HP Photosmart Plus B210 series

[Catstuder]

Suddenly, my printer stopped printing the black ink.  The cartridge is full.  This has happened before and I just cleaned everything and it started working again.  This time, I cleaned it again, it printed one page and then stopped printing again.  I cleaned it again and it will not print the black ink.  I've cleaned the printheads and attempted to re-aligned the printer.  The alignment fails every time.  Does that have anything to do with it not printing black ink?  It doesn't make sense to me that that issue would be part of the problem, but maybe it is. 

All my colored cartridges are out of ink.  Does that have anything to do with the problem of it not printing black ink?  That doesn't make sense to me either.  If that is the problem, then I will spend the money for the colored ink.  Printers frustrate me beyond words.  They just quit for no apparent reason.

Would appreciate any help that I can get.

[HevnLgh · Accepted solution]

Hello Catstuder,

Welcome to the HP Support Forums! I understand your frustration and would like to shed a little light on why the alignment keeps failing and why you are not getting any black on your prints even though you have a full black cartridge installed.

1. In order for the printer to print, and an alignment to pass it requires all cartridges to be installed in the B210. You can print with black ink only, but the printer will still use ink from the color cartridges for servicing tasks. Some ink from all the cartridges is required to service the printhead and prevent clogging.

2. With the printers ink system, it does not only use black ink even though you may select to print in black ink only. Take a look here: Ink Usage in Inkjet Printers

I suggest replacing the color cartridges, and I am sure you will not have any problems. If you want to print in black ink only, take a look at the steps below:

1. In your software application, click Print.

2. Select your printer from the list of available printers.

3. Click the option that opens the Printer Properties dialog box. Depending on your software application, this option might be called Printer Properties, Options, Printer Setup, Printer, or Preferences.

4. Click the Features tab, click the Grayscale drop-down menu, and then click Black Ink Only.

5. Click OK, and then click Print to start the print job.

I hope this was helpful, if you have anymore question please let me know!

I found this informative information here:An 'Ink Alert' or 'Low on Ink' Message Displays on the Computer or Printer Control Panel

Thanks,

[Catstuder]

Thank you so much for your help on my printing issue!  I went to Office Depot this past weekend and talked to someone there about the colored ink being out and he said it's very typical that the black won't print if the colored ink is gone.  I did buy the colored ink and put it in, but still nothing would print in black only.  Once I saw your response, I went back and aligned & cleaned the print heads, ran all the quality tests,etc., and it worked!! 

I tried to give you Kudo's for this and clicked on the thumbs up button, but nothing happened. 

[Jenzy]

I have a HP Photosmart Plus B210.  I always print in black only. The color cartridges are empty but installed.  The black is 3/4 full. It won't print now.  Paper goes through, tests run but not printing. This is the second time I've had this problem.

A few months ago the same thing & Stalples gave me a new cartridge & it worked fine for few months. Now the problem is back.  

[Bob301]

I have a HP Photosmart Plus B210 series printer, the black ink refuses to work. I have tried cleaning / aligning the cartridges. I get aligning cartridge fail message, but no next step. It is an ink jet issue, since I can't use the copy in black feature of this printer. (I have already changed the cartridge, I baby it with HP ink.)

[Kumar0307]

@Bob301, Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Since you have used 2 ink cartridges and the issue persists, I'm afraid this is a possible hardware issue with the printer. Let us try these steps to resolve this issue:

Reset the printer

1. With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.
2. Wait at least 60 seconds.
3. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
4. Turn ON the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.
5. Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you proceed.

Note: HP recommends connecting the printer directly to a wall outlet rather than a surge protector or a power strip.

Update the printer firmware

Click here to know different methods of updating printer firmware.

Check estimated ink levels, replace any low or empty ink cartridges

1. On the printer control panel, touch the Setup icon , and then touch Tools.

2. Touch Display Estimated Ink Levels.

Clean the printhead

1. On the product control panel, touch the Setup icon , and then touch Tools.

2. Touch Clean Printhead.

3. If the print quality on the test page is not satisfactory, touch Yes to perform a secondary cleaning of the printhead.

   NOTE: 

   There are three printhead cleaning stages. Complete all three stages if necessary. If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes after the third cleaning cycle to start the first stage of the cleaning process over again.

   Also, perform steps 4 and 8 from this document. Try printing.

Let me know how this goes.

If you feel my post solved your issue, please click “Accept as Solution”, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!