HP6960 not printing black after installing brand new HP 902xl cartridge

[JMK69]

I just installed a brand new 902xl black ink cartridge. It is a genuine HP cartridge. The date on the cartridge is 2019/06. Today is 4/27/19.

I've gone through the recommended steps to clean and alighn print heads. I've done the step to print a Quality Report.

Bottom line is black no longer prints. Before replacing the cartridge, I had printed several pages and started seeing gaps so that is why I put in the new cartridge. After replacing, trying to reprint the same page, the paper comes out blank. Color prints when I do the clean print heads and alignment steps but no black. I took the cartridge out to check if it was dry but dabbing a piece of paper on the opening on the bottom of the cartridge results in a black dot. The printer says my black supply is full. I have run out of steps to take to fix this.

[senan6806]

Hi @JMK69, 

A warm welcome to HP Community!

Power resetting the printer and then performing an automated/manual cleaning may resolve the issue. Here is how to do it:

Please ensure the printer is up-to-date with its firmware. If you are unsure, you can download and install the latest firmware update from here.

1) Make sure this printer is plugged into a direct wall, not a surge protector

2) Remove all of your ink cartridges from the printer and close the door

3) Remove the power cord from the back of the printer (Do no press the power button)

4) Clean the ink cartridge and printhead contacts, refer to step 3 from this document.

5) Plug the power cord back into the printer

6) From the printer control panel, open the Setup  menu.

7) Open the Printer Maintenance or Tools menu.

😎 Touch Clean Page Smears or Clean Smear.

9) From the printer control panel, open the Setup  menu.

10) Open the Printer Maintenance menu.

11) If necessary, open the Tools menu, and then touch Clean Printhead. Touch Clean Again to continue the next level of cleaning. Repeat these steps for the third cleaning cycle.

12) From the printer control panel, open the Setup  menu.

13) Open the Printer Maintenance or Tools menu.

14) Touch Align Printhead.

Instructions on how to resolve Black or Color Ink Not Printing can be found here. 

Let me know how it goes!

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!
Have a great day!

[JMK69]

Hello. I did everything listed in your email. I was still unable to print any black.

I removed the printer from my system, downloaded the latest software & re-installed the printer.

Performed all of the steps in your email again. Still unable to print any black. 

I removed the new ink cartridge I had just installed and replaced it with another new ink cartridge to verify if was not a defective cartridge. I did the "clean printhead" step 3 more times. Still unable to print black. All I've accomplished after replacing a low black ink cartridge is to use up a significant amount of color ink and a significant amount of black from 2 new cartridges. The status display shows all of the ink levels but the unit is not printing black.  

[senan6806]

@JMK69

I'm afraid, it's a possible printhead failure and the printer needs to be serviced/replaced. Please call your regional HP Support to obtain all available service/replacement options. You may reach them from here. 

[JMK69]

So, some interesting items.

After trying all of the "suggested" remedies and wasting 6 or 7 hours trying to get a replacement print cartridge to work, out of desperation, I tried performing the "clean printhead" step again. This time, I received an error 0xc19a0013. This was with the 2nd new cartridge. Looked that up and found nothing good. Just for the hell of it, I put the original, depleted ink cartridge back in the machine. Wonder of wonders - no error code. Of course that cartridge was out of ink but NO ERROR CODE. 

Since I had just purchased almost $200 of ink (I fell for the promotion offering a discount), my resolution was to go out and buy the exact same 6968. Interestingly with that, since I had 2 902XL cartridges just opened, I tried to use one in the new printer. It would not complete the install process because it wanted the "install" cartridge. Amazing these machines know the difference between an install cartridge and a full, new cartrdige but you can't replace one when empty. So, my final resolution is, I bought an extended warranty on the latest 6968 so I will either get my money back if I can't replace ink when I run out or I will use this unit until I run out of ink and then I will buy a new unit from anyone other than HP. Info I got from the tech where I bought this latest unit is the kind of problem I encountered is "pretty common". So much for product reliability. 

[senan6806]

@JMK69

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[tdmcpeck]

Mine is an HP 6960 and just started not printing black in the past week.  Will print black if I select Photo paper but I'm sure that could not be good printing on 20# Bond.  Have tried three new ink cartridges.

Since the firmware is older I would suspect that is not the issue  but will spend a few more hours trying to resolve.

Is this a way to plan HP hardware obsolescence?   If so, Brother here we come and will not buy anything HP again.

And if HP would just do a simple search on the Internet they will find out this is all over the place.  Fix your stuff man.

Thanks,

tdmcpeck

PS.  Should not have to buy an extended warranty for items like this.

[KrazyToad]

@tdmcpeck

I have gone through your Post and I understand your concerns

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).
 

Thank you