Why is my HP photosmart D6160 printer is not printing black?

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My HP photosmart D6160 printer is not printing black, all I get is a blank page! Colour prints are fine which is strange is I would have thought it would need black to create the colour mixes.

I have replaced the black cartridge with a new one and used all the HP cleaning tools. OS is Windows XP 32bit and I've tried printing from Firefox (in black only mode) and a simple black only document Word with the same result (a blank page).

McBainUK

Posted 2009-11-19T09:14:10.093

Reputation: 293

Answers

1

Unlikely as printers can usually detect this, but logic might suggest that the nozzle is blocked. How about putting a non-black colour in the black cartidge socket? See what happens- that could help to troubleshoot the issue. Although a lot of black cartidges are larger so it might not work.

What about colour alignment adjustments- are they possible? Maybe the print head got bashed out of place.

outsideblasts

Posted 2009-11-19T09:14:10.093

Reputation: 6 297

Thanks for the suggestion. After looking inside the printer I can see no sign of a blockage or other obstrution.

I think it may be a software problem, if I print in "black only" mode I get a blank page but if I print a colour document with black areas (so that it must use the black cartridge for these) then the print is fine, with both colour and black parts printed perfectly. What kind of sotware problem it is I just don't know...!? – McBainUK – 2009-12-20T16:09:02.363

Weird. So, if there is any colour on the doc then the black prints fine? Could you create a header or footer (a small colour icon or text) so that there is always a colour section on your prints? Then it might print fine everytime. Not a fix, but maybe a workaround... – outsideblasts – 2009-12-21T06:22:56.147

"Weird. So, if there is any colour on the doc then the black prints fine?" Yes. And even more weird it seems to have fixed itself - can now print all type of documents, black and colour! – McBainUK – 2009-12-22T11:11:13.807

Ha Ha! Did you end up just giving it a good kick? Glad it works, sorry that we'll never know why..? – outsideblasts – 2009-12-22T17:28:41.833

Asked: 2009-11-19T09:14:10.093

Viewed: 2 034 times

Active: 2009-12-21T06:00:02.113