OfficeJet 6500 - Printhead Missing - RBP1FN0907AR

[returno]

I tried to send an email to HP support via the web forms but I just get an 'email delivery error' - frustrating!

Here's my issue:

I bought an Officejet 6500 (E709N). I installed everything and printed the test page. The page was missing colors. Now the printer says "Printhead Missing" when I turn it on - reset does not help. This message appears immediately upon power-on. The first few times I reset the printer it said "Ink system failure" but after that it always said "Printhead missing".

I have tried several things:

I removed the carts and printhead and re-seated them.

I have also cleaned the electrical contacts on the printhead/printerand reseated the printhead.

Also, I have entered the '#' '*' menu and reset the hardware error and reset the printer. (The error code is RBP1FN0907AR shown inside the '#*' menu.)

I contacted support via chat session ID 2676853. Samuelito sent me to two documents:

 http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01661383&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3795406

and

 http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01458034&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3795406

I had already found these and tried them before the chat session. I would like to suggest that you supply your chat support agents with a list of error codes so that they know what, for example, "RBP1FN0907AR" means. Samuelito was nice but he told me he did not know what that error code meant and could not find  anything about it. This seems like a giant gap in terms of support. I expected HP support to be better than that - that is one of the reasons I bought the printer.

[Wi-Fi-Guy]

Sounds like you have a bad printer.  You should return it for a replacement. 

[mlmspringer]

I just had the same problem with my HP 6500. I removed the ink cartridges and the carriage that holds them. With a Q-tip and alcohol I cleaned the contacts on the carriage and the machine making sure not to rub the black contacts across the color contacts. Let dry. Placed back into the machine and after about 5 minutes or so i preparation the machine aligned the cartridges and printed a test page. Back up and running again. I did verify it worked by printing a page from my computer and it was fine.

[MJackson]

I just used a dry erase cleaner on the ink carrier and the electrodes on the ink shuttle and cleaned up the whole thing.  It had a few years of ink built up.  Following the alcohol idea, this was also a winner.  Qtips and dryerase (alcohol based) clearer solution. 

Please do this before you throw away your 6500 709n!!!!!  It saved me buying a new printer!

Thanks mlmspringer for the idea!

[Frenchysmith]

Worked like a charm. Thanks so much.