Deskjet 840C - replaced black cartridge, now the orange LED is blinking and won't print

[James Sweet]

My Deskjet 840C printer has been great, until now I've never had a problem
with it. Black ink ran out, started fading then only a few streaks of black.
I popped in a new cartridge and now it just sits there blinking the orange
(bottom) LED and makes a soft clunk every 10 seconds or so. I've tried power
cycles, unplugging it, putting the old cartridge in, etc. Anyone seen this
before? I know it's cheap to just go buy a new printer but it bugs me to
just toss it out when it's been working fine and I have a few spare
cartridges.

 

[b]

My Deskjet 840C printer has been great, until now I've never had a problem
with it. Black ink ran out, started fading then only a few streaks of black.
I popped in a new cartridge and now it just sits there blinking the orange
(bottom) LED and

I had this same problem with my 930c; turned out the replacement cart
wasn't an exact match. try another.

-B

 

[Pinballer]

when you put the old one back in does the orange light go out and the
printer act normail. I have the 842C and went through the exact same thing
and the new cart. was bad. Put another in and all was fine.

 

[James Sweet]

when you put the old one back in does the orange light go out and the
printer act normail. I have the 842C and went through the exact same thing
and the new cart. was bad. Put another in and all was fine.

Well dang, it does! I had initially thought the old cart did the same thing
but when I put it back in the light keeps blinking because it's empty but
the printer otherwise works.

Now the dilemma, do I buy a new black cartridge for half what a whole new
printer costs or do I just buy a new printer? I hate to junk one that works
but the cartridges are stupid expensive and I've had bad luck with refills.

 

[Pinballer]

buy the cart. off of ebay. You can get a black one for as little as $2 plus
$3 for shipping. You can even buy then in matched sets of black and color
for $15 shipped.

 

[Michael Kennedy]

buy the cart. off of ebay. You can get a black one for as little as $2
plus $3 for shipping. You can even buy then in matched sets of black and
color for $15 shipped.

If you decide to junk it send it my way.

- Mike