Pen Failures
My HP Deskjet 5150 suddenly decided to stop printing the other day. It reported a “Pen Failure”. The little ink light on the front of the printer started blinking as well.
It happened just before I went to print out some driving directions, so it was rather inconvenient. I decided I’d try HP’s website to explain the error, because it’s rather cryptic, even for me.
That was totally fruitless. I resorted to fruitless Google searching. A couple people complained about it, but no definite answer was found. The best I could find was an ink module issue.
I pulled out my black ink cartridge and it stopped the blinking. My Powermac also stopped giving errors. I went down to Wallyworld and bought a new model 56 print cartridge. I put it in and all was well. Apparently the solution to a “Pen Failure” is a new print cartridge. Too bad HP doesn’t explain this.
God I feel for you…..Wallyworld, on a Friday evening no less.
Funny that not any of us need to print driving directions to get THERE lol.
I suppose there are some soccer moms who need the GPS color LCD screen with the lady with the British accent guiding them as they traverse the urban jungle in the Range Rover to find the nearest Wallyworld.
Sounds sexual, not a problem you wanna talk about having.
Ouch, it burns!
Leave it to me to post off topic and be misconstrued as having prurient intentions…..BUT if you’ve heard the British lady’s accent as she tells you when and what direction to turn, ya can’t help but wonder….is she hot?
Had the same problem with my HP Deskjet 5700. Replacing the cartridge seemed to do the trick… Thanks for the help!
We just experienced ‘Pen” failure with our HP 5550. Thanks for the heads up on how to fix it. Turns out the color cartridge was faulty. Thanks.
ALSO>>> BEFORE changing any ink cartridges, you may want to try removing both the b/w and color cartridge and putting them back in, and closing the cover. When you do that, the printed looks at them again, possibly reinitiating them, identifying them, inviting them in for a sandwich and a cold beer, who knows….but when i did this, my printed started printing again with no errors or problems. Good luck.
~mw
i have the same probem. Pen failure (model hp 5150) i also buy a new ink cartridge, but i have the sam failure again. what should i do now?
WOW thanx a lot…. i had new ink cartridge installed and forever couldn’t figure-out why PEN FAILURE kept popping up everytime i tried to print…. went and purchased a pricey new ink cartridge thanx to your suggestion and all is well now ! Mahalo !!!!
Thanks a lot! Just changed black cartridge, got pen failure, tried the removal of both cartridges - that did not work, then put in other new black cartridge… bingo!
I solved the problem of 5150 pen error too! I just remove new ink cartridges pulled out the power cords, and took a hammer to the deluxe 5150. Very cathardic because now i dont have to agonize over the pen failure error because i have removed any hope of my printer working again. Thus assuring I shall not have to waste any more time with such an inferior product.
thanks- 1 less problem today
p.s. any one want to buy a brand new 56 and 57 cartridge and i ll throw in the other 57 cartridge that is probably almost full too because the error message was so bogus, All three cartridges for $30 beans. Please act now cuz my hammer is getting antzy.
zac
Pen failure problem with HP 5650 solved by taking both cartridges out and reinserting, then putting heavy box on top of printer just about cartridges since lid didn’t seem to be firmly closed enough. Pen failure message comes every time you replace a spent cartridge, but the highly technical box on top of printer approach seems to work. Slow, noisy, messy and unreliable printer, however ; would never but HP again.
I had the same “Pen Failure” problem, was similarly angered with HP for not explaining it, and eventually stumbled on the solution of a new ink cartridge. HP really needs to to have better error messages! That’s unacceptable. If the printer is out of ink, why on earth would they cryptically say there’s a “Pen Failure” instead of “Replace Cartridge”?
[...] http://godlikenerd.com/weblog/2005/09/24/pen-failures/ [...]
Thanks to you all for your messages and help. While on hold for over 20 minutes with the HP gang, and being passed to 3 people in India and finally ’sent back’ to the US because I have a Mac, I stumbled on your site in search of what “Pen Failure” means. I pulled out a spare cartridge and voila - and about then I finally got some help, from someone I could actually understand, and he said I should try a new cartridge. He agreed it would be nice if that information was in the manual, or on their website. My blood pressure was rising, but all is well now.
Thanks for the best, fastest tekkie response I’ve ever found! HP should hire you guys…
“Pen Failure”…replaced both cartridges, still getting error message…
Thank you so much for the tip about holding the cover done. I was getting an error message about the pen cover being open, which of course it wasn’t. The only thing that finally worked was holding the lid down while it printed. But then a new error message appeared: banner eject. However, it printed the page and held it until I yanked it out. I hate this hp deskjet 5150, but am happy to have found a place to help me try to figure out its’ problems.
hello got a prompt saying th eprinter was not compatible with the cartridge, which had worked fine up to now. Unplugged printer bought new cartridge. Tried again. Still flashes, won’t print, and has prompt ‘pen failure’ at one time. Any suggestions are appreciated
[...] About Failure fix Sponsored by: Motime.com/Failure+fix/ • Found on Ads by Google d00dism » Pen Failures Sep 24, 2005 … We just experienced Pen failure with our HP 5550. Thanks for the heads up on [...]