Printer not printing black

Check Your Ink Cartridge

1. Replace ink cartridges that are low on ink or empty.

2. Make sure ink cartridges are snapped into place and are properly installed in their appropriate slot.

3. Double check to make sure that you’ve removed the tape over the vent if you installed a new cartridge.

4. Check if the vents of the cartridges are clogged. You can fix this by gently using a pin to clean up the clog on the vent.

5. Try using a different ink cartridge to determine if your printer is able to recognize cartridges. If your printer used to work with an old cartridge, try installing that old cartridge again and see if your printer produces any sort of output–any shade of gray will do.

We just need to determine whether if it’s the cartridge or the printhead that’s causing problems. If your printer is able to print something with the old cartridge, then it’s not the printhead. Rather, your new black cartridge may be faulty and needs to be replaced. But if your printer still won’t print with the old cartridge, then the next step is —

Check Your Printhead

1. If switching ink cartridges doesn’t work, the next thing to check is your printhead. Make sure your printheads aren’t clogged. Check out how our video below to learn how to run the automatic printhead cleaning function on an Epson printer. The steps are similar for most other printer models, consult your printer’s user guide for specific steps for your machine. If running the automatic printhead cleaning feature once doesn’t work, run it again a second or third time. There’s a limit to how many times you can run the automatic cleaning feature. Not to mention, running the automatic printhead cleaning function uses up a lot of ink!

I hope all these methods will be helpful!

Mark Wilson