Printer problem

[bilywiz]

Hi there 

i have a new proble with my printer , i can print photos , scan  images but when i try to print a document some text is faint , some is non-existant. Also copying text is pretty poor. I put some cheap ink cartidges in and have replaced them with HP ones but the problem is still there . I cleaned the printhead but this hasnt made a difference ?? My daughter was photocopying some stuff last week and she may have changed seom setting ?? Any tips / help would be great 

thanks 

shaun 

[Bob_Headrick]

The troubleshooting steps in the document here may help resolve black not printing on your Photosmart 5510.  

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.

[bilywiz]

Hey Thanks Bob , great to know there are helpful people out there. Ive done the trouble shooting , scraped off the spots , added water droplets to cartridge and print head receptacle port. I also cleaned the printer head earlier today as described with a wet paper towel. The printed text looks a little darker but nowhere near perfect ( might be better in the morning ). What is still confusing though is i can print a photo with large black sections and it prints perfect. And when i photocopy faded black text it doesn't copy at all . So fault is affecting printed text and copied text (scanner). Any more ideas  much appreciated. 

Shaun  

I just tried it again today and text print is still poor

[Bob_Headrick]

The black ink is pigmented and is not compatible with photo paper.  If you select photo paper in the driver settings the printer will use the color inks to print the black area.  You could try this - set the settings to photo paper and then try printing a page of text. It will appear to print properly, although slower than normal and not quite as sharp.

If the manual cleaning helped a bit you might want to try repeating the process.

I do not understand your "HP mailbox full" comment.  I have not worked for HP since I retired in 2005.  

[bilywiz]

Hi @Bob_Headrick

Changing the setting to photo paper and using normal A4 paper has worked . So i'm up and running again but not sure why i can't print text with settings for normal A4 paper. New cartridge , cleaned head and port, cartridge sitting correctly. 

"HP mailbox full" comment . I post on the HP support forum through my HP account. When i tried to reply to your first reply i received an HP mailbox full . i had to go back into my account and create a new query to ask the second question . I appreciate your not an HP employee.

The email i tried to reply  to was  HP.Support.Forum@hp.com. Not sure how this all works but thanks for your help 

shaun

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

[HP.Support.Forum@hp.com will send you an email when you have a reply in the forum.  Click on the Subject link (the fourth line in the email) to be taken to the forum to respond.  Please reply in the same thread rather than creating new threads.]

Your black ink is not printing properly.  When selecting Photo paper you force the printer to not use black, it mixes color ink to appear black. While it may appear black is working in this case it really is not.  Since you saw some improvement by cleaning the printhead with a damp tissue I would suggest repeating that process.  Note, you will need to change the paper type back to "plain paper" to see if the additional cleaning helped.