Black ink Not Printing After All Printhead Cleaning and Replacement

[wmc]

Suddenly one day the black ink stopped printing, (good at the top 1/3 of the page, then spotty-intermittent in the middle 1/3, to no black in the bottom 1/3.)   I tried all the remedies in the archived threads regarding this problem for a C309a.

1.  Hard reset (hold 3 plus # key for 25 seconds, press the power button to power off, disconnect from wall current, hold 3 plus # keys for 25 sec, power the printer back on holding the 3 plus # keys for another 25 seconds).
2. Manual cleaning of the printhead (remove, wipe gently until no ink on wiper, soak in hot water for 10 mins, dry elec contacts, dry upside down for 15 mins, re-insert, run 3 printhead cleaning cycles).
3. Replaced printhead with new prart purchased from HP parts store.

#2 done 6 times now - no change except photo black also stopped printing.

#3 The part number HP provided is apparently incompatible with the printer.  (Mechanically fits fine, appears to be identical to the old one, but immediately fails initialization with "ink system failure 0xC19A0013 turn printer off then on".  Power down / up leads to same error as does hard reset.  Can't access the menu to do a factory reset with the new printhead in place.

I replaced the old printhead after yet another cleaning, and I am back to printing with no black or photo black. 

Is it possible that the new print head requires a printer firmware upgrade that is not available from support downloads?  (Printer reports firmware version VAx2FN0933AR.)

Any other ideas on how to get black printing again?

[TEJ1602]

@wmc, Welcome to HP Support Community!

The printer currently does not have any firmware updates available.

Please reach out to the HP Support in your region regarding the service options for your printer.

Hope this helps!

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!

[wmc]

Unfortunately it is out of warranty and nobody will touch it as they say just the cost of diagnosis would be prohibitive vs cost of a new printer.  New printer is a last resort option because:

1.  I have several ink cartridges yet to be opened that are more expensive than gold or platinum by weight (go figure!).  the won't work with any of the new printers.
2. The C309a is the only printer HP ever made that had the ability to print on CD/DVD printable optical disks.  To replace it I have to go with Epson or Canon, both options I dread from their more severe customer abuse than HP.
3. HP listed printhead PN CN642A as compatible with this printer.  It cost me $91 delivered, but I can't return it since I installed it, installed cartridges in it, and and made several attempts to get it working - the printhead is now "used".

The aggravating thing is that a new printhead should work at least as well as the old one that just won't print black.   But the printer stops with the OxC19A0013 error within two seconds of powering the printer on with the new printhead installed.  That tells me it is incompatible with the printer at either the electrical or firmware level, something HP should have been aware of before they listed that part as compatible with the C309a.

So, no, seeking "local" service support is a no-go.

[TEJ1602]

@wmc

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). 

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community. 

[wmc · Accepted solution]

I FINALLY got the new printhead working.  The unwritten instruction appears to be that you have to REPLACE ALL CARTIDGES WITH NEW ONES AND DO A #-9 RESET THREE TIMES.  (Took all day yesterday to figure that out - should be part of the replacement instructions).  So four good cartridges tossed out, and now, since each reset (#-3,6, 9 and menu reset to factory defaults) created  a new instance of the printer in Printers and Devices (labeled copy 1 through copy 8.   When you go to print, a different "copy-x" will be the actual "printer" that works, and it changes with each session / application you try to print from.

So silly me decided to "clean up" the situation by removing all the copies so only the original "HP C309 Series" and "HPD4C1CC (HP C309a Series)" were left.  But then the printer could not be found, even when I reconfigured the port to TCP/IP and host=HPD4CICC despite being visible through a browser.

So I ran the latest driver installer - over 12 times so far.  It cannot do an install in a way that HP Solution Center (the only access to FAX and scanning available from a computer) can find the printer.  It keeps telling me that I need to reconnect to USB to finish installation (even though it is on a network).  That "solution" doesn't work.  And printing from applications such as Word, a browser, Acrobat etc. only provide the basic windows driver options (page orientation, paper size) and not all the options I normally had with printer preferences.

I've even tried installing Solution Center from the original install disc, but I  have to run in Windows 7 compatibility mode for it to even open.  Still, no joy.

So the latest driver installer that HP suggests also cannot install HP Solution Center in a way that it can connect with the printer UNLESS the printer is directly connected via USB - not very convenient when it is in a different room. :^{

[wmc]

I FINALLY got back to a working C309a on the LAN with HP Solution Center app for control of scans and FAXing.

The c309a burned through two wireless cards in short order (as most with this printer experienced) so I wired its Ethernet port to a wireless access point.  My combo wired / wireless router provides DNS services for the printer / access point combo which works as if the printer's wireless radio actually worked.

However this arrangement causes a problem if you are trying to install the driver and Solution Center app from scratch because the access point's MAC doesn't match the routers MAC and the installer says, since the printer is on "a separate network" from the one the computer is on, it can't complete the install.

Workaround is as follows:

1.  power printer / access point off.  Move printer close to computer and router.
2. hook ethernet cable from  printer direct to router.
3. hook USB from printer to computer.
4. Power up the printer, and power up / reboot the computer.
5. Select wired network install.  If it hits a problem, select to continue install with connection established later.
6. Follow instruction when it says to remove the USB cable from both the computer and printer.
7. Open Solution Center and make sure it can access the printer, scan and fax settings / functions.

Now I have another HP machine (laptop) that connects to the through the wireless function of the router.  I'm almost afraid to try to clean up the eight "HPD4C1CC (HP Photosmart C309a Series) (Copy x)"  entries in the CP Printers and Devices applet.  While that computer connects wirelessly to the the printer (well actually the router) I'm unsure whether the installer would be happier if I chose wireless vs wired installation path.   After all, from the printer's perspective it is wired to the LAN (via its Ethernet port to the wireless access point)...