No black ink printing

[Philster]

My wife informs me that our printer stopped printing/copying pages unless she copies in color. In black printing/copying it doesn't print. Sadly she tells me about 2 months after it starts so now I'm wondering if there is some dried ink in some part of the printer. I put in new cartridge and refilled color cartridge. Color still works but black print won't. Any ideas on what I could try? FYI - this is a Lexmark Z82 with most current driver.

[curtybob]

yeah, my neighbor just had this problem with his, and he had to clean the contacts inside the cartridge carriage. if you usually refill your cartridges, you are probably not careful enough not to touch the contacts on the cartridge. when you put them back into the carriage, all the schmootz from your cartridge gets on the contacts in the carriage, and the schmootz from your fingers can have everything from oils to sweat, all of which can contain acids that can corrode the contacts enough not work properly.

first open it up so that the carriage moves out to the middle where you can work on them, then unplug the printer from the PC and the wall.

then, rub the contacts with a nice clean piece of printer paper. this should have enough grit to take out any corrosion without sanding the contacts away.

then use some rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip to clean them really good. let it dry out, then replace the cartridges (clean them the same way) and plug it back in. if this don't work, then there is probably a problem with either the cartridges or the printer.

[Disk_Contented]

Ink has dried inside the printer.
Assuming the printhead is seperate from the cartridge, i would inject JR Inkjet flush into the old cartridge and put it back into the printer. Leave it to stand for an hour or two, then run several cleaning cycles.
Once the ink comes through (if it does) replace your new cartridge and clean again until the print quality is restored.
If this does not work. Then i expect a new printhead is required. (i would try the first suggestion repeatedly).
Ink cartridges should be replaced immediately if possible.
Your cartridges can be refilled rather than buying replacements (which for the Lexmark are very expensive), however, again the cartridge should not be refilled if it has been empty for more than a couple of days.