Black ink recognised but not printing

[Gingernutlou]

I installed a genuine HP black ink but my printer won't use it. It recognises it's there and can tell me how much ink I have but will not print anything in black. I have tried as many troubleshooting options as I can find, which isn't made easier by the fact that the HP website tells me my serial number is invalid (maybe it's too old). I just want to print a shipping label! Everything in any other colour will print perfectly.

[Bob_Headrick]

Please read this post then provide some details.  What printer model?   If you give the model number I may be able to make suggestions for resolving the black not printing issue.

If your printer uses two cartridges, one black and one color try removing the back cartridge and printing with just the color cartridge installed.  Most HP two cartridge printers from the last ten years or so will print in single-cartridge mode. 

If your printer uses individual cartridges for each color and black then you may have success by selecting Photo paper from the driver settings.  This will force the color cartridges to be used even for black text, since the pigmented black ink is not compatible with photo paper.

[Gingernutlou]

I have the photosmart 5520 E-all in one 

Thank you, I will try your suggestion

[Bob_Headrick]

OK, the Photosmart 5520 has separate ink supplies and a fixed printhead. The suggestion to print using Photo paper settings is a temporary workaround if you have something important to print soon.

The troubleshooting steps in the document here may help resolve black not printing.  Be sure to check the vents as shown in step nine.   If you get through the first ten steps without resolving the issue you might try manually cleaning the printhead as described in the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f57jOGj-G5s