Can my printer print BLACK without my COLOR CARTRIDGES running out?

[Bob_Headrick]

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@Bundaboy wrote:

No it can't - the printer needs to be switched on for maintenance - mine is switched off for weeks at a time and is only switch on for a run - now please don't split hairs - it makes no difference whatsoever whether the maintenance is performed immediately before, during, or immediately after a print - if the heads can survive for weeks without maintenance then why does it need to be performed for every print run?

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The printhead needs to be serviced with every print job because the printhead is waving around in the air instead of being capped in the protective service station. The tiny nozzles and quick drying inks used in modern printers may clog in less than thirty seconds if there were no servicing.

The document here describes how ink is used.  While the document is written for HP Inkjet printers the same principles apply to inkjet printers from other manufacturers.

[george-p]

Hi @Chaz_1971 ,

I have sent you a private message. If you are not sure how to check your private messages then this post has instructions that will guide you through the process.

Regards,
George

[MGS888]

This unscrupulous and greedy business is not just HP's doing, all the major inkjet printers are doing the same, and the newer the printer the less amount of ink you are going to get. The inability to print black text when the colour runs out is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE in this day and age and the manufacturers should be ashamed of themselves.

 Many moons ago in the Win XP days I had an HP970cxi (when printers were really good) and it was a great printer, yes the inks were expensive but at least you got a lot of ink in them and could print greyscale/black without a colour cart. In the end and after 7 years of great printing I got fed up with having to replace the whole colour print cartridge/head at nearly £50 a time just because one of the colours ran out, so I decided to invest in a rather expensive  (no scan/copy etc) Canon Pixma ip4600 printer based on the excellent reviews and the 5 separate  ink cartridges, so the idea was you only replaced the colour that ran out, hmmm good idea but they all seemed to run out at exactly the same time, coincidence? I don’t think so, Yet another £50 spent after only 2- 3 months of very light use.

 To my horror this printer failed after only 12 months and Canon didn’t want to know. I even bought lots of spare Genuine inks when I got the printer which were now useless to me. It spent more time cleaning itself and wasting ink than any printer I know of and took so long to output a page I went and made a coffee while I waited (Seriously!)

Later, Just after installing some new cartridges and after only about 10-15 prints, 3 of my colour cartridges were indicating half full again, to say I was P***ed off was an understatement.

 There is no other reason for this other than to maximize their profits and it is totally unnaceptable and unnecassary. Yeah sure ...the price of the printer is (usually) cheap when you buy it and they make their money back on the inks, but the amount of ink they waste and the measly amount of ink in them (which is mostly a bit of sponge with a tiny drop of  ink) is simply a complete rip off and they know it, and we fall for it time and time again.

I'm sure if manufactures made quality printers and cartridges with a decent amount of ink in them (like in the older cxi970 days) and allowed black printing only when the colour ran out, people would be likely continue buying the inks until the printer eventually failed as this would keep people fairly happy, and probably entice users to buy another new printer of the same brand when needed. This would also help with minimizing Land-fill.

 This was the reason why I kept my HPcxi970 for 7 years, I was so happy with it! But, shareholders etc were not happy as the company were selling less printers and not making enough money on the inks alone (VERY FUNNY!) so not being satisfied by ripping us all off for the inks! they actually decided to design the new printers to FAIL after a short time (just after the warranty ends) so now you have to go and buy a new printer every 1-2 years. Now your left with a load of spare cartridges you bought and another piece of junk to dispose of. GREED, GREED AND MORE GREED, No wonder sales of Inkjet printers has steadily declined.

 After my Canon failed an I.T Guy loaned me a small Samsung ML2510 mono Laser printer as I mainly print in black text and it was a complete revelation, pages spewed out almost immediately & with lightning speed and razor sharp jet-black prints -perfect!. and no time wasting maintenace rubbish either. After using it for a few days I was so impressed I went out and bought one (Less than 100 quid) and that was me DONE with INKJET printers for good. Never looked back, and I will never buy another inkjet printer from ANY manufacturer as long as I live. The old HP 970cxi still works BTW and I was more than happy to give it away to a friend.

                                          ******* BUY AN INKJET PRINTER AT YOUR PERIL ********  

The ONLY way to teach these greedy B*****ds a lesson is NOT to BUY THEM AT ALL. Go to a library , supermarket, local Newsagent or drug store and print off your work from a usb key, or if you run a small business go down the Laser jet route instead, the prices have dropped to reasnable levels these days.

[bunnyisold]

 even if the black was empty but in the machine.  I could just start usint dark blue.  

