Older HP6520 not printing with new cartridges

[Volfan2]

I talked with a customer service person yesterday about an older HP printer that I put away in a closet a few years ago to store (was working perfect). Long story short ... I had gone to Walmart to buy a new box of 564XL printer cartridges which I paid right at $100 for just to try to get my printer working. After running a few test pages and cartridge cleaning cycles with no success, I called customer service for assistance. After a while on the phone, I was told that I just need a new printer and she proceeded to try to sell me one.

THE ISSUE I HAVE ... is, after running literally, 20 barely printed pages, the ink cartridge level graph is telling me that my 'brand new' cartridges are LOW. $100 for nothing!  I have owned numeroius HP products over the years (going on 50 years) and never had this kind of problem.  This is crazy!!!  Cartridges have a 1/26 expiration date on them.  Check out what I got for my $100.  And Yes, that is literally all I printed ... running self tests and maybe 8 cleaning cycles, just trying to get it to print.  What do you think ... bad cartridges or not much ink in them to begin with‽  To say the least, I am put out with not getting any more from HP for my money!  I might add ... as far as I know, BLACK never did print using the black cartridge!

Anybody else have print head issues from not being used ... cartridges were installed during storage and storage was in a controlled home environment ... always covered?

 

• 

 

 

[Raj_05]

Hi @Volfan2,

Welcome to HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

It’s really disappointing to experience such a frustrating issue after spending that much on ink! From what you’ve described, it sounds like the main issues may stem from either dried ink in the printhead or ink flow issues due to the printer sitting unused with cartridges installed.

Here are some steps to help you troubleshoot further.
 

Printhead Cleaning: HP Photosmart 6520 models sometimes suffer from clogged printheads, especially after long periods without use. Besides the cleaning cycles, try a manual cleaning. To do this:

• Turn off the printer, unplug it, and open the printhead area.
• Gently dampen a lint-free cloth with warm water and wipe around the printhead area where ink might be blocked.
• Let it dry completely before reassembling and restarting the printer.

Deep Cleaning Cycle: If you haven’t already tried it, look for an option on the printer settings menu for a "Deep Clean" cycle, which might push ink through better than the standard cleaning.

Soak the Printhead: If manual cleaning didn’t help, you might need to remove the printhead and soak it:

• Remove the printhead carefully (if this is possible on your model).
• Soak it in warm, distilled water for a few hours to dissolve any dried ink.
• After soaking, let it dry completely and reinstall it in the printer.

Expired Ink Cartridges: Sometimes, even if cartridges are within expiration dates, they might lose ink quality or develop flow issues due to storage conditions. Also, HP's ink level indicators are known to report low ink earlier than expected. If the cartridges still don’t work well after the cleaning steps, consider asking for replacements if they’re defective.

Run Printer Diagnostics: If the printer has any internal diagnostics, it might reveal more about the ink system.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

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

Alden4

HP Support