Officejet Pro 8500 A910 - Keeps wanting to align, fails, cancels prints

[Tjalling]

Hi,

So I've been very happy with my HP Officejet Pro 8500 A910 (CM756A) up until a few weeks ago. I do not know what caused the change, but now the printer always asks to re-align its printheads, and trying to do keeps failing: it does print the alignment page, but then gets stuck on the 'aligning printheads' loading screen, and ultimately (after some time) informs me that 'Alignment failed: refer to device documentation...' etc.

So, when I try to print something now the printer will say that it needs to align its printheads, and asks if I want to cancel that process or cancel the print. If I cancel the alignment ('Do not align'), there will be another popup that says that it really needs to go through the alignment process ('Alignment is not finished - The alignment process cannot be interrupted by a print job'). If I then choose not to align ('Cancel Alignment'), it deletes the print job.

The only way for me to print something currently is to, at that point, initiate the same print job again, and after clicking 'Do not align' again, open and close the print cartridge bays. It will then go through some process which, assumedly, resets something and prints after a few minutes. That last trick I picked up somewhere else on these forums, where someone else had the same problems with another printer - but I cannot find that thread now.

So, I was hoping someone would have some insight into this, and hopefully I can keep using this printer, because up until now it's been  a great experience.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the steps I've taken so far to try to remedy this. I've reinstalled the printer software on my computer, reset the printer to factory settings, searched the Internet for solutions, reseated and inspected the printheads - all to no avail.

[Jeet_singh]

Hi @Tjalling,

Thanks for engaging in HP support Forums! This is a wonderful location to converse with the community, get assistance and find tips!  I see that you are having print quality issues / alignment issues with the Officejet 8500 printer. Don't worry as I have a few suggestions which should help you identify the issue or fix it.

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

Did this happen recently after replacing the ink cartridges?

Have you tried to perform a Hard reset on the printer?

How is the printer connected? Wireless/USB

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 the printer cartridges.
• 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 (This is important) 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 cartridges and try to make a copy and a print from PC.

Please try the steps mentioned here to clean the print head manually:  HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One and 8500A eAll-in-One Printer Series - Cleaning the Printhead Conta...

Alternatively, go through  Fixing Print Quality Problems for the HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One Printer Series (A909)  to make sure you have performed all the steps.

If the issue persists, you may be required to replace the print head. Check solution 6 to know which print head is faulty.

Please let me know if this resolves the issue, or if you require further assistance!

Let me know if those steps worked for you.

If they did, that’s awesome!

Give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck.

[JMC_BPA]

Hi there, I've the same problem and trying the steps listeddoesn't seem to help.

It started when I replaced the Black / Yellow printhead and now every time I send something to print it goes into printhead alignment, decides it can't get it right, and pits out a test page.

The print quality page (attached) seems all right although it's now drinking Magenta like a sailor on shore leave.

Can this be fixed or is the printer junk?

I have it as a CM756A with [personal information removed] purchased in 2012.

Thanks for any advice.

[Barbcord]

I've gone through the instructions, did a ard reset and got new printer heads.  No luck.  I love this printer and would like it to work again.