OfficeJet Pro 8620 display says Cartridge Problem. New ones installed. Incorrect levels detected.

[RettaBay]

My OfficeJet Pro 8620 will not print.  Empty cartridges have been replaced with new HP 951 cartridges.  The printer detected the cartridges but determined the yellow and magenta to have low levels of ink instead of full.  The printer said the new blue cyan cartridge was defective and empty. 

Replaced the new cyan blue cartridge with yet another new cyan blue cartridge.  Same problem.  Printer claims the cartridges are defective and shows the ink levels to be lower than they truly are.  Will not print.  Shows cyan to be empty when it is not. Shows yellow and magenta to be 1/4 full instead of 100%.   The 8620 is not on warranty.  What can I do? 

[Bob_Headrick]

Are the cartridges genuine HP or third party cartridges?  Third party cartridges are often cartridges that have been collected empty and then refilled.  On the Officejet Pro 8620 the cartridges will not reflect that they have been refillled unless the third party resets the ink levels (many do not).

If you are using third party cartridges I would suggest you contact your supplier for replacements.  Alternately, replace the defective cartridges with genuine HP cartridges.

[RettaBay]

Thanks, but sadly these cartridges were purchased at HP directly

[Bob_Headrick]

I would not say "sadly" about them being HP cartridges; it removes some of the likely issues that might arise.  HP cartridges also have a warranty (typically two years from date of manufacture regardless of the printer warranty).    

That said, let's focus on the cyan cartridge since that one is giving a blocking error.  It would be very unlikely to have two defective HP cartridges, the bet would be that the issue lies elsewhere.  

• Get the following supplies:  a small bright flashlight and a magnifier.
• Open the printer as if you were going to replace a cartridge.  Remove all the cartridges and put them aside.
• Use the flashlight and the magnifier to examine the cartridge holder.  Near the top are four blocks, each has four gold pins.  Look carefully at the block on the left, where the magenta cartridge would plug in.  Compare the position of the pins with those of the next block to the right (where the cyan cartridge would fit).  
•  The sets of pins should look similar between the b set and the others.  If one or more pins on the cyan post are missing or bent some repairs will be needed.  Here is a picture of the area you should be examining (the picture below shows the yellow and black pins circled, you will want to look at the cyan, just to the left of the two highlighted, and compare it to the others): 

Did the pins for the cyan cartridge appear the same as those for the magenta and the other cartridges?  If not then please take a picture of the pins for the cyan cartridge and post it here, I may be able to make some suggestions.

If the pins looked normal (compared to the others) the only other suggestion I would have would be to check the firmware version.  You can find the instructions for updating the firmware in the document here.  I would only suggest this if you are using genuine HP cartridges, some recent updates have made using non-HP cartridges more problematic.