HP Photosmart C309a won't print after installing new black ink cartridge.

[pgately]

Printer was working fine until I replaced the black ink cartridge. 

Will not print black text on the printer test page.

Printer states new HP cartridge installed.

All the other colors are working fine and were replaced at the same time,

Tried cleaning cartridges - pulling the cartridge out and putting it back in - turning the printer off and back on. 

Also tried restarting the computer.

Could there be a problem with the ink cartridge itself?

[pgately]

Printer was working fine until I replaced the black ink cartridge. 

[pgately]

Will not print black text on the printer test page.

[pgately]

Printer states new HP cartridge installed.

[pgately]

All the other colors are working fine and were replaced at the same time,

[pgately]

Tried cleaning cartridges - pulling the cartridge out and putting it back in - turning the printer off and back on. 

[pgately]

Also tried restarting the computer.

[pgately]

Could there be a problem with the ink cartridge itself?

[Jenesis1976]

No solution here, just reporting I have the same problem (and it happened on the same day...)!  I replaced the high-capacity black ink with a genuine HP cartridge from WalMart that was smaller. It still won't print black after cleaning the heads 3-4 times, which wasted a lot of ink. Help?

[Jenesis1976]

I just fixed my problem, which turned out to be a defective (apparently) black ink cartridge from WalMart. It was an HP 564 and not the photo ink, but it wasn't as wide as the previous cartridge, so it may have been mislabeled. When I replaced it with the high-capacity HP 564 black ink from OfficeMax, the printer is now printing perfectly.

[DexterM]

Since the cartridge from Walmart is a Genuine HP cartridge, I think you are entitled for a free cartridge replacement. I suggest you call HP tech support and request for a replacement cartridge. If you are in the US, call 1-800-474-6836.

[jknellinger]

I just replaced the photoblack printer cartridge(the small one.) with a high capacity cartridge-it registers the new ink level but will not pass the print quality or status check.  (and it will not print my documents....) 

any ideas other than a defective cartridge.  Tried cleaning but irritated that I ran down to Office Max, bought the bigger capacity cartridge and now it won't print at all. 

thoughts?  I am in school and desparately need my printer to work!

Thanks!

JK

[UnemployedEGR · Accepted solution]

REAL SOLUTION. I had same experience, spent hours pulling my hair out as kids had project do at school and it was 10pm.  Your carriage is clogged! HERE IS THE FIX!! : 1) Remove all ink cartridges. 2) Remove carriage that the ink cartridges ride in by lifting lever on right and lifting the carriage vertically. 3) Wipe off any ink build-up visible on outside with clean rag or paper towel. 4) THIS IS THE KEY: Hold carriage under hot flowing water to flush all ink from the irrigation channels which distribute ink. Keep rinsing until water in clear i.e. no signs of ink. 5) Dry carriage with clean rag and blow into areas you can access to flush water remnants. 6)Let carriage air dry over night. 7) Re-install carriage, then re-install ink cartridges. 😎 ENJOY YOUR PRINTER. 9) I have seen numerous entries on this topic dating back two years, with no real solution offered. I am an unemployed Auto Engineer. If HP (or anyone else) would like to hire an intelligent, hardworking Engineer in Detroit area, please inform. Thank you!

[Bob_Headrick]

---

@UnemployedEGR wrote:

[snip] 5) Dry carriage with clean rag and blow into areas you can access to flush water remnants. [snip]

---

This step could permanently damage the printhead. Blowing into the printhead could cause the layers to delaminate, destroying the printhead.  Be careful....

[bobajob123]

This absolutely works. Take care though, and only use luke-warm water, and eventually all of the old ink will disappear and the water will run clear. I dried the print head using cool from a hair dryer held at least 30cm away after shaking all of the water out of the print head. Run a 'clean print head' function after replacing the head and cartridges. Simply brilliant.

[SolSaks]

UnemployedEGR has the solution that works! Thank you for the answer!

My printer was working great until one day the black ink would not print. Changing the black cartridge did not resolve the issue. Printer tests show all ink levels are good (including black). I removed and cleaned the carriage as described by UnemployedEGR. After reinstalling the carriage and ink cartridges, the C309a went through the automatic initial setup procedure which takes a few minutes. Now my printer is working perfectly.

Thank you for your help. I hope you are hired soon. You deserve it!

[potsrus]

I was having the same problem.  My printer worked great until I recently replaced some ink cartriges...first few pages were fine and then I was getting blank print outs.

To get to the initial setup a previous thread post suggested unplugging the printer cable while  the printer  is on.  Then plug the cable back in while pressing the #  and 6   keys on the number pad  simutaneously .  This starts the initialization setup.  It worked for me after 3 trys. I now have black ink again.  Yeah!!!!