officejet 6500 alignment failure

[JerryZ43]

officejet 6500 stopped printing black

get alignment failure message

have tried new black cartridge

cleaned the jets

removed and cleaned the print heads

aligned the print heads

reinitialized printer - unplugged - held down # and 3 keys

all three color cartridges are empty and I print everything with black ink only/

[Kryten · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The alignment will always fail if there is no ink in the colour cartridges. All cartridges need in k in them inorder to complete an alignment routine.

[JerryZ43]

I replaced the color cartridges and the alignment was successful and printing with the black ink now works.

Thank you for your help.

JerryZ43

[ktravis89]

I have tried everything including changing the print cartriges.  My printer will not print correctly and prints very large fonts and prints all cockeyed and wont print a word document

[ktravis89]

and it won't print from a word document

[Gemini02]

Hi ktravis89

I understand the printer is printing large fonts and isn't printing properly. Will not print from Word.

Print a configuration report to see if it prints correctly. Click Here.

This way we will know if it is hardware or a software issue.

I have included a document for printing issues.

Solution six: Print and evaluate a Print Quality Diagnostic Report.

Please scan it, print screen and post it so I can view it.

I would download and run the Print and Scan Doctor to fix common printing and scanning problems.

Please provide the following information so I can assist you better.

Are you using Genuine HP Cartridges?

How is the printer connected? (USB/ethernet/wireless)

What operating system are you using?
Here is a document to check your operating system for Windows.

[Jlimonta]

I am having the same problem. Printer was working fine, changed the black cartridge and now black ink won't print. The cartridge heads have all been cleaned but I get a failure message when I try to align the cartridges. I have gone through all of the steps on the "Fixings Streaks..." document you attached and still have the same problem. When I print the Print Quality Diagnostic Report I get all of the colored boxes and lines without a problem (including the black boxes around the colored squares at the bottom) but none of the black text at the top is printing.

All cartridges are HP Cartridges and the printer is directly conned with a USB cord to my laptop.

Please advise on next possible steps.

[Gemini02]

Hi Jlimonta,

Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience!

I understand you are not able to print in black after changing the black cartridge. I will be happy to help you.

I wasn't sure if you manually cleaned the printheads or through the software. So I have provided a document for a 'Printhead Problem' or 'Printhead Appears to be Missing or Damaged' Message Displays on the Control ... which shows you how to manually clean the printhead to see if we can resolve this issue.

You may try soaking the printhead. I included the post from @Bob_Headrick to see if this will unclog the printhead. Soaking Printhead.

If you are still having issues I would call HP Tech Support to inquire about a replacement  black cartridge. If that doesn't resolve the issue it could be hardware and if the printer is still in warranty then I would be inquiring about a replacement printer. Contact HP Worldwide.

Hope this helps.
Thank you for posting on the HP Forums. Have a great day!

[Bob_Headrick]

@Gemini02 referenced my post on cleaning the printhead but did not provide a link, he was likely refering to this post.  Alignment will fail if black and color are not printing properly.