Melvac,

Are you using Dell Series 5 ink cartridges, refilled or generic brand?

If you unplug the printer from the wall and remove the power brick for 60 seconds, this will reset any error messages the printer has. I would then plug everything back in.

Power on the printer. 

Open the printer(with the power on) and take out the Dell Series 5 black cartridge and then reseat it. I would then take out the color Dell Series 5 ink cartridge and reseat it. Now close the printer and it will print an alignment page.

Any error messages?

black cartridge = black side(left side)          color cartridge = color side(right side)

photo cartridge = black side(left side)          color cartridge = color side(right side)

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges have a sensor in them that cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges .

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.

It's possible to get a Dell Series 5 ink cartridge with a bad sensor. I would that these back to the place of purchase for a replacement or a refund.

Rick

Hi, Yes I am using genuine Dell Ink purchased from Staples.

I have tried your steps but I still receive the same error.

Anything else I can try?

Melvac,

Dell 946 Printer?

Dell Series 5 ink cartridge?

Any of the cartridges Photo?

Rick

Hi Rick, yes I have a Dell 946 AIO Printer.

I have full Del Series 5 ink cartridges. 1-Black and 1-Color  No Photo

Melvac,

Unplug the printer from the wall. Now remove the power brick for 60 seconds. This will reset any error messages the printer is getting.

Power on the printer. 

Open the printer(with the power on) and take out the Dell Series 5 black cartridge and then reseat it. I would then take out the color Dell Series 5 ink cartridge and reseat it. Now close the printer and it will print an alignment page.

Any error messages?

black cartridge = black side(left side)          color cartridge = color side(right side)

photo cartridge = black side(left side)          color cartridge = color side(right side)

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges have a sensor in them that cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges .

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.

It's possible to get a Dell Series 5 ink cartridge with a bad sensor. I would that these back to the place of purchase for a replacement or a refund.

Rick

My cartridges are installed properly.  I unpluged the printer from the wall and removed the brick.  After pluging everthing back in and removing and reinstalling them I get an error1203 which is a short in the black cartrige.  Given that this printer is 7 years old and this is the second time this has happened, what do you suggest?  Replace the cartrige or the printer?   Roger

Roger,

Error 1203 is a very interesting error code. Here is what I found out about error 1203



Error 1203 is a very interesting cartridge error. It means your cartridges overflow even from brand new cartridges after a several prints or right after you refilled the cartridges. Check to see if ink are smeared on the holder where the contact panel with the cartridge


Solution:
I use the lint free cloth(coffee filter work great) with a few drops of water to dampen and clean off those contact on the holder and my printer work again.
Then before you print anything, you should run aligned the cartridges a couple times then run clean cartridges a couple times.
Print the test page to see how it's look and way you go.
Be sure not to leave any debris of lint free cloth(coffee filter work great on those holder contact panel.

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges have a sensor in them that cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges .

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.