Strange Issue with Printer Not Printing in Black

acc

I have an HP 840C printer which has been working fine for me since I bought it many years ago, but recently it stopped printing any document where the text is in black only. This could be a Notepad document or a Word document where all the text is black.

The printer loads the sheet of page and makes the printing motions, but the paper emerges without any printing.

I tried cleaning the contacts as suggested on the HP website, and tried replacing the black cartridge, but neither makes any difference.

I can get a Word document to print by changing say one full stop to a colour such as dark blue, but obviously a Notepad document can only be in black.

I do not recall making any changes, such as in the Printing Preferences, that could have caused this issue.

Has anyone come across such an issue, or does anyone have any idea of what the problem is or how it can be resolved?

Many thanks.

free4440273

odd/ maybe remove drivers and then reinstall /change all settings to default /

Spank

Can you change it to print only from the colour cartridge rather than both black & colour?
If so & your printers on it's way out @ least you won't have to throw out the ink.

hubert_cumberdale

this seems to be a common problem with HP printers if you google it.

there was mention of baby burping the printer hold it upside down and burp like you would a baby ( im not sure if you hold a baby upside down ) but it seems to be working for them

acc

Thanks for the responses people.

I had been reading the various forums, including the HP Support Forum, for other people's experiences of this problem, and have tried time and again most of the many and diverse suggestions, including turning the black cartridge and also the printer itself upside down and tapping to try to clear any blockages. However it is odd that it is mostly just the black cartridge that has this issue, and the colour cartridge is not affected.

I have found a work-around by having at least one character in the document in a non-black colour, to force the printer to use the colour cartridge, which in turn makes the black printing work. This implies that the printer bits that handle the black ink do work, and the black cartridge is not actually blocked.

I can therefore continue to use my HP printer (rather than throw it away as many posters on the HP Support Forum recommend) with the colour and black cartridges I have bought, as long as I use documents in a format that allows colour fonts and have a character that is not black.

However this is not entirely convenient, so I was asking whether some of the experts here might have an idea on why using the colour ink cartridge makes the black printing work.

tonynw

what cartridges are fitted ? some hp printers take 1 black and 1 colour or 1 black and 1 photo cartridge, what are the numbers of the cartridges you can fit ?? and what are the numbers of the cartridges you act have fitted.

tonynw

acc

tonynw wrote: »

what cartridges are fitted ? some hp printers take 1 black and 1 colour or 1 black and 1 photo cartridge, what are the numbers of the cartridges you can fit ?? and what are the numbers of the cartridges you act have fitted.

Hi Tony,
I bought the printer about 10 years ago, and have always used one tri-colour cartridge and one black cartridge, initially the HP originals C6625 and C6615, but in the last eight or so years, one compatible tri-colour and one compatible black cartridge.

hubert_cumberdale

it could be a air block in the pumps according to that HP site hence turning the printer over and burping it