I have an HP Officejet K550dtn printer that will NOT print Black

[tashidad06]

I was given this printer.  Everything appears to work OK except the Black won't print!.

I've checked the 88XL print cartridge and it appears to be pretty full and I pierced the small seal on the cartridge to make sure it did have ink and from the weight and the black liquid on the needle the ink supply seems functional.  I don't know how much it's supposed to weigh when full...so that info would be helpful.

I cannot get the print heads to move to the LHS position following the directions in the self-help I've found on the web.  I was able to do once but it won't work now for some reason.

I've tried the online printhead cleaning to see if that would work and it spits out about 20+ pages with NO black on them.

I've done the 10 tap test with no help and have done the 6 tap test and that's where it goes thru 20+ pages without stopping and no Black.

Wanted to try manual cleaning of the printheads but can't get them to move to the LHS.

I know that the tubing supplying all 3 colors and black from cartridge to printhead are very thin and long(design??) but couldn't see anything crimped or any other problems with the tubing.

I've noted that when the printer is on the color cartridge lights are 'on'  while the 88XL is not...what is that saying??

I don't want to spend much on getting this BIG BOY working so any help is appreciated...

thanks,

Adrian 

[Elff]

Hello

Here is link ,how clean or replace printheads.Probably is faulty B/Y printhead  replace it.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00489797&tmp_task=useCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lang...

[tashidad06]

Hey Elff....  I've already gone to that website and I can't get the printheads to move to the LHS so I can remove.

Everytime I turn the printer on and open the top cover the paper feed  light comes on and when I press the X and hold for 3-5 seconds the printheads will move part way to the left and then return to their base position on RHS.  ANy thoughts on how to remedy??

Several days ago I was able to get the printheads to the LHS and they were easy to remove but now, for some reason I can't.

The other think is I did a 10 tap test and that didn't help and so I did a 6 tap test and that did nothing but gring thru about 20+ pages with no black and would have kept going if paper hadn't run out...the  paper feed light came on again...the paper was in the bottom paper feed hopper on the 6 tap test.

Do you use alcohol or water to clean the printheads?  How much do new printheads for this beast cost?

thanks for any further help.

tashidad

[Elff · Accepted solution]

Hello
When the printheads will move part way to the left unplug power supply and remove printheads then printer turn on.

Try this solution for faulty printeheads http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6YjL7mff5c

or replace it

[tashidad06]

Hey Elff---

I was able to get a lot of manual material off the web for this printer.  I was not pressing the right button to get the carriage to move to the LHS position.  Now that has been corrected...  I removed the B/Y printhead and instead of following the directions to use a lint free cloth on the contacts I wiped them with 91% Isopropyl alcohol.  Did the same with the contacts in the printer and then used a hair dryer to thoroughly dry everthing out.  Reinstalled the printhead and got a blinking light for that printhead....not good.  Next, removed the printhead and to see if there really was flow thru the lines of jets I sprayed hot water on the jet face and lo--ink started coming out.  also did the same where the two probes are for the two colors and more ink came out.  Rinsed everything and thoroughly dried with hair dryer again and installed and this time no blinking light.  Was able to print out  blotchy configuration and diagnostic pages that said the black printhead was only in fair condition but the other PH was in GOOD condition.  Tried the control panel printhead clean a couple times without significant improvement in quality so ordered a new BY printhead.  

Keeping fingers crossed that this printer will work like a champ when the printhead is installed.

Thanks for your response and help.

[Giselle]

My printer will not print in Black but it WILL print black from other computers in my house!!!! It will not print from the internet especially. It always prints in yellow. Never buying another one of these. Officejet6500E709n(834470),

[tashidad06]

HI Giselle--

So, do you have the K550dtn or the  Officejet6500E709n(834470) you mention  in your response?  My problem is with the 550 and I've pretty much resolved.  Is your unit under warranty or support from HP?  Tried their chat?  I'm guessing this is a wireless printer and you may have to uninstall it and then re-install and then go thru the wireless network printer installation procedure....and see if that helps.  The fact that it will print black on all the other printers on the network and not on just one specific computer suggests some communication issues.  Check Printer Properties on the computer that is not getting black and try to print a test page...

Printheads and ink supplies OK based on your comment.  Strange situation...

[Giselle]

I did print a test page and it was fine. I also clean the heads. Will try more as you say. It used to work which is really strange!

[tashidad06]

So Giselle-- you have an Officejet 550 printer..Y or N.  Have you printed test pages from all your computers to this priinter and are they OK?  Is it a dtwn or a dtn?  w is for wireless I think.

If yours is a dtwn then you may need to sync the one computer-printer linkup that is exhibiting problems.  So check out the stuff I suggested. let me know what you find out.

tashidad