I have an Officejet Pro 8600. I installed a new HP Cyan ink cartridge and the printer quit working.

[whome3]

I have an Officejet Pro 8600. I installed a new HP Cyan ink cartridge and the printer quit working.

[zoey7886 · Accepted solution]

@whome3, Welcome to the HP Support Community!  

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding Printer Issues After Installing a New Cyan Ink Cartridge! 

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.  

If your HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 printer has stopped working after installing a new Cyan ink cartridge, here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

Reset the Printer:

• Ensure the printer is turned on.
• Disconnect the power cord from the printer.
• Unplug the power cord from the power source.
• Wait for 60 seconds.
• Reconnect the power cord to the wall outlet and then to the printer.
• Turn the printer on to see if the issue is resolved.

Check the Ink Cartridge:

• Make sure the cartridge you installed is compatible with the OfficeJet Pro 8600. Use 950XL for Black and 951XL for Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow cartridges in the United States and Canada.
• Verify the cartridge is properly seated in its color-coded slot by pushing it until it clicks into place.
• Ensure that the colored dots on the cartridge label match the colored dots on the slot.

Use Genuine HP Ink Cartridges:

• Ensure you are using genuine HP ink cartridges. HP cannot guarantee the performance with non-HP or refilled cartridges.
• If uncertain, you can check the authenticity by visiting the HP anti-counterfeit webpage.

Print Quality Diagnostics Report:

• Load plain paper into the input tray.
• On the printer control panel, navigate to 'Setup', touch 'Reports', and then select 'Print Quality Report'. This may help identify any issues with the installed cartridge.  

Hope this helps! 

Take care, and have an amazing day!  

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, Please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!  

Regards, 

[whome3]

Thank you for your thorough answer.
It was 12 years old so I decided to buy a new one (Pro 9120e)
HP is excellent.

[brianzebra]

What the user did has nothing to do with the suggested solution. If the user simply purchased a new printer, instead of attempting the suggested solution, then the suggested solution should not have been tagged as an accepted solution, which gives the false impression that the suggestions were actually attempted and actually work. Furthermore, I have the exact same problem. My 8600 printer was working fine, and when a cyan cartridge needed replacement and I put a new one in, that cartridge caused the error message to appear and my printer no longer works. My theory is that there is a bad batch of cyan cartridges made that is causing this problem for many people. I have seen this same problem posted in many discussion forums throughout the internet.  I tried buying a second brand new cyan cartridge to see if that would work, but I got the same error message, but I noticed that second new cartridge was from the same batch, manufactured in the same country with the same expiration date on it. So, I've been unable to troubleshoot by installing a cyan cartridge from a different batch, and I don't want to waste $60 on another new cartridge only to find out it's not working because it's also from the same batch.  I contacted HP support to ask if they would replace my cartridge which I believe is defective, but HP refused to do so, claiming it is a hardware problem. By the way, I did try all the recommended steps, but they did not work.

[brianzebra]

A follow-up to my 9/3/25 post.  I tried everything I could think of, other than buying a new Cyan cartridge that is from a different batch, and nothing worked so far.  A new Cyan cartridge purchased from a 3rd party (i.e., not HP) didn't work - got the same error message.  I also bought ink to insert into the original depleted cartridge, but that didn't work . . . but I've read that you can't do that if you have totally depleted the cartridge; you must have some ink remaining in the cartridge you are filling up with ink . . . and my original cartridge had been totally depleted. 

One thing I am considering doing is bringing my printer to a repair shop that specializes in repairs, and asking them if they have any idea what could be causing the error message . . . and before I pay them money to do an analysis, asking them if they are able to do anything that is different than what I already tried; otherwise, I would be wasting my money if they are just going to repeat what I have tried (such as disconnecting the power, etc.).  I'm hoping an HP repair shop may have some tools/machines to hook the printer up to, to do a deeper analysis that would be impossible for a regular consumer like me to do at home. 

One other possibility - trying to brainstorm and do everything possible - is if someone out there is willing to work with me on this problem in the following way.  If someone has a Cyan 951 ink cartridge that works with the HP 8600 printer (either regular or high volume/XL capacity), and it is getting really low on ink so it has to be replaced soon, but it still has ink in it, and you can donate it to me to see if it will work on my printer, I'd love to try that experiment.  And I can pay you a nominal amount for the estimated value of the ink remaining, and cover your shipping cost to me.  If anyone is interested, let me know with a reply post, and then we can figure out how to exchange contact information and make the arrangements.

If the last possible experiments/solutions mentioned above fail, then before I junk the printer I'll take it apart to see if there is anything inside the printer that is obvious that may be causing the printer to be inoperable.

My gut feeling is that HP is somehow responsible for this problem, either by faulty ink cartridges or by the way HP uses the electronics inside the printers to prevent or make it almost impossible to use replacement cartridges, so I'm not willing to give up until I explore every possible path.