Printer won't print from black ink cartridge

[hockeysticks]

I have an HP Photosmart 3210a All-in-One printer, scanner, & copier. For some reason, it won't print from the black ink cartridge. At first, I thought it was empty, so I replaced it. The new one I bought had the same problem so I thought it was possibly a faulty cartridge. Finally, after I went back to the shop to exchange it, the newest one also didn't work. It will print from the other colors when selected. The problem seems just like the cartridge it out of ink but the ink level indicator is working and shows that there has been plenty of ink in all of the cartridges I have been trying.

Before I try anything on my own, I was wondering if anyone could advise me as to what the problem may be and how to deal with it. I don't have much confidence contacting the maker because I have a feeling that they will request that it be checked and or serviced by them. It is about 2-3 years old (once already repaired at a high cost) and not under warranty anymore.

[Azzaboi]

A lot of printers use the coloured cartridge even when printing just in black unless you select 'greyscale'.
Under the print setup there will be an option 'black and white' or 'coloured', you might notice a tick box under that saying 'pure black' or 'greyscale', check that and see if it works.

Else get a can of compressed air and spray where the ink is drawn from at the printer cartridge holder. Expect possible spray back so use a 'lint free' tissue or paper towel to wipe - it could of been clogged.

[patio]

Switch to Draft mode...it's in printing setup...

[finfanman]

Your printer software should have a clean mode.  Try that to prime the in cartridge.  If you purchased the ink from the same store, they may be expired.  If that doesn't work then you probably need a new printer since this is the third cartridge you have used and it worked before.

[Allan]

A lot of printers use the coloured cartridge even when printing just in black unless you select 'greyscale'.

Document that please.

[OpenSource]

Did you remove the tab from the cartridge that preserves the ink when you opened the package?

[rthompson80819]

Do all of the above first.  But as a long shot, I had an Epsom all in one several years ago.  I usually always had spare cartridges, but one time I didn't.  The black cartridge was out of ink and I had something I had to print out immediately, and be somewhere else in a few minutes.  I pulled the black cartridge, sent the file to print and it printed out in black using just the color cartridge.

[lovecartridge]

Remove the cartridge and rub a soft tissue over the gold part of the cartridge. Then replace. This does work.

[truenorth]

Your issue is most likely related to a "clogged" print nozzle (head) for that particular jet. I have never tried the "compressed air" approach. I would be very interested to see if that works. Print head nozzles are extremely small and generally very delicate. So i would think that compressed air applied in the manner suggested could damage the nozzles. I would try MANY print head cleaning cycles (at least 10). If that doesn't work depending on your printer there are kits available for print head cleaning (usually use a cleaning fluid either in a cartridge like the one your printer uses or introduced via a syringe before the print head. These kits are not expensive but in my use of them some have been successful and some have not. How accessible are the actual print heads on that printer--can you see them? truenorth

[Allan]

This thread is 2 months old. I'm assuming it's solved and locking it.