PHOTOSMART 5520 WON'T PRINT BLACK

[wendycmiller52]

Unfortunately the answer is lexmark or Dell. Hp printers are notorious for these problems and you shouldn't have to take it apart and try to do all this after youve already been ripped off by the prices of their inkjets! None of this works!

[westyorkbulldog]

my printer does not print black I just put a new cartridge in and it prints color but not black. I  did the cleanprint head and align printer but no help

[rb011]

Hi @westyorkbulldog,

Thanks for reaching out to the HP Support Forums for a solution to your printer issue.

I understand that you have an HP Photosmart 5520 e-All-in-One Printer that prints color ink, but will not print with ink from the black cartridge. I would like to help with that.

Here is the support document intended for use with this issue - Printer Prints a Blank Page or Does Not Print Black or Color Ink.

Please let me know if this resolves the issue, or if you require further assistance.

In fact, if this helps you to reach a solution please click the "Accept as Solution", and the "thumbs up" buttons down below in this message. 🙂

Thanks!

[pilgrim72]

Did anyone ever get a useful solution?

[Jeet_singh]

Hi @pilgrim72,

Thanks for taking an interest in the HP Support Forums! This is a great location to get resolutions and interact with experts from the community.  I see that you're unable to print in black on your HP Photosmart 5520 Printer. I'll try my best to help you with this.

I see that you are getting blank pages while trying to make a print or a copy from your printer. I would suggest you try and clean the “Printhead” to fix this issue. Try the steps below:

• Load letter or A4, unused, plain white paper into the paper tray.
• On the printer control panel, press the Down Arrow to select Tools, and then press OK.
• Press the Down Arrow () to select Clean Printhead, and then press OK. The printer cleans the printhead and then prints a printhead test page.
• Review the print quality on the printhead test page.

Alternatively, try some additional steps here:

Printer Prints a Blank Page or Does Not Print Black or Color Ink for the HP Photosmart Printer - Here is the link

Fixing Poor Print Quality - Click here

I hope this helps. Let me know if you require any further assistance.

If you wish to help others looking for the same solution as you've found, mark the post as Accepted Solution.

If you wish to show appreciation for my effort, please click the Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

And I Hope you have a good day, Ahead.

Regards,

[DWP2000]

After going through all of the steps with HP Support, the only resolution I was provided was a discount on a new printer (i.e. the same price I paid for the 5520 less than 4 years ago).  It was explained to me that it is a hardware issue and no parts are available for this product anymore.  I thought I could do better and have HP replace this defective unit but I was wrong.  I am not sure how the others were able to do this but every avenue I pursued was a dead end unless I wanted to invest in yet another new printer. 

[MKazi]

@DWP2000

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. 

They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. 
Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. 

Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum

[pilgrim72]

Thanks for the reply - I have also been through all the steps suggested by HP support. I guess I'll contact customer services to see if I can get help with a replacement. Very annoying since also less than 4 years ago. 

[bmux]

I have also had this issue and like many others tried all the suggestions including removing/replacing cartridges, using ONLY HP cartridges but still the printer does NOT print Black.

Tried all the cleaning suggestions, alignment etc but does not even print the black ink required for the Alignment page!!

This is very frustrating and using a lot of ink in new cartridges and it looks like to need to invest in a new printer - is this the only option?

HP MUST have a valid solution to this or is the life of these printers limited to 2 years?

Any suggestions welcome - I am even prepared to take to the screwdriver and clean the heads myself if it will work.

Thanks

Brian

[DWP2000]

@BMUX Brian -- There was nothing that could be done from a parts perspective so, after discussing with HP Support, I went with a replacement printer. 

I found one YouTube video where someone went through great lengths to remove the printer heads and clean them.  I was not willing to invest the time and effort to do so but you may want to do a quick review there if you try that option.  I tried one of the easier suggestions on YouTube but it did not work.

If I get the time, I might tear the old printer apart and see if I can figure out any other options as I do not want to ditch a relatively new All-in-One.  Good luck.