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Dell All-in-One Printer suddenly not printing Black
Hello Dell community - I'm suddenly having a problem with my Dell All-In-One printer, and I was hoping maybe someone here knows how I could fix it.
I went to print a word document earlier today, and it started printing last page to first. The last page had very little on it, but it printed fine. The next page, the ink suddenly had white lines through some, printed most of a paragraph fine, printed half a page lightly and kept getting lighter until it stopped altogether at the middle of the page. I checked, but according to the print properties there is still two thirds of a black ink cartridge left. I tried printing a test page, and while it printed a faint outline around the black area the black did not print. The black does print on the alignment page, as it has printed two of those. I tried cleaning the cartridge, printing another test page, and physically cleaning the cartridge as recommended in the help file.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Is there anything else I should try?
For system specs: The printer is a Dell 926 Photo All-In-One Printer, Scanner, and Fax. It connects to an IBM Thinkpad laptop running Windows XP Pro Service pack 3. This is the first time it has given me a problem. If I've left out anything, please let me know.
ETA: I just plugged it back in and turned it on to try and scan something, to be sure that the rest of the printer's functions were working. It began printing an alignment page once it was turned on, then the message came across the screen of the printer that I needed to remove the tape from the cartridge. These are the same two cartridges as earlier, and I have printed with them before. I turned it off and back on, and it tried again. I canceled the print, and tried the scan, which worked just fine.
PudgyOne
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May 30th, 2010 11:00
Phenyx,
Can you copy a document, when you put it under the glass? B&W and color?
Rick
Phenyx
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May 30th, 2010 12:00
I tried doing a copy right after reading your post. Color copy worked just fine, while b&w printed a blank page.
What it is doing right now is every time that I turn the printer on, it starts printing an alignment page, then complains on the printer's screen that there is an alignment problem and I need to either remove the tape or check troubleshooting. There does not seem to be anything wrong with the alignment, as after I canceled the alignment print and copied the test page I whipped up it printed the copy page just fine. It is also printing the alignment pages just fine, with the black stripes intact - though I suspect that may be the work of the color cartridge. I have checked the cartridges a few times now, but there is nothing on them.
PudgyOne
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May 30th, 2010 12:00
Phenyx,
Start, control panel, printers, your printer, printer preferences, advanced. make sure the complete a print boxes are unchecked.
I suspect that the Black Dell Series 9 ink cartridge.
Unplug the printer from the wall. Now remove the power brick from the back of the printer for 60 seconds. Plug everything back in. This will reset any error messages the printer has.
Power on the printer. Open the printer and take out the Dell Series 9 Black cartridge. make sure all the tape is off the cartridge and put the cartridge back in. Now do the same for the Dell Series 9 color cartridge.
You are using Dell Series 9 ink cartridges, correct?
Dell Series 9 ink cartridges have a sensor in them that cannot be reset. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges.
Dell Series 9 ink cartridges can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's Website.
Black cartridge = black side(left side) Color cartridge = color side(right side)
Photo cartridge = black side(left side) Color cartridge = color side(right side)
It is possible to get a Dell Series 9 cartridge with a bad sensor. Contact the place of purchase for a replacement.
Rick
Phenyx
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May 30th, 2010 17:00
I did as you suggested. The printer is still printing a print alignment page as soon as it starts with the same message, no matter how many times I try. These are not new cartridges and I have checked them multiple times. The boxes you mentioned are not checked. The ink cartridges are the series 9 ones that you mentioned, they came with the printer, which has printed using them before this. They have no tape or anything else on them. It did not start doing this until after I had checked the cartridges the first time around and it just won't let up.
PudgyOne
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May 31st, 2010 08:00
Phenyx,
Cartridges do get old and dried out. It is possible for a cartridge sensor to fail. You can try Cleaning Dell ink cartridges it may or may not work. Usually when you see an ink cartridge starting to get lighter and lighter is a sign it's running out of ink. The rest of the ink could be dried and an error message then starts.
If almost new, take back to place of purchase for a replacement. If really old, I'd consider replacing the faulty one.
Rick
Phenyx
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May 31st, 2010 15:00
It would seem that the cartridge and/or its sensor was the culprit, as you guessed. While we were out today, I picked up a new black cartridge. After I put it in, it printed the alignment page (this time with lots more black than before) and the message was "Alignment Finished". I turned it off and back on, but it didn't seem interested in printing another alignment page. Seems that did the trick. Thanks very much for your help! I didn't know before this about the sensors that were in the cartridges, and had forgotten the power block came out of the back. That should be helpful for later on. Thanks again!
PudgyOne
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May 31st, 2010 19:00
Phenyx,
Glad you got it working! :emotion-21: Thanks for posting back.
Take care,
Rick
This thread is locked, due to age.
If you need assistance, please create a new thread in the proper Dell Support Forum
Thank you