation - if the problem re-occurs during this process just back-track, start again with just the new cartridge and re-install the others one at a time but in a different order until they are all recognised, and don't forget to allow a few seconds for the display to update after each cartridge is installed and the printer lid closed.

[BobFam]

Hi. Thanks for the info. This printer has caused me trouble from day one. I should have returned it. It is completely unacceptable in my mind. It is a faulty design or faulty software. Bob.

P.S. No more HP!!

[bondoukou]

Amen! I even purchased a new printhead and the problem has returend - genuine HP, non-genuine, constant refill This product should offer a consumer refund

[Patricia55]

Thank you for your hint of wiggling the cartridge.  Although just plain wiggling did not solve the problem, it gave us the idea to just move the cartridge over a little bit (there was a small space) & bingo the printer started to work  properly and the correct ink levels showed up.  Up till then the new photo black cartridge showed empty.