Not printing black ink

[ckaiser126]

Printer was working just fine a few days ago, it sat unused for a few days. Came back and the black ink wouldn’t print. Ink level was low but not empty. Replaced the cartridge. Still no luck. Cleaned printer heads, no luck. Realized the cartridge was one month expired. Went to the store and bought a new cartridge. No luck. Cleaned printer heads, no luck. Any ideas on what I can do next?

[Jeet_singh · Accepted solution]

@ckaiser126,

Thanks for engaging in HP support Forums! This is a wonderful location to converse with the community, get assistance and find tips! I understand you are having issues while printing in black from your HP Photosmart printer. Don't worry I'll be really glad to help you.

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Are you using genuine HP Ink cartridges or refilled cartridges?

In the meantime, let's try these steps here: 

Perform a Hard reset on the printer and make sure that the printer is connected directly to the wall outlet and not to the surge protector.

Remove all the ink cartridges and then try to perform a hard reset on the printer.

With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and also unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

Remove USB cable, if present.

Wait for 2-3 minutes, press and hold the power button on your printer for about 30 seconds to remove any additional charge.

Now plug back the power cable straight to a wall outlet without any surge protector or an extension cord and then plug back the power cord to the printer.

Turn on the printer and wait till warm-up period finishes and the printer is idle.

Now insert the ink cartridges and then try to print a test page and check if it works.

Alternatively, go through the steps suggested in the support document for - HP Photosmart 7520 Printers - Fixing Poor Print Quality

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. (Though the header is for different model, the steps suggested would be similar for your product).

In most cases leaving the printer overnight after the cleaning cycles allows black to recover.

If nothing works then I would suggest this could be a possible hardware failure with the printer. I would recommend you contact our HP phone support for further assistance. 

HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: 

1. Click on this link – www.hp.com/contacthp/
2. 2) Click on “Continue as guest”.
3. 3) Enter the serial of your device.
4. 4) Select the country from the drop-down.
5. 5) Click on “Show Options”.

Fill the web-form. A case number and phone number will now populate for you.

Hope this helps, for any further queries reply to the post and feel free to join us again

Feel free to post your query for any other assistance as well,

It's been a pleasure interacting with you and I hope you have a good day ahead.

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accepted Solution.

And click on the Purple Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

Regards,

[ckaiser126]

The hard restart worked!! I followed the link and also aligned the cartridges through the printer and wiped off the print heads inside the printer.

Thank you SOOO MUCH for your guidance!!!

[Jeet_singh]

@ckaiser126,

Thank you for the update,
I appreciate your time and efforts, 

I'm glad I could contribute towards resolving the issue and finding the solution you were looking for.
Thanks for taking the time to let the community know about the solution.

You've been great to work with and it has been a genuine pleasure interacting with you.
I hope both you and your product works great and remain healthy for a long time 😉 

To simply say thanks for my efforts to assist you, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos.
And mark my post as Accepted Solution to help others find a similar solution as you have.

Take care now and do have a fabulous week ahead. 🙂
Regards,