HP 5740 - Cannot print black ink

[lostjeff]

Hi there,

I have an HP Officejet 5740 (HPDFD44C) and no matter what I try, I cannot print anything with black ink. Color ink prints fine. I am using the cartridges that the printer came with.

- I have printed several test pagest

- I have cleaned the inkheads

- I have realigned the printer

- there is still plenty of ink left

Can anyone help me? I am not sure where to go from here. Thanks.

- Jeff

[sandytechy20]

@lostjeff

Welcome to HP forums, I see that your printer is not printing in black.

• Is it printing black in test page which you printed?
• Did you make a copy and check if that prints in black?

Meanwhile:

Clean the ink cartridges.

1. Load U.S. letter or A4 size, unused, plain white paper into the input tray.

2. On the printer control panel, swipe the display to the left, and then touch Setup.

   The Setup menu displays.

3. Swipe the display up, and then touch Printer Maintenance.

4. Touch Clean Cartridges.

   A Print Quality Diagnostic report prints.

5. Examine the Print Quality Diagnostic report.

   • If the print quality is unacceptable, touch Proceed when prompted to continue the next level of cleaning. Repeat these steps for the third cleaning stage, if necessary.

     NOTE: 

     If the printhead is badly clogged, it might require another cleaning cycle. If so, wait 30 minutes before you perform all three levels of cleaning again.

   • If the print quality is acceptable, touch Done when prompted to continue the next level of cleaning. You do not need to continue troubleshooting.

6. Examine the print quality on the Print Diagnostic report.

You can refer to this HP document for more assistance:- Click here

If the issue persists, I am sending you a private message. Please check the mailbox icon at the top-right corner of this screen.

I hope this helps resolve this issue completely.

Let me know how it goes.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.

[lostjeff]

Hi Sandytechy20, I followed the steps you reccomended and after the third cleaning the test paper came out like this. This has been the consistant output for the past several times I have run the print quality diagnostic option. It doesn't show the various shades of black in the left rectangle, and it isn't printing the black lines at the bottom. Do you know why this is? Thanks.

[sandytechy20]

@lostjeff

Thanks for the reply.

I appreciate your time and effort.

This could because of the defective cartridge.

Clean the area around the ink nozzles

1. Gather the following materials:

   • Dry foam-rubber swabs, lint-free cloth, or any soft material that does not come apart or leave fibers (coffee filters work well)

   • Distilled, filtered, or bottled water (tap water might contain contaminants that can damage the ink cartridges)

        CAUTION: 

     Do not use platen cleaners or alcohol to clean the ink cartridge contacts. These can damage the ink cartridge or the printer.

2. Turn on the printer.

3. Open the ink cartridge access door by placing two fingers under one or both of the small handles on the sides of the ink cartridge access door and then lifting it up. Wait until the carriage is idle and silent before you continue.

   

   The Door Open screen displays on the printer control panel with the message, 'The cover or door must be closed to print. Check that it is completely closed.' A Change Ink option also displays on the bottom right corner of the touchscreen. You do not need to select this option at this time.

4. Lightly press down on one of the ink cartridges to release it, and then pull the ink cartridge toward you out of its slot.

   

      CAUTION: 

   Do not remove both ink cartridges at the same time. Remove and clean each ink cartridge one at a time. Do not leave an ink cartridge outside the printer for more than 30 minutes.

5. Hold the ink cartridge by its sides.

   

6. Inspect the ink cartridge contacts for ink and debris buildup.

      CAUTION: 

   Do not touch the copper-colored contacts or the ink nozzles. Touching these parts can result in clogs, ink failure, and bad electrical connections.

   

7. Lightly moisten a foam-rubber swab or lint-free cloth with distilled water, and then squeeze any excess water from it.

8. Clean the face and edges around the ink nozzle with the swab.

      CAUTION: 

   Do not clean the ink nozzle plate.

   

   1. Nozzle plate - Do not clean

   2. Area surrounding ink nozzle - Do clean

   3. Cartridge contacts - Do not clean

9. Either let the ink cartridge sit for 10 minutes to allow the cleaned area to dry, or use a new swab to dry it.

10. Reinsert the ink cartridge by sliding it at a slight upward angle into the empty slot, and then gently pushing up on the ink cartridge until it snaps into place.

    • Reinsert the tri-color ink cartridge into the left slot.

    • Reinsert the black ink cartridge into the right slot.

    

11. Repeat these steps to clean around the nozzles on the other ink cartridge.

12. Close the ink cartridge access door.

    

13. Turn on the printer.

Let me know if that helps.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.

[lostjeff]

Hi, I did the suggested steps and I cleaned the black carteridge. Unfortunatly I don't think that did anything. I printed out another test page, and as you can see it's the same as before.

[TEJ1602]

@lostjeff

Since you have already tried all the possible troubleshooting steps and the issue still persists, this could be a possible hardware issue.

We do have other support options to assist you further.

Follow the steps below to reach out to our HP Support team:

Step 1. Open link: www.hp.com/contacthp/
Step 2. Enter the product number or select to auto detect 
Step 3. Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"
Step 4. Scroll down and click: HP contact options - click on Get phone number and phone number appear.

Thank you.

[Hoolet]

Have tried 2 new black cartridges. "Remove and reinstall keeps reappearing. Have tried Mainteance and Clean cartridges but still says Remove and reinstall.

[Hoolet]

Cannot go through Setup. Continues to display Remove and reinstall

[Raj1788]

@Hoolet

Thanks for joining HP Community!

Could you please help me with the exact model name or the product number of the printer?

Are you using Genuine HP ink cartridge?

Keep me posted.

Have a great day!

Cheers:)