Printing problem

[gene20]

my HP Officejet 3830 will scan and print, but it only prints blank sheets for everything else

[Nils_K]

Hi @gene20 ,

Here we have a problem with at least one cartridge.

Please try this with both cartridges:

Take a handkerchief and the cartridge. Now press the cartridge like a stamp on the handkerchief for about 2-3 seconds. You should see a strong, colored strip, consisting of  black / magenta, blue and yellow. Is this the case?
If there is no or very little ink on the handkerchief, moisten the handkerchief slightly and press the cartridge again, this time for about 30 seconds on it, until more ink comes out.
Afterwards, re-insert the cartridge and run a cartridge clean, if necessary.

What is the result?

Cheers!

Nils_K

[gene20]

Thanks Nils, but it still will not print anything except in copy mode. I can scan and copy  but not print anything else. I think it must be a software problem.

Gene

[Nils_K]

Hi Gene,

I still believe this is a hardware problem. But there is a simple way to finally find that out. 😊

Please print a print quality report. To do so,

• On the printer control panel, swipe the display to the left, and then touch Setup.
• Touch Tools, and then touch Print Quality Report.
  A Print Quality Diagnostic page prints.

Does the page look like this:

Cheers!

Nils

[gene20]

Hi Nils,

The test page printed with the colors, but the black and gray square, as well as the black text as well as the lines and box in between is missing. This is odd since if I copy something and print it, it prints in black. 

Thanks, Gene

[Nils_K]

Hi Gene,

Sorry for my late reply!

---

@gene20 wrote:

Hi Nils,

The test page printed with the colors, but the black and gray square, as well as the black text as well as the lines and box in between is missing. This is odd since if I copy something and print it, it prints in black. 

Thanks, Gene

---

Thats definetly a problem with the black cartridge. The "black" which is on the paper when you copy, is mixed of the tri-color cartridge.

Did you do the handkerchief test and was there black ink on it?

Cheers!

Nils

[gene20]

Hi Nils,

I did the test, yes for color, no for black. FYI, the meter shows the black ink cartridge to be about 40%.

Thanks, Gene

[Nils_K · Accepted solution]

Hi Gene,

Turn the black cartridge upside down for about an hour. After that time, re-insert the cartridge and run a cartridge clean.

If this doesn't work neither, you can try to get a new cartridge from HP. You can contact HP with one of these options:

HP Social Media Support ( Facebook / Twitter: @ HPSupport ) or call HP (Contact HP)

Cheers!

Nils

[gene20]

Hi Nils,

Sorry I am late in responding to your email, but I had been away from my printer. 

Your last suggestion worked. Apparently it was an empty black cartridge that would sometimes print in back & white using the color cartridge. I put a new one in it it seems to be working now on text documents..

Thanks, Gene