Office Jet 6500 E710n-z won't print black even just replace the ink cartridge with a new one.

[garoadrunner]

I have tryed the suggestions and the black ink still does not printer.

I am going to buy a new printer but it will not be a HP.

I am sorry to have to change printer after having trust HP for so many years.

[zorro77]

Still having problem printing black, even after just replacing the ink cartridge for the second time.  Please advise on resolution.  Thank you,

[pattit]

zorro77 - I have just pruchased a refurbished printhead - it cost about $50 including tax and shipping. The firtst time i did this it solved the problem. This time, I tried the hot water soak multiple times and it just did not fix the problem, although the last time it did work. Yes, that is three, count them three times this has happened. Recap:

1) ended up buying a new print head

2) hot water soak done multiple times finally worked

3) waiting for refurbished print head to arrive - then I must send in the one it is replacing, postage free

I suspect this is such a big problem that they now have quite a stock of used printheads to "refurbish" - read "unclog." We shall see ifthis solves the problem. If not for the fact I have 2 new blakc XL cartridges and one each of the color ones, I would just get a new printer. I can tell you this - I am not buying ink in advance anymore. Prepared for the next time this happens.

[Ciara_B]

Can I ask when the printer is not in use do you switch it off? (at Power switch or just plug out at wall?) Do you ever remove the cartridges from the printer for extended periods?

[pattit]

Hi Ciara_B!

I am not sure if you are asking me or one of the other posters, but no, I do not turn the printer off between uses, and I also do not remove the cartridges ever - except to replace them when they are depleted.

[NicoM]

This might not be much help to most people, but maybe knowing the cause of the problem can help some brave, technically-minded folk.

I haven't come across these units not printing colour, but plenty of them not printing black.  The problem is with the pump located in the head cleaning/capping unit on the right-hand side of the printer.  Removing and cleaning this unit and the absorber sponges beneath it is not an easy task, and very, very messy.  The black ink clogs the cleaning pump's pipe where it goes into the absorber sponge, which means the head cannot be properly cleaned, which means no black printing.  The pump has a seperate section for black and colour, and the black seems to be most affected, likely due to the quick-drying nature of HP's black ink.  Sometimes doing a couple of deep cleaning cycles will unblock the pipe a little, but it usually clogs again.  It is sometimes necessary to clean the print head itself using the hot water technique suggested elsewhere on the internet.  The heads are quite robust, and  I haven't damaged any using this method.

I have cleaned five of these units, and in all of them the problem was solved.  It affects the Officejet 6000, 6500 and 6500a series, all of which use the same cleaning pump design.

I doubt many people will go through the hassle of cleaning the printer or having the printer cleaned, but there you go.

Like many of HP's recent printer designs it seems to be somewhat flawed and not exactly designed to last a lifetime...

But then again, what is these days?

By the way, all the affected units I've come across used HP original ink exclusively.