HP Photosmart 6520 Won't print black

[stu925]

This seems to be a common issue for these printers.  Rank out of ink so I bought new cartridges and everything prints fine except for black.  Print quality diagnostic page show a blank bar for black.  Cartridges are brand new Genuine HP inks.  Figured maybe I got a bad one so I bought another black cartridge and same problem.  Have done some research and saw a few people had had success by soaking the cartridges in hot water.  Tried it with hot tap water for 15 minutes and it still won't print black.  I've cleaned the printhead 5 times but still nothing.  Warranty expired 3/24/14.  So 9 months out of warranty and I have a boat anchor instead of a printer.  Help please.

Stu

[dckm]

I'm having the same exact issue.

[HevnLgh · Accepted solution]

Hello Folks,

Welcome to the HP Support Forums! I see you are running into some print quality issues on your HP Photosmart 6520, you are unable to print in black ink.

I would like you to continue troubleshooting here: Printer Does Not Print Black Ink or Color Ink, or Prints Blank Pages, I understand you may have done some of these steps already but I need you to complete all steps in order to resolve the missing black issue you are experiencing.

Please note: There are three printhead cleaning stages. Complete all three stages if necessary. If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes after the last (third) cleaning stage to start the first stage of the cleaning process over again.

If you are still unable to print in black ink, I suspect the issue may be the printer and not the cartridge. I highly recommend you call our technical support at 800-474-6836, I trust they will be able to assist you regardless of the warranty status. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get the support number for your region. http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/hpsupport/index.pl

Thanks,

[stu925]

The most amazing thing.  Got up this morning and it was printing just fine.  I'll have to keep an eye on it for a while but it seems to be working fine.  Not sure if it was soaking the cartridge or all the cleaning cycles I did last night that cured it but it's working and I'm not complaining about it at this point.

Stu

[Ciara_B]

Glad to hear it's working @stu925 

If you run into further problems, please refer to the post below. It's also worth checking you have the latest Firmware for the printer

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Ink-Toner-Cartridge-Printhead-Issues/Black-not-printing-on-Officejet-46...