HP Photosmart 5520 won't print black ink.

[MikeE2017]

Hi in response to your question 

yes this black cartridge has been replaced TWICE with certified original cartridges and still only colour will print on paper 

- replaced the black  
- cleaned the printer heads

-checked the ventilation hole clear (it is possible to blow ink through the cartridge)
- reinstalled the software on my Windows 10 machine.
- checked for firmware update (up to date)
- HP Scan doctor says all is ok with the printer and print heads are healthy 

- Black is showing as full but the 3 colour ink are now low (due to repeated cleaning cycles )

I have removed,washed out the print heads with alcohol and replaced with exactly the same results (thanks to several videos on YouTube )

am getting miffed as all the diagnostic utilities state everything is correct and genuine but black will not print.If the diagnostic stated there was an issue with the print head then I would not have spent so much on replacement cartridges and testing 

is there any accurate test for the printer or print heads to show why it will not print black .this printer was ok until I changed the black cartridge...is there a bad batch of HP cartridges that should have been recalled?

[sandytechy20]

@MikeE2017

Welcome to the HP Forums. I would be happy to help you with your  HP Photosmart 5520 Printer. I understand that your printer is not printing in black and you have already done some preliminary troubleshooting.

Don't worry though as I have a few steps to determine the issue and find a solution as well,

Clean the printhead with the option on  printer control panel.

1. Make sure that plain white U.S. letter or A4 size paper is loaded in the tray.

2. From the control panel home screen, touch the Settings icon (), and then touch Tools.

3. Touch the Down Arrow (), and then touch Clean Printhead. The product cleans the printheads, and then prints a test page.

4. Review the print quality on the test page.

   Figure : Example of the printhead cleaning test page

   

   • If the print quality on the test page is satisfactory, return to the current print job.

   • If the print quality on the test page is unsatisfactory, perform a secondary cleaning of the printhead.

     If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes after the last cleaning stage to start the first stage of the cleaning process over again.

• If these steps resolved the issue, there is no need to continue troubleshooting. The following precautions might prevent the issue in the future.

  • Avoid leaving unprotected ink cartridges out of the printer for an extended period of time.

  • Always use the Power button to turn off the printer. This protects the ink cartridges from exposure to air.

Let me know if that helps.

Cheers.

[MikeE2017]

Hi Sandytech20

I have printed a cleaning page directly from the printer and there is still no black print ..the page printed from the 5524 does not look anything  like the example you included..it is the same 4 blocks of colour that the HP windows interface prints.

After having verified the cartridges are genuine,reset printer as recommended,removed/reinstalled the drivers ,checked cartridge ventilation was not blocked  and then flushed out the print heads in Isopropyl alcohol is there anything left to troubleshoot?

the incredibly annoying thing about this is that upto the time I changed the black cartridge (certified as genuine via HP software ) the printer had always worked perfectly with no sign of anything wrong.The HP utility still insists that the print head is healthy and the black cartridge is nearly full still .

Please can you provide the part number for a HP Photosmart 5524 print head replacement so I can make one last attempt to fix this before I kick it to little pieces (believe me I am surprised by my restraint so far)

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @MikeE2017, I am the Mr.Robot. It looks like you were interacting with @sandytechy20, but he is out of the office today, so I'll take over from here.

I appriciate your efforts for writing back to us.

As you mentioned the issue still persists after trying out the steps.

It certainly looks to be a hardware issue with your printer, Please contact HP support for service options.

Since the parts on an HP printers are not customer replaceable parts.

There is no part number available for the printer parts.

Please contact HP support for service options.

Link to contact HP.

If the solution provided worked for you, please mark accepted solution for this post.

Hope this answers your query!

Take Care! 🙂

Please click “Accept as 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!

[lisag]

I am having the same problem and have spoken to an HP tech support. Nothing has solved this and I too am out the money of brand new packages of ink. Trio packs! I have gone through all the steps as well. Mine also started from a paper jam. The machine I was offered at a discount can be bought at Walmart and also has bad reviews. HP also lost all my registration information so I don’t even have a date of reference with them. 😏

[MikeE2017]

Hi fellow HP 552x owners with black ink problems

After 2 weeks of intense troubleshooting I am giving up in defeat ..have changed the black cartridges 3 times now and used up all the working colour cartridges testing the following ..black ink not seated properly,flushed the whole system after removing the print head and cleaning it for hours and hours and then replaced ,checked ventilation was ok ..Nothing worked and still just the colours will print not black .this was working until a routine replacement of genuine cartridges stopped black printing 

Apparently you can't buy the printhead as a user replacement so you have to pay in excess of £100 to service it when I is really easy to swop out ...This is the only thing left to replace as everything else is ok ...the HP tools still kp telling me black is full and printhead is healthy 

I can't believe after all this effort I have to give up on what was a really good printer but I can't afford to waste any more time or money on a lost cause....going to kick it to pieces ,and then buy a Toshiba  or HP laser jet and give up on inkjet printers ...so  I have no resolution to your problems but wish you better luck than me ..may the force be with you 

[Ludo-Burcht]

1/ I bought a new Brother laser printer. For photo’s this is not the good printer so,

2/ I ordered on AliExpress a new printer head for a Photosmart 5520 for a few euros.

On Youtube one can find how to replace it. Waiting for the postman ...