hp officejet 6500 won't print black ink

[Shane_R]

You have done all you can do.  I'm afraid you'll need to get a new printer.  Sorry.  

[JacobAG503]

Hi there,

I was having the same issue with my Officejet 6500 709n, but trashing the printer wasn't going to work for me. I tried the following and am now printing again with spendid black ink!

1. If your printer's power button is flashing, try holding the power button, or just unplug the power chord from the back of the printer, and plug it back in.

2. Once the printer has powered back on, press setup >Tools (6.)> Clean Printhead and then go through BOTH stages of cleaning.

3. Remove the black ink cartridge, shake, and re-insert.

4. Again, power-cycle the printer

5. Print away!

I know some of you have tried many and/or all of these steps, but for some reason this worked for me!

Best of luck to you all.

[ToledoScott]

JacobAG503...your tip was a winner!  Worked perfectly to restore the black ink for printing and copying.

[chattahoochee]

hp officejet6500 won't print black ink

[Shane_R]

What all have you tried so far? Do you have the E709 series 6500, or the E710 series? What OS are you using? If you make a copy from the front of the printer, will it print with black?

[Xavierpride]

I have the same problem with model 709a. Tried shaking the cartridge as recommended by another user, did not fix problem. I sure hope that when HP manufactures a printer, it lasts more than 2 yrs.

[Shane_R]

Are you able to make a copy and get black ink to print?

[Xavierpride]

No, Black ink does not print even when I copy. Does not appear to be a software issue.

[Shane_R · Accepted solution]

There may be something clogging the printhead.  Do the mechanical printhead cleaning and check the venting on the cartridges as mentioned in this document.  If the vent looks okay, and the cleanings don't get the black printing like it should, then you should move to doing a physical cleaning of the printhead.  Bob_Headrick was kind enough to post the steps in this post.  If after the physical cleaning you still are not able to get black to print, then you will either need to purchase a new printhead, or purchase a new printer.  The printhead for this printer is not all that expensive compared to other models, but you can only purchase it straight from HP.  I'll link the information to get in touch with them below. The link will take you to a form to fill out. Once you fill it out and it is processed, it will give you the printers warranty information, a case number, and the phone number to call.

HP Technical Support Case Call Form

[Xavierpride]

Thank you for the recommendation to clean the printhead. I soaked it in warm (not boiling) water for 5 minutes, dried it and especially the metal contacts, and placed it back in the printer. It worked like magic!!

Thank you very much for the help and support.