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Check some of the most frequent questions about Instant Ink: HP INSTANT INK, HP+ PLANS: INK AND TONER.


Check out our Black or Color Ink Not Printing, Other Print Quality Issues info about: Print quality and Cartridge Issues.
HP Recommended
HP 2600 Printer
Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)

My printer stopped printing in black (only colour) although black ink cartridge is still 90% full.

3 REPLIES 3
HP Recommended

@Johansit

Thank you for joining HP Forums.

It's a pleasure assisting you in finding answers to your technical queries.

 

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

Could you please help me with the exact model name or the operating system of your computer?

Is the copy working fine? (If available)

Are you using genuine HP Ink cartridge?

DId you try with a different cartridge?

 

Have a great day!

Cheers:)

 

Raj1788
I am an HP Employee 

HP Recommended

Printer is HP Deskjet 2620

O/S Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Copy do not print black either

Did not try new cartridge, in South Africa  cartridge are more expensive than a new printer.

Cartridge status 90 % full.

HP Recommended

@Johansit

 

I see that you were interacting with @Raj1788. I'd like to help.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I appreciate your time and effort.

 

Print a Print Quality Diagnostic Report.

  1. On the printer control panel, press the Down Arrow  to scroll to Tools, and then press OK.

  2. Press the Down Arrow  to scroll to Print Quality Report, and then press OK. The printer prints the test page.

    Image: Example of a Print Quality Diagnostic report with no defects.

If it is not printing in black, follow the below steps to fix this issue.

Clean the area around the ink nozzles

  1. Gather the following materials:

    • Dry foam-rubber swabs, lint-free cloth, or any soft material that does not come apart or leave fibers (coffee filters work well)

    • Clean sheets of paper

    • Distilled, filtered, or bottled water (tap water might contain contaminants that can damage the print cartridges)

         CAUTION: 

      Do not use platen cleaners or alcohol to clean the area. These can damage the cartridge or the printer.

  2. Press the Power button to turn on the printer, if it is not already on.

  3. Open the cartridge access door. The carriage moves to the center of the printer. Wait until the carriage is idle and silent before continuing.

    Figure : Open the cartridge access door

    Image: Open the cartridge access door
  4. Lightly press down on the cartridge to release it, and then pull the cartridge out to remove it from its slot.

    Figure : Remove the cartridge

    Image: Remove the cartridge
       CAUTION: 

    Do not touch the copper-colored contacts or the ink nozzles. Touching these parts can result in clogs, ink failure, and bad electrical connections.

    Figure : Do not touch the contacts or nozzles

    Image: Do not touch the contacts or nozzles
  5. Place the cartridge on a piece of paper with the ink nozzles facing up.

  6. Lightly moisten a clean, foam-rubber swab with distilled water.

  7. Clean the face and edges around the ink nozzle with the swab.

       CAUTION: 

    Do not clean the ink nozzle plate.

    Figure : Clean the area around the ink nozzle

    1.  

      Image: The ink nozzle and cartridge contacts

      Nozzle plate - DO NOT CLEAN
    2. Area surrounding ink nozzle - Do clean

    3. Cartridge contacts - DO NOT CLEAN

  8. Either let the cartridge sit for 10 minutes to allow the cleaned area to dry, or use a new swab to dry it.

  9. Hold the cartridge by its sides with the nozzles toward the printer, and then insert the cartridge into its slot. Make sure that the icon on the cartridge matches the icon on the slot.

    • The tri-color cartridge () goes in the slot on the left.

    • The black cartridge () goes in the slot on the right.

    Figure : Insert the cartridge into the slot

    Image: Insert the cartridge
  10. Push the cartridge forward into its slot until it snaps into place.

    Figure : Push the cartridge into the slot

    Image: Push the cartridge into the slot
  11. Repeat these steps to clean the area surrounding the ink nozzle on the other cartridge.

  12. Close the cartridge access door.

Clean the printhead using an automated tool

  1. Load letter or A4, unused, plain white paper into the paper tray.

  2. On the printer control panel, press the Down Arrow  to select Tools, and then press OK.

  3. Press the Down Arrow  to select Clean Printhead, and then press OK. The printer cleans the printhead, and then prints a printhead test page.

    Image: Example of the printhead test page without defects

  4. Review the print quality on the printhead test page.

You can refer to this HP document for more assistance:- Click here

 

Let me know how it goes.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.

Sandytechy20
I am an HP Employee

† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.