Bad black print with 8500A printer

[Les_650_Ducati]

I have an Office Jet Pro 8500A with the duplex unit which is used all the time as all my output is double sided. It has printed perfectly for the last three years (after I replaced the print heads) All ink levels are 50% or above. The black print has suddenly deteriorated, some pages almost blank. I have done a print head clean, and the printout was good. I set it to do a short print run, but after page 2, it once more deteriorated badly. I have since re-cleaned it, used level 2 clean, and level 3. The three colours are perfect, just the black. Please advise

[Kumar0307]

Hi @Les_650_Ducati

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I understand the black is not printing fine. I'd be happy to assist you.

This could be an issue with the black ink cartridge or the printhead. If you have tried the steps mentioned in this document and the issue persists, try with a new black ink cartridge.

If the printer is out of warranty, I suggest you upgrade the printer. You may visit Hp Store to check the available printers.

Keep me posted for any other assistance.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Have a great day! 

[Les_650_Ducati]

Hi Kumar, thanks for reply. I used the web address thro Firefox (192.168.1.137) to access all the tools and info (more convenient as printer a bit inaccessible), and as I said in original, I went thro the three stages of cleaning. The first gave a perfect test print out, but failed to print black correctly after just two sides of normal printing. I have a new spare black ink cart (I ONLY  USE GENUINE ones!) so will try to find time to change that, however I am now contemplating black/yellow print head replacement. I will report back once I change the ink cart, but if that makes no difference, then print head will follow.

Les.

[Kumar0307]

@Les_650_Ducati, thank you for the response.

I hope the new ink cartridges work. But if the issue persists, rather than going for a printhead replacement, I suggest you upgrade the printer as printheads are only a few dollars cheaper than brand new printers with the latest technology.

It's your call. Keep me posted for any other assistance.

[Les_650_Ducati · Accepted solution]

Replacing the nearly full black cartridge with a new one made no difference. I thought long and hard about a new (7110) printer, but decided against. At £70, the print head is expensive, but I know a company that has genuine, but out of date HP carts etc., so I took a chance on a 2012 head at just £20.

When I installed it, it spent the usual few minutes "chuntering to itself", but when it finally stopped, it said "Failure to align printhead"! Bad. I discussed this with my  pal, again considering new P?H or printer. He suggested refitting the old printhead, since even though no black print, it had not reported failure to align -- the logic being if it did not report failure, the fault was the printhead not printer. I reconnected power, and left it to settle down whilst I got the old head ready to try. When I returned, there was an alignment page in the tray, and the display said "printhead successfully aligned".

It seems the out of sate printhead just needed "waking up properly. I did shake it as per instructions, but maybe I should have shaken it much more.

Anyway, success. I have no given up on the idea of a new 7110, but for now I can resume A4 duplex printing!

Les.