HP Deskjet 2542 is not printing in black ink

[Pinetree808]

Okay. So I picked up a new HP Deskjet 2542 all-in-one printer today from Walmart. Brought it home installed the printer onto my windows 7 compaq laptop. Printed an alignment page and scanned it. Successful. I went to print my document for school. Only the colored hyperlink was printed. Everything else was blank. I printed another document that was all black. It printed 2 blank pages... I'm very disappointed as I just purchased this printer less than 3 hours ago! I've printed test pages and wherever it's supposed to be black it's a light light blue. The dark grey comes out alright though. Alignment is fine, it's just an issue with he black ink. And also it came included with the printer that I just bought. I am not going to spend any more money on new cartridges as this one is supposed to be new! Please help?

[Futoji]

Hello Pinetree808,
Welcome to the HP Forums.

It appears that your Deskjet 2542 isn't printing out black ink. I will try to assist you with this.

I recommend following this document: Printer Does Not Print Black Ink or Color Ink, or Prints Blank Pages. It may be able to assist you with getting the black in printing correctly.

If after trying the document the issue remains, I suggest contacting support for further assistance as this is a new printer.

HP Technical Support, North America 1-800-474-6836. For all other regions click here.
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

Thank you for posting on the HP Forums.

[Pinetree808 · Accepted solution]

Thank you @Fujoti. I had initially tried that before posting here and it didnt seem to work out for me other than tell me I had to get my brand new printer serviced. So instead I called the HP Customer Service help line and I was able to get my printer printing black ink pages.

SOLUTION: I cleaned the bottom of the cartridge with a paper towel nicely. Then re-installed it into my printer. The first few pages might be a little streaky. If this continues for more then a few pages just gotta take it out and clean the contact a little better then you should be all good!

Thanks for all your guys help 🙂

[blue900]

I had the same problem with another printer. This is what I did to fix it (I think this is the main thing that fixed it): 

I took the black ink cartridge out and put it back in. But I feel like I may not have had it in there quite right to begin with.

However, I also did other things, and these may have helped as well:

1. Turned printer off.
2. Unplugged from outlet, waited 30 seconds, and plugged back in.
3. Turned printer on.
4. Restarted PC.
5. Took out all of the ink cartridges.
6. Unbent a paperclip and poked near the end on the top...for my cartridge it's above the HP symbol. This is so that the cartridge can "breath" and get some air in there (it doesn't even look like there's an opening there, but there is).
7. Cleaned the metal contacts on the cartridges, as well as where they meet on the printer, with rubbing alcohol at the end of a q-tip.
8. I also noticed some wet ink off to the side in my printer where the cartridges hover above once they're done printing something. I wiped that carefully with some q-tips.

This fixed the issue. There was black ink in there still. Hope this helps anyone with this problem!

[Duane_D]

Hi!

I have closed this thread to help keep the comments timely. If you have more to add, please start a new thread. Click here if you want to learn more about how to start a new conversation/thread.

It may also be helpful if you posted a few more details about your computer/printer and your issues.

1. Product Name and Number (please do not post Serial Number)
• Example: HP Pavilion DV2-1209AX or HP Deskjet 3000 Printer CH393A
2. Operating System installed (if applicable)
• Example: Windows XP, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows 7 64-bit
3. Error message (if any)
• Example: ""Low disk space"" error in Windows
4. Any changes made to your system before the issue occurred
• Examples: Upgrading your Operating System or installing a new software; or installing new hardware like a printer, modem, or router.

If you have any other questions about forum posting, please feel free to send me a private message!

Thank you!"