Does the HP Photosmart 7520 need BOTH black ink cartridges (full and installed) to work?

[ursodc]

Hi,

I've read a few threads where people struggle with the black ink issue with this printer. From those threads It seems to be clear that HP didn't design this system very well, and I would tend to agree. Although someone said I could find the smaller (bowtie) cartridge at Staples, I can't find it there. Even if I could find it, I don't want to have 2 kinds of black ink cartridges to stock all the time. And my printer doesn't print black with only a new XL black 564 installed. Is there a setting I'm missing in the menu where I can select the XL cartidge only? The manual is not clear on this, and I feel this is something that should have been clearly explained. 

My question is simple, and please whoever responds, read my questions carefully and don't provide a generic incomplete answer and then put a little checkmark "Solved" next to this issue. In 3 threads I've read about this, the issue has NOT been solved or fully explained.

Can the printer be used and print black using only the right XL cartridge or do I need to have both black cartridges full and installed for it to work? And a followup, does the left (bowtie) cartridge need to stay in there for it to work or can I remove it and keep refilling the XL cartidge moving forward with the leftmost slot empty. If you work for HP and are reading this and don't 100% know the answer...call someone at HP who designed this printer and find out and please let me know.

Thanks!

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

The printer requires all cartridges to have ink - they do not need to be full but they all need to be installed and have adequate ink.  The large black cartridge is pigmented black, primarily used for text and some graphics on plain paper.  The bow tie thinner cartridge is the photo cartridge.  It contains dye based black ink and is designed for printing on photo paper.  The pigmented black ink is not compatible with glossy photo media, the photo black will be used in cases where photo paper is selected in the driver or detected automatically.

The Photosmart 7520 has separate ink supplies and printheads, with plumbing to connect them.  All inks must be present to prevent air ingestion into the plumbing and/or printheads and to keep the printheads from clogging.  See the document here for information on how ink is used. 

[ursodc]

Thank you very much for your time and this info.

[aislingod]

Now probably a really really stupid question. I have the same printer and am wondering if the ink is solvent based. Only reason I'm asking is I want to see if it's compatible with Orajet 3162 printable vinyl...and this vinyl is for solvent based inkjet printers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[AWT45]

According to 5 other post on this same topic, this "answer" is wrong.

 There is still confusion, some times you say the small bowtie cartige is for photo and some times you say the large one is for photo.

 I tend to belive that the large one is for photo, as I print very few photos, and My small cartridge is always empty.

 I can not find an option to set the text printing to the lagre cartridge. All mt text documents are being printed from the small cart.

 As the origonal post said, here we go again with HP  not really answereing the question.

[AWT45]

ok I finaly found a small cartridge, and yes it says that it is for photo.

 But my large catridge is half full and my small cartridge is empty. When I print a document it comes out half printed, as soon as I put the new "photo" cartridge in I get full printing.

 Why ?

[AWT45]

Update,

 I removed the printer from my PC and restarted it. It found the driver and installed the printer back in.

 I then printed my document with an empty small cartridge installed. It printed.

 It is now printing from the large cartridge, there is a notiable difference in the backness of the black print.

 So, what ever had been going on is now reset. It is working properly.

[manteonc]

Hi, Do you know if there is a setting that directs which black the printer uses? I have never used glossy paper to print and the black photo cartridge continues to drain, while the XL black stays full. It is very frustrating to have black ink and not be able to print simple text documents. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.