photosmart 5520: ink cartridges stuck on left side, can't move as to clear error message

[Bernie20]

Got an error mesage that printer was shut down improperly. We are not aware of doing this. Message video shows to move ink cartidges from left to right and back left to fix the problem. Cartridges are stuck on left,  we can't move them. New message says cartridges are missing or damamged, (they are not missing) . We can't get the cartidge set to move so we can change any cartidges.  Any help would be appreciated,  afraid we might break printer if we try any harder to move the stuck cartridges. 

[TEJ1602]

@Bernie20, welcome to HP Support Community!

A printer reset resolves many ink cartridge issues. Follow these steps to reset the printer.

1. Turn the printer on, if it is not already on.

2. Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.

3. With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.

4. Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

5. Wait at least 60 seconds.

6. Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.

7. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.

8. Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.

9. Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you proceed.

If the issue persists, follow the troubleshooting steps from this link(steps 1 to 9)

Let me know the outcome.

Cheers 🙂

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!  

[Bernie20]

Thank you for the suggestions to clear my printer problem, but they did NOT work. The cartridges are actually stuck on the RIGHT side of my printer,  (Sorry, in my frustration, I said stuck under left side of cover) underneath the black cover so the trouble shooting tips are not possible to try because we can't get the cartidge tray out in order to move or remove or do anything to ANY of the ink cartidges.  My printer now give the message that "NO CARTIDGES are detected" although there are the same 4 cartidges installed as before.  SHould I unsrew the back cover so that I can inspect or replace the cartidges or can you tell me how to get the cartridge tray to move out from under the black cover?  THank you for any help!

[TEJ1602]

@Bernie20

Do not try to remove or unscrew anything on the printer as most of them are not customer replaceable parts. Doing so may damage the hardware.

However, you can try our other support options.

Follow the steps below to reach out to our HP Support team:

Step 1. Open link: www.hp.com/contacthp/
Step 2. Enter the product number or select to auto detect 
Step 3. Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"
Step 4. Scroll down and click: HP contact options - click on Get phone number and phone number appear.

Thank you. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[Bernie20]

HELLO, TEJ1602,

Thank you for your efforts to help. I tried to follow your steps to get more help, but after I entered the serial number of my printer, I could not  find  "still need  help" by scrolling down as suggested in step 3. I tried using the virtual agent and watched a 16 minute video but that did not solve the problem with those steps either.  THe current error message is "Clear cartridge jam" but previous error messages have been " printer turned off incorrectly", ( which we are not aware of doing) and "ink cartridges are damamged or missing" (they are not missing) but we cannot move the cartridge tray to check or replace the cartridges because the whole cartridge mechanism  is stuck under the right hand side of the printer. I cannot see any obstruction but it will not move.  Any further suggestions?  Printer was purchased and registered on Jan 9,2014, so of course the warranty has expired, but the printer was working fine and suddenly it started all these error messages.  IS there hope or has it died?  Any help is greatly appreciated!

[onespeedbiker2]

I'm guessing this link includes the video you talked about, but there are some additional fixes worth trying.  https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c03241387

It appears your cartridges are stuck in park, meaning the cleaninin assy and park bars are up. Here is one possible fix..http://www.fixya.com/support/t2605066-hp_deskjet_6940_carriage_stuck_in_park

As a final attempt, that is you are about to throw the printer away, I would indeed try and unscrew the cover over the cartridges; here is a video on how to do it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_gFslJYXRI. You might just kill it some more, but there could be a chance of fixing it if the clutch is not stripped.

---