Mt Lexmark Z52 printer is printing very poorly in black, despite it having a very new cartridge. I have cleaned the printer heads at least a dozen times, but no progress. I have to set it to Maximum to get a readable copy. The color prints fine. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I got the same printer and have had the exact same problem so just went out and bought an epson printer i know this doesent solve your problem but i think it is most likely to be a bad cartridge is it and original? because thats why i suggest a new printer as lexmark are very dear cartridges and i have never seen cheap compatibles for them and with this epson i can buy black compatible cartridge for £3.99 and on my lexmark they cost £25 unless you now of somewhere who does lexmark compatibles?

uffffff first of all this is a very crap printer.... in the past I buy one. and the truth this is somethin like a 1 year usable printer (disposable printer) too cheap to last sorry man....... my advise is to buy hp or epson printer

It is a decent printer but the ink is real expensive. Is it a very new out of the package or very new not hardly used since you bought it 6 months ago ink? I have found when the ink sits for a long time they barely work and can rarely be cleaned enough to work right. Also my friend has thrown away 2 HP printers in the time I have had my 1 Z52 Lexmark (2 years) and it's still going strong.

Have you tried a different cartridge? I would recommend trying a new one if you're willing to gamble on wasting 30 bucks or so. I don't know about the Z52 printer being a "crap printer" but I have been using a Z22 for several years and have been satisfied with it. The cartridges are too expensive though.

My Z33 did the same thing when I moved and the printer wasn't used for 3 months. My solution was to soak the cartridges in water and when that didn't work I soaked 'em in Universal print cartridge cleaner. I'm ok for now but I'll give the printer to a neighbor when I run out of ink. Cryin' shame too...it prints really well. Back to hp. Skip