Solved HP Photosmart 309g all of a sudden does not print black ink

[riffwraith]

Hey all. I have a HP Photosmart 309g, that has been working well for a number of years. It sees periodic use, but not much. I have a W7 64-bit Ult. SP1 machine, fully up to date.

Yesterday, I tried to print a doc, which is black ink on white paper. The printer went through it's motions, sounded like it was printing, but spat out a blank page. I know printers don't last forever, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions before I run out and buy a new one.

I have:

Aligned the printheads
Cleaned the printheads
Tried using a different computer (Vista, where it used to work as well), but have the same result
Printed a test page - there was color, but no black ink at all
Checked ink levels, which are fine

Anything else I can look into? Thanks in advance.

 

[oscer1]

Hi did you check to see it the ink was dried up on the cartridge itself or try another ink cartridge?

 

[Wandering one]

Ink carts don't last forever and you should print at least once a week to keep the printhead clear. I think that all HP carts combine the ink with a new printhead. Suggest you buy a new black cartridge and try that. Be aware that the carts have a best before date so look for a fresh one that will give around one year. Also look on the net for a colour test print to download and print a copy every week if you don't have any other printing to do.
Art.

 

[riffwraith]

Thanks for the replies.

I really didn't think to get new cartridges prior to me posting, as the ones I have installed are only about a month old, and the ink levels were practically maxed out.

I went out and got a new black cartridge - and now it prints just fine. This, after the printer went through a 10-min. initialization process. Now I wonder if the cartridge was the problem, or something funky happened with the printer that the initialization process cleared up. Later on, I will swap the cart for the old one and see what happens.

Thanks again.

 

[oscer1]

ok let us know if the other cartrage works