black ink won't print, but color does

[luzysombra]

Black ink stopped printing, even though it still shows there is still ink available.  I've run all trouble shooting through the app and it is still not printing anything black.  I have a DeskJet 3700 series, if that helps.  Has anyone experienced this? if so, did you find a solution? Thank you.

[Bob_Headrick]

The cartridges for the Deskjet 3700 series printers have the ink supply and printheads integrated into the print cartridge.  Replacing the print cartridge will most probably resolve black not printing.

You could try the following to recover the black cartridge:  get a clean coffee cup and put 1" of hot (but not boiling) water in the cup.  Place the black cartridge in the cup in the same orientation it would be in the printer, with the nozzles facing downward.  Let the cartridge sit in the water for about fifteen minutes.  Remove the cartridge and gently dry the electrical contacts with a lint-free wipe.  A clean coffee filter works well for this.  Gently blot the printhead on a damp tissue.  If the ink is properly slowing there will now be a strong blot of ink on the tissue.  If this is the case put the cartridge back in the printer and run a cleaning cycle to verify the cartridge is working properly.

[luzysombra]

Thank you for your response.  Unfortunately, that did not work either.  After I blotted the printhead with the damp tissue, I did not see a strong a strong blot of ink.  In fact, I hardly saw any ink at all.  I still ran a test page with black ink, but, again it was blank.  I would appreciate any other suggestions, if any.  Thank you again.

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

It appears your cartridge will need replacing, which would resolve the issue.  

There is one other thing you could try:  It is possible there is an air bubble lodged internally in the ink path.  The following may resolve this, but proceed at your own risk:  get an old sock or stocking that you would not mind ruining.  Take a damp tissue and fold it into quarter size, then place the tissue on the nozzle end of the cartridge.  Place this in the sock with the nozzles in the toe end.  Go outside, away from any obstructions.  Hold the top end of the sock and swing the sock and cartridge around your head very quickly about 5 times.  Remove the cartridge and put it back in the printer and run a cleaning cycle.

[Bob_Headrick]

Thanks for marking the above as the solution.  I do wonder - did you need to replace the cartridge or were you able to recover printing with the sock trick?  It may help others to know what the final solution was.

[luzysombra]

Hello.  I replaced the cartridge, even though both the printer and the app showed the old one still had ink.  I can print now.  Thanks for the input.

[landondonaldson]

I know this sounds really stupid but did you check to see if your ink cartridge is pressed and installed all the way inside the printer.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@landondonaldson wrote:

I know this sounds really stupid but did you check to see if your ink cartridge is pressed and installed all the way inside the printer.

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If the cartridge was not properly installed it would present an error message, and the ink levels would not display.  The OP indicated the ink levels showed they were fine, so this was not the issue.