HP Photosmart Plus B209a-m Black Ink won't print

[Kosh271]

Ok, if you have made it this far, here's a "last resort" thing you can do to fix your printer.  (I know it works since I just did this and fixed this exact problem)  HP will never advise you to do this, but it works.

1.  Open printer

2.  Take out ink cartridges

3.  Lift lever on right side of ink cartridge holder. (the black sliding thing inside the printer)

4.  Remove cartridge holder.

5.  Check for blobs of ink on contacts between holder and printer

-if ink is found, use a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol to clean off ink

Warning: next steps can be messy (do this over a sink)

6.  Moisten cotton ball with rubbing alcohol

7.  Gently wipe bottom of cartridge holder where the print heads are.  Try and wipe left to right on the print head.  (if up and down are considered to be the longer dimension)

8.  Trash cotton ball - moisten new one

9.  Apply alcohol cotton ball to silver grate where black print cartridge sits.  

10.  Dry off using another cotton ball (you don't have to dry too much, just remove the excess)

11.  Pour a little alcohol on the silver grate (wait 30 seconds)

-you will see a little black ink rise up from the silver grate - this is normal and good

12.  Repeat steps 10-11 two or three more times

13.  Completely dry off ink cartridge holder.

14.  Reinstall holder/ink

15  Print a "clean print heads" page

-if you get black back, enjoy

-if you do not get black back, I wish you luck in finding a solution

-Kosh

[fhlaw111]

My B209a-m uses a wide 564XL cartridge. All I can find now are 564XL cartridges that are narrow as the color cartridges. The narrow 564XL cartridges don't fit

[Ciara_B]

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@fhlaw111 wrote:

My B209a-m uses a wide 564XL cartridge. All I can find now are 564XL cartridges that are narrow as the color cartridges. The narrow 564XL cartridges don't fit

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Hi, the new size cartridges will still fit, check out link below..

Figure 1: Example of the updated black XL cartridge installation with space on both sides

Figure 2: Example of the original black XL cartridge installation with no space around the cartridge

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02750681

Hope this helps

Ciara

[ihunte]

Hi All,

The process I used worked, and now my HP is printing black just great.

My HP stopped printing black too.  I read all the posts, then tried cleaning the print head (the part that holds the ink cartridges) with a cotton swab and alcohol, but there was way too much ink for just a couple of swabs and the ammout of alcohol in the bottle.  So instead I ran it under a light stream of warm running water and shook it quite hard every few seconds. I shook  it in various directions.  The shaking helped disloge harder particles of dried ink.  I did this for about 10 minutes, until hardly anything would shake out and the water that shook out was mostly clear - all the particles appeared to be gone. I then used cotton swabs and plenty of alcohol to dispace the water so it would really dry.  Then I let it dry for about an hour.  I put it back in the printer (by then it had turned itself off, so had to turn it on to do so) followed all the instructions for setting up, aligning etc, and now it works just great.   The whole problem seems to be that the print head just collects ink and gets clogged up.  I intend to clean the print head occasionally to prevent this from happening when it is least convenient.

Too bad HP did not include these instructions, and keep all those unhappy customers from switching to another brand.

Thanks to everyone who put up posts!

[Bob_Headrick]

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@ihunte wrote:

Hi All,

The process I used worked, and now my HP is printing black just great. 

My HP stopped printing black too.  I read all the posts, then tried cleaning the print head (the part that holds the ink cartridges) with a cotton swab and alcohol, but there was way too much ink for just a couple of swabs and the ammout of alcohol in the bottle.  So instead I ran it under a light stream of warm running water and shook it quite hard every few seconds. I shook  it in various directions.  The shaking helped disloge harder particles of dried ink.  I did this for about 10 minutes, until hardly anything would shake out and the water that shook out was mostly clear - all the particles appeared to be gone. I then used cotton swabs and plenty of alcohol to dispace the water so it would really dry.  Then I let it dry for about an hour.  I put it back in the printer (by then it had turned itself off, so had to turn it on to do so) followed all the instructions for setting up, aligning etc, and now it works just great.   The whole problem seems to be that the print head just collects ink and gets clogged up.  I intend to clean the print head occasionally to prevent this from happening when it is least convenient.

Too bad HP did not include these instructions, and keep all those unhappy customers from switching to another brand.

Thanks to everyone who put up posts!

---

I would suggest not using alcohol as it may cause problems with the printhead.  Also, leaving the printhead out of the printer for an hour may cause the nozzles to clog. Finally, shaking the printhead may introduce air in the printhead.  I would suggest the process in this page.

[jimbob1393]

I have had my Photosmart B209 for 18 mths now, the new black in cartridge worked for a few primts and stopped, I followed all the steps, now bought a new cartridge holder and a new print cartridge, all HP stock, and £50 later still nothing! No response from emails to HP - customer service is poor at best! I have always bought HP - NEVER AGAIN - will have to now buy a new printer and will stay well clear of HP products as I hope everyone else will!

[Kdiver]

I am having the same BLACK ink problem. I purchased the HP Photosmart Plus B209a printer in April of 2011. it worked fine at first usage. then 3 months later it just stopped printing in black. I've done everything. clean heads, put another $22 black ink cartridge in, and still same problem.  EXTREMELy frustrating.. haven't used the printer since.. Now, Jan 2012 and figured I'd try to find out if any others had same issue, and had any resolution before I put a sledge hammer through it.

[emma22]

sorry to hear your problems with your printer,did you try the steps that ihunte suggested,unless you purchased an extended warranty HP will not help you unless you pay so this is probably why you are not hearing back from them.
I too have alway's purchased HP and find there techs for the most part to be very helpfull.

[emma22]

I purchased mine in April 2010,except for having to do a couple of uninstalls and then reinstalls I have not had a problem with it except for a really bad paper jam where I got ink all over my carpet.
How come you waited so long? it has a 1 year warranty on it so had you returned it you could have gotten a replacement, now unless you purchased an extended warranty you are out of luck.
Try doing what some of the people on this site suggest and hopefully it will work for you, other than that I guess it's time to buy a new one.
I alway's buy HP and personally this is the best one I have owned.I did have an Epson and that only lasted a year and the print quality was terrible, as for photo's forget it.

[pingnews]

Thanks. cleaned the cartridges several times and finally it works again!