Resurrecting a DeskJet 610c

[techpro]

I have an HP DeskJet 610c printer which has been used for little more
than printing an invoice a month for several years. A few months the
colour stopped working. It is no longer possible to buy replacement
cartridges for it retail so eventually I sent off for two pairs of
remanufactured cartridges. I put the colour one in and that worked
fine.

The black seemed to be getting faint so I put one of the new black
cartridges in and now it doesn't print black at all. The test page
prints, but nothing from Word unless I colour the text something other
than black. I ran a cleaning cycle but nothing appeared where the
blacck should be at all.

I replaced the old black cartridge which still seemd to have a drop of
ink in it, but it didn'#t return even to the original condition. I
even opened the other new black catrtridge and tried that, to no
avail.

Has anyone any suggestions to get the black printing working again?

 

[measekite]

I has a HP500. The 610 is not much better. It is like using a reilic.
You can get any modern brand of printer (including a Canon IP4300 for
under $60 on sale after rebgate) that is light years ahead of what you
have. It just is not worth it to waste your time with what you have.
Besides it is costing you more.

 

[TJ]

I have an HP DeskJet 610c printer which has been used for little more
than printing an invoice a month for several years. A few months the
colour stopped working. It is no longer possible to buy replacement
cartridges for it retail so eventually I sent off for two pairs of
remanufactured cartridges. I put the colour one in and that worked
fine.

The black seemed to be getting faint so I put one of the new black
cartridges in and now it doesn't print black at all. The test page
prints, but nothing from Word unless I colour the text something other
than black. I ran a cleaning cycle but nothing appeared where the
blacck should be at all.

I replaced the old black cartridge which still seemd to have a drop of
ink in it, but it didn'#t return even to the original condition. I
even opened the other new black catrtridge and tried that, to no
avail.

Has anyone any suggestions to get the black printing working again?

Since it's a choice between trying something and simply chucking
everything, and you already bought some cartridges, you have little to
lose by trying something. You can still chuck the printer if nothing
works. Remanufactured carts do fail, but to have two of them fail the
same way so closely together is highly unusual.

If the same black cart was in the printer for years, some dirt or
corrosion may be on the contacts of the cartridge carriage. I would
suggest a good cleaning of those contacts. I would also clean the
contacts on the cartridges you tried in the printer, since they may now
have been contaminated. A Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol may do the
trick, but if it doesn't, come back here and perhaps someone else could
suggest something more aggressive. I've heard of mixtures of water,
alcohol, and ammonia too, but I don't know the proportions.

If there's nothing to do that won't cost you more than you've already
spent, it's time to get another printer.

TJ