Hp officejet pro 8500 premier all-in-one printer

Question

The above printer is 1 1/2 years old and it has stopped printing.  When the printing became light, I installed new print cartridges less than a week ago.  Now, after five days, the printer is consistently cleaning the print heads and aligning the print heads and my documents are not being printed.  And, what is most frustrating, during all the cleaning and aligning, all of my new ink is gone and I'm receiving a message replace ink cartridges.
Re: Problem with HP Officejet Pro 8500 printer: cleans printheads every time it's turned on
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08-24-2011 06:34 PM
Well,
to this is say, "get used to it", or throw it away.  Many, Many, Many people have had trouble with this printer.
The following are common and frustrating issues that this printer exhibits on a regular basis:
1.  Constant Self-Checking (usually every 20-30 pages of print)
2. Very persistant Printhead Cleaning/Checking, (Every startup and after about 20-30 pages printed).
3. Worn-out printheads (usually within 1,100 to 1,500 pages printed).
4. Paper mis-feeds. 
5. Paper jams.
6. Nearly impossible to use once the printer reports ink-depletion.
7. Nearly impossible to use CIS Ink for larger print jobs.
8. Ink and printheads "expire" regardless of when they are placed into service. (get a deal on ink or printheads last year?  Too bad, the warranty is already expired, most likely).
In short, this printer is the most EXPENSIVE printer I've ever owned, and the most frustrating to use. 
I have just over 2,000 pages of regular text printed matter with very little color, and have already gone through 4 sets of ink, and 2 sets of PrintHeads. 
Although it's true that you can leave the unit on, and let it go into standby, you should NOT be punished with constant and time-consuming "self-checking" everytime it's turned on, or prints a handful of pages, BUT, it does NOT appear that HP will be standing behind this printer disaster.  AND, to make things worse, they've gone on to redesign it, giving it a different look, and so there are about 6 different models/versions of the OfficeJet Pro 8500.
Anyone needing a reliable print/fax/scan/copy solution should look beyond this printer, because it will leave you wanting more, and spending more than you ever imagined you would have to on a late model printer.ro
What is going on?  Why does it just automatically clean and align?  I also get alignment failed messages.  Any suggestiions?  

Answer 1

rammerjammer,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention, your feedback is very important and I want to do my best to help.  To answer what is going on, since the printing became light, started cleaning itself constantly, and fails the alignment, the printhead was damaged.  Click here to see and use the Limited Warranty for HP Ink Cartridges, Printheads, and Related Supplies.  There are many ways to contact HP.  The number to call is 1-800-474-6836 for HP and Compaq products for Home & Home Office use.  If you no longer have a warranty with the printer you can still use the warranty that comes with the printhead or ink cartridges.
If you have a carepack with the printer that extended the one year warranty then the troubleshooting will be covered along with the printer if the printer needs replacing.  Check product warranty here, see HP Out of Warranty Support Options for Select HP Consumer Printers here.
To order a new printhead you can go to HP Sure Supply and enter your printer or go to the HP Parts Store and order the printhead by part number C4900A for the Black and yellow and part number C4901A for the Cyan Magenta.  These printheads go by region also so be sure you are using the right region, these were found using the United States region. 
The HP Officejet Pro 8500 Premier All-in-One printer has separated the ink cartridges from the printheads.  The ink cartridges are on the lower left and the removable print heads are on the carriage inside the printer.  The printer goes through a calibration process when turned on that will use ink.  Leave the printer on and let it go into stand by mode.  This type of printer is energy star efficient and made to calibrate on start up and be left on.  Allow the printer to clean or calibrate only if the printer must.  If it starts cleaning a lot it may be time to do a little maintenance to the printer (recommend once a month for maintenance).  Please see the following links for further details.
Cleaning the Printhead Contacts
Printer Paper Tears, Wrinkles, or is Damaged while Printing from the All-in-One
Paper Path Issues in the Automatic Document Feeder
Officejet Pro 8500 User Guide
The printer has a duty cycle of 7.5k page/month.  The XL cartridges have a composite page yield of 1.4k pages with about a third of the black ink left over.  To me it would seem that the printhead should last somewhere in between.  This printer was designed to save money on ink compared to the rest of the officejets.  I hate that it has been causing so much trouble, hopefully the information I provided will help.
HP Officejet Pro 8500 Premier (A909n) and 8500 Wireless (A909g) All-in-One Printers Product Specifications
Click here for page yield information.
Click the Kudos on the left side for helping and click Accept as Solution for providing a solution. I work for HP.
Best Regards,
Kenneth