I just gought a hp officejet 6600 and i am so disappointed.  It makes so much noise and so many things move around in it and i just read where if one of the little individual color cartridges ran out nothing will print.  Even if the black is fine it won't even print black.  CAN THAT BE  LEAGAL???

Is there a printer out there that was originally build 5 - 10 years ago that only used two cartriges, a color and a black.  I have only printed 20 pages or less since i set it up the end of December,  I have to go to the online manual to find out how to change them or pull them to see if there is still ink in them.

thank you so much

[Bob_Headrick]

HP makes different  printers for different jobs as discussed in my post from September here.

HP still makes printers with two cartridges (a tri-color and a black cartridge) that allow printing with one or more colors empty, or even with one cartridge removed completely.  Examples include the following:

Deskjet 1010

Officejet 100 Portable 

Envy 5660

Envy 7640

Officejet 8040

[bunnyisold]

THANKS FOR THE LIST OF PRINTERS.  I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS 6600 - ALL THE NOISE MEANS LOTS OF MOVEMENT SO IT WILL WEAR OUT IN 6 MONTHS.  I HAD AN OLD OFFICE JET 6200 SERIES.  THINK IT WAS 6210.  LASTED OVER 8 YEARS AND FINALLY BROKE IN HALF.  THE HEAVY GLASS FOR THE SCANNER WAS JUST LAYING ALL THE WAY BACK AND THE CORNERS WHERE THE INFO TRANSMITTED WERE BROKEN OFF THE MAIN PART.

HAD I KNOWN THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW I WOULD HAVE FOUND AN OLD PRINTER ON GRAIGS LIST. 

THINK I WILL GO LOOK RIGHT NOW.  THX AGAIN, MARCIA IN IDAHO

[kittykatt]

I've got an HP photosmart 2575 all in one printer. It keeps telling me there is a problem with the colour cartridge. I don't see how there can be a problem, as I only changed it a couple of weeks ago, and have hardly used it since, but I have taken it out, put it back in, run the "cleaning" function, but no joy.  I have a letter to print and a document to photocopy before the post goes in about a couple of hours time. I HAVE managed to print the letter. I took the colour cartridge out and changed the printer settings to "print in grayscale",and it printed successfully without the colour cartridge,  but the photocopying but won't work either with the colour cartridge in place, or with it taken out. Please can someone help with a way to get it to make a black and white copy?

[MGS888]

Make sure you buy genuine HP cartridges, It looks like there is a fault with your cartridge, the only way round it is to buy another new one but a genuine HP part this time. I know they are expensive but the cheaper compatible carts are not much cop and do oftem cause problems.

[Lisa1220]

This is how I feel. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever black ink needs to be mixed with colors to show up black. The other way to gouge customers---steal---is to sell the color packs as a set. They do not run out at the same rate but you must buy them all when one runs out. 

[Bob_Headrick]

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@Lisa1220 wrote:

This is how I feel. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever black ink needs to be mixed with colors to show up black. The other way to gouge customers---steal---is to sell the color packs as a set. They do not run out at the same rate but you must buy them all when one runs out. 

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Please read this post then provide some details.  What printer model?   

HP and other printer manufacturers have different printer technologies for different needs.  For inkjet printers:

• Some have printheads built into the ink cartridges.  These printers can typically print with one or more of the colors completely empty, or even with color or black (but not both) cartridges removed. The Officejet 8040 is an example.

• Other printers have separate ink supplies and replaceable printheads.  An example would be the Officejet 7110 printer.  The printhead in these printers can be replaced if they are damaged by running the printhead with colors out.  Some of these printers will allow printing with a color out, other will not.  If the printer is run without ink in one or more colors the printer may be damaged, but the user may be able to recover without having to send the printer for service.

• Other printers have permanent printheads.  To run these without some ink in all the colors would risk causing damage to the printhead due to clogs, air ingested in the printhead or burned out printhead firing resistors. The Officejet 6700 is an example of this type of printer. For printers with fixed printheads this could require service to get the printer to print properly again when the ink is finally replaced.  

The document here describes how ink is used.  While the document is written for HP Inkjet printers the same principles apply to inkjet printers from other manufacturers.

If you never print in color a laser printer would likely be a better choice.  If you occasionally print color but mostly black an IPH printer like those in the first category above may be a good choice.

I have never seen a case where the cartrdiges are sold only as a set, although there are cartridges that can be bought in a set (as well as by individual cartrdiges).  The set of cartrdiges is typically cheaper than buying the cartridges individually.