Printer does not print black ink

[macita]

We have HP Photosmart B110 series - just moved pc and printer from one room to another and when it came to printing again the printer does not print the black ink.  The cartridges are fairly new, and we haven't used printer much, so I do know that the black ink should not be low at all, and the pc shows only a fraction of black ink used.  The pc and printer do not show any faults, printer prints just fine in the other colours.  Have gone thru the HP Diagnostic Utility and printer came up with all green ticks, but the print test page came up blank.

Cannot do the "uninstall software" step as I have lost the cd to then reinstall the software.

Baffled.  Can anyone help me please?

[NJK58]

I have had the same problem but it developed over the course of a couple of weeks.  First, there were unprinted streaks of black, then no black at all.  Replacing the cartridges did not help.  I cleaned the print head per HP instructions but the problem remained.  I had an on-line chat with Richard (chat number 14320233). He was sympathetic but we got cut off.  I am sure that I need a new print head to replace the original even though the printer is only eight months old.  How do I get a new pirnt head?  The HP web sites do not tell me.

[lanz]

Hi!

Try this one first: manually clean the contact points of the printer.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01458034&cc=au&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4231205&tmp...

.If this will not work. you need to contact Hp tech support to replace your printhead. Printhead can only be ordered via callcenter.

Hope this will work.... =)

[NJK58]

I looked at several blogs on the HP site which concerned problems similar to mine.  I combined several approaches and now have a printer that works correctly.  I removed the print head and soaked it  for three 5-minute cycles in hot (~170 F) distilled water about 3/4 inch deep with continuous mild agitation.  The first soaking quickly turned the water black, the second ended with the water a dark grey color, but the third rinse was nearly clear.  The hot distilled water dissolved the dried ink in the small ink passages from the cartridges to the ink ejection part of the print head.  I then carefully dried the print head as per instructions, cleaned the electrical contacts on the printer, and placed the print head and the ink cartridges in the printer.  I turned off the printer, then unplugged it for one minute.  I the plugged it in and turned it on, allowing it to print an alignment sheet.  Because some water remained in the ink passageways, the sheet had some blank areas but a homemade test sheet which has small samples of many color dots and words in every Word color was then printed with very good results.  The printer has now worked perfectly for a week.