Colour cartridge makes black cartridge appear empty

[MarkW5]

With both cartridges installed, I can't print anything, since I get an error: "Ink Cartridges Problem. Remove and reinstall the indicated ink cartridge ..." etc, with both cartridges indicated. Checking the ink levels indicates both cartridges are empty.

However, if I completely remove the colour cartridge, then the printer prints happily in monochrome, and the level indicator shows the black cartridge is more than half full.

Is this usual? I am reluctant to buy a new colour cartridge because this appears like wrong behaviour, and I guess that it will still behave the same with a new colour cartridge (since probbly the old one is not empty either).

[asmita6658]

Hi @MarkW5

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

This looks like an issue with the color ink cartridge. 

Try these steps -

1) Turn on the printer, if it is not already on. 
2) Wait until the printer is idle and silent.
3) With the printer turned on, unplug the power cord from the printer & wall. 
3) Wait for 60 seconds.  
4) Plug the power cord back into the printer and wall, ensure the printer is plugged into the wall & not to a surge protector. 
5) Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.
 

Also, try cleaning the ink cartridges. Refer to step# 3, 4 and 5 from this document. 

If the issue still persists, Contact HP in your region regarding a replacement ink. 

You may also refer to - HP Printers - Ink Cartridge and Printhead Limited Warranty

Let me know how that goes. 

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!

[MarkW5]

Hi Asmita,

Thanks for your help ... some progress but not entirely solved yet.

I tried the trick with the power cable. This made a difference: now, instead of reporting the cartridges both empty, it gave a different error, namely that the colour cartridge was not intended for the printer. (This is not correct - it's an HP 302 cartridge.)

So I moved on to your second step and cleaned the colour cartridge. Now I got another error report: that the black cartridge was not intended for the printer! Not only is it an HP cartridge, but it was happily printing with it (in monochrome) before, as I reported, and I hadn't touched the black cartridge during the process.

Unfortunately it continues to give this error, even after trying cleaning the black cartridge and re-trying the power cable trick.

So although there is sort of progress, I am in a worse situation than before, because now the printer won't recognise my black cartridge so I can't print anything.

Any suggestions?

[asmita6658]

@MarkW5

Thanks for trying. 

If the ink cartridges are still in-warranty, please Contact Hp in your region for a replacement. 

[MarkW5]

Hi Asmita, thanks, I will try that. The colour cartridge has a date of 2019/01/20 so maybe I've just missed it, but the black cartridge date is 2020/01/07. The problem now persists even with only the black cartridge installed - very annoyingly since this worked fine before.

But how do I contact HP for a replacement? (I'm in the UK.) The best I could find was this page:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00206040

which says to use a phone number I don't have, or to visit this page:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp

However, the latter page asks for a product name (it does not recognise HP302) or serial number (it also does not recognise what look like the serial numbers on my ink cartridges).

Sorry to keep coming back with this, hope I can get it sorted eventually.

[asmita6658]

@MarkW5

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 Community.

If you wish to help to community grow, you may simply select “Accept as Solution” and hit the thumbs up to say thanks for my efforts.

Have a good day ahead.