Officejet Pro 8500a Plus Prints Blank Pages Including Diagnostic Copies, Colour, Greyscale and Black

[Razz81]

Hi,

Cant print from my laptop to my Officejet Pro 8500a Plus, I only get blank pages which includes printing all diagnostic pages.

I have searched this forum and tried following previous advice, I have tried connecting via LAN, wireless, USB and Installed the latest drives along with the official software.

Initially the Yellow ink cartridge was low so I assumed it needed changing, even whilst low I could not print Black ink only.

Once I changed the cartridge (genuine) still no luck. I had a look at the print heads but now I keep getting "alignment failure". Many of the troubleshoot pages recommend changing the print heads but this is an expensive gamble, especially as I cannot even print the alignment reports to check which one.

The printer is out of warranty and I am stuck, any help would be very much appreciated.

For reference I have looked and followed these support pages but for many of the suggestions I am unable to check as cant print the reports.

Ref1

Ref2

Ref3

Ref4

Kind Regards,

[RnRMusicMan]

Hi @Razz81,

Welcome to the HP Forums!

I understand that you are getting blank pages with your HP Officejet Pro 8500a plus printer. I am happy to help! 

Are any of your other ink cartridges low or empty? 

If not, and the guides did not resolve your issue, the printer will need to be serviced/or replaced. Please contact HP phone support for further assistance. (After you fill out the information, you will be given a phone number.) If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get the support number for your region. Country-language selector.

If this, or any of the posts on this thread, has helped you to resolve the issue, please click on "Accept as Solution" on said post. To show that you 'like', or are thankful of my post, kindly click the thumbs up below. If there is anything else I can do to help, please be sure to let me know!

Thank you for posting! 

[Razz81]

Hi,

Thanks for reply, only my Yellow cartridge is low but it does not even print Black and White. If one is low does this mean it want print at all?

Kind Regards,

Riaz

[RnRMusicMan]

Hi Razz81,

I would recommend to try replacing the yellow cartridge. As according to this guide, Inkjet Printers Ink Usage, it states: 

Some ink is used to service the print head and prevent clogging

Print head nozzles get clogged over time, most commonly by microscopic dust particles or dried ink. Nozzles are kept clean by servicing, including wiping the surface with a small rubber wiper, ejecting ink through the nozzles to purge particles and to prevent drying, and pumping with ink to clean the print head. To keep the printer ready to print in either color or black, these service routines typically consume some ink from every cartridge, even if only black or color is used in the document being printed.

Tiny bubbles of air form in the ink over time and can block the flow of ink in long-life print head printers (IIC). In some IIC printers, air bubbles can be caused by an ink cartridge change. Air bubbles can be removed by pumping them out of the print head. When removing these air bubbles, some ink is also removed.On IIC systems, multiple colors may use the same print head. When a single color cartridge is changed, some ink is also consumed from the other color ink cartridges using the same print head.

Some color ink may be used when printing black text-or-graphics

There are several circumstances when color ink may be used—primarily to improve print quality, and sometimes to improve printer reliability—even if the document appears to be only black text-and-graphics. Many HP printers utilize chemical interactions to improve the quality and permanence of plain paper black text-and-graphics by adding small amounts of color ink to certain black areas. Some dark images which look black may contain a combination of black and color inks. For black and white images and photos, a blend of colors called "composite black" may be used to achieve significantly better image quality and smoother gray tones than can be accomplished with black inks alone. Some inkjet printers utilize pigmented black ink, which is incompatible with some inkjet photo paper. In this case, dark or black areas are made up of color inks. Page yield testing is conducted with all cartridges (black and color) installed in the printer. For more information see Inkjet page yields .

For users who wish to print utilizing just black ink (despite the reduced print quality), many HP printers offer options. For example, a driver color setting (by selecting "print in grayscale with the black cartridge only" in printing preferences) specifies printing using only black ink. In addition, many IPH printers can operate in "reserve mode," which allows the user to continue to print with just the black cartridge when the color cartridge is removed or not installed.In HP IIC systems, all supplies are required to be installed in the printer for the printer to function.

If this, or any of the posts on this thread, has helped you to resolve the issue, please click on "Accept as Solution" on said post. To show that you 'like', or are thankful of my post, kindly click the thumbs up below. If there is anything else I can do to help, please be sure to let me know!

Hope this answers your question, and have a nice day! 

[Really-Fixit]

Here's how to REALLY FIX the problem: HP Officejet Pro 8500A (A910) e-All-in-One printers

Printer previously printed then stopped depositing any ink whatsoever on the page. Attempted to do cleaning cycles but third cycle would always fail and not help. Test prints didn't work. Resetting didn't work. Refill ink didn't work. Out of desperation I tried a few new things. HP website and phone support is virtually useless. They just take you through a bunch of ink wasting procedures only to tell you to buy ink, printheads, or a new printer. They are essentially sales staff not a tech support line.

• Printer Prints A Blank Page

• 1. Clean the printheads manually. (50/50 alcohol and distilled water)
  
  Take them out carefully and place on a clean paper or paper towel. Put 2 alcohol caps worth of alcohol plus two caps of distilled water in a paper plate (not recommended by HP). Stand printheads in the 1-2 mm of liquid for two minutes. Gently blot each printhead on a clean paper towel until dry. Should see all four ink colors. Gently clean all the gold contacts on the printheads (not nozzle side) with alcohol swab until free of ink or stickiness. Can also clean the contacts in the printer with a paper towel barely damp with alcohol. Air dry 15 minutes. Reinstall printheads. May get an error message saying the printhead door latch is not closed. Carefully make sure you seated them correctly by pressing down gently with a finger. Do not apply force as this message was bogus in my case. You will have to unplug to get pass this error. Printhead alignment fails because no black ink getting to the paper. Just bypass it and move on.
  
  

  http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/posts/1000647

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3QuVLHtT_o
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv71N7nJCFg
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jeBbsvU6rA

• 2. Clean the purge reservoir. (gloves required)
  
  Called a printer repair shop for help. Tech recommended this. I had to guess how. Move printheads to left just like removal then unplug printer. Remove right side plastic lid to see the printhead parking area. It was filthy with wet and goupy ink. Cleaned the area with swabs dampened in alcohol. Clean everything with ink on it, all the grooves, etc. Took about 6-8 swabs. Be sure to remove any cotton fibers left behind. Replace lid, shut top, and plug in printer.

• 3. Clean the printheads using software. Run 1-2-3 level cleaning cycle three times.
  
  By the second third level cycle I had a test print mostly for colors but black was still weak. However my cartridge test page with all the colors on it prints perfectly. Absolutely FREE!