HP Photosmart 5520 black ink not printing

[MargaretCHarmon]

HP Photosmart 5520 black ink not printing .

Yesterday I replaced all the ink cartridges.  The printer was working fine, but running very low on all colors.  Now will not print black ink.  Just spent over $70 for the new ink.

I have done the following:

- replaced the black ink 

- cleaned the printer heads twice

- run diagnostics

-check and cleaned vent on black ink cartridge

- tried to do an alignment but could not print page

- HP Scan doctor says all is ok with the printer.

 Other colors are fine. 

I have only ever used HP genuine cartridges in this printer.  

This is very frustrating. Happy to try anything at this stage. 

Thank you for your reply and help. 

Happily,

Margaret

[Bob_Headrick]

The troubleshooting steps in the document here may help resolve black not printing on your Photosmart 5520.  It sounds like you have already done most of the steps there. 

If the standard troubleshooting did not resolve black not printing I would suggest removing the black cartridge.  Turn it over and examine the area around the ink port.  There are four orange plastic spots, left over from the protective cap.  Make sure these are flush with the cartridge body, if not carefully trim them flush.  If the plastic nubs protrude they can prevent the cartridge from seating properly.  Before replacing the cartridge in the printer dribble a few (maybe four) drops of hot water into the ink port in the printer and two drops into the ink port on the cartridge then snap the cartridge back in position.   

It may also help to manually clean the printhead as described in the post here. 

I have also seen cases where leaving the printer overnight after the cleaning cycles allows black to recover. 

If none of the above restores black printing your printer will likely require repair or replacement.

In a pinch you can print by selecting photo paper as the media type.  This will force the printer to use color even for black text.

[bazcol]

that was helpful Bob. It'd printing now, but in grey not black. Any ideas please?

[bazcol]

it's not copying though

[Bob_Headrick]

---

@bazcol wrote:

it's not copying though

---

In Step 7 of the troubleshooting steps in the document here there are instructions to print a diagnostic page.  Can you print that page and then scan the result and post here?  Use the Photo's icon to include the scan.

Step 7: Print a Print Quality Diagnostic report

Print a Print Quality Diagnostic report, and then evaluate the results.

1. Load plain, white paper in the tray.
2. From the control panel home screen, touch the Settings icon .
3. Touch Tools, and then touch Print Quality Report.
   The printer prints the Print Quality Diagnostic report.
   Figure : Example of a Print Quality Diagnostic report with no defects