photosmart 6510 print with only black cartridge?

[fanglangzhe]

Hi, can the Photosmart 6510 print in black & white (not greyscale, but b&w only) when the black ink cartridge is not empty but all the other cartridges are? What if the color cartridges are not even installed, will it still print b&w?

[Shirlzz1]

You printer requires individual ink cartridges (IIC). What you are wanting to do is referred to as reserve mode.  that is where one can remove the cartridge and just print with the one that is remaining. Printers that can do that are the printers that have just the 2 print cartridges of black and tri-color.  You can look in print settings and set the printer to black ink only under the grayscale option to help conserve ink but your printer requires the ink for other reasons beyond printing, like for calibration and printhead health.  Here is a link to a document that explains how ink is used in printers besides just for printing. I am pulling the following quote from that document to post. But feel free to read the  whole document if you choose. 

"For users who wish to print utilizing just black ink (despite the reduced print quality), many HP printers offer options. For example, a driver color setting (by selecting "print in grayscale with the black cartridge only" in printing preferences) specifies printing using only black ink. In addition, many IPH printers can operate in "reserve mode," which allows the user to continue to print with just the black cartridge when the color cartridge is removed or not installed. In HP IIC systems, all supplies are required to be installed in the printer for the printer to function."

[fanglangzhe]

Thanks for the reply. The Photosmart 6510 uses 4 cartridges. So i guess all 4 need to be installed for the printer to print. But will it still print b&w if the black ink cartridge is full (or near full) but the 3 colored cartridges are empty (but still installed in the machine).

[Kryten · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The PS 6510 will not function if the colour cartridges are empty but the black has ink.

However, I think it may be possible to print using black ink only but there needs to be ink in the colour cartridges as well because when servicing occurs the colour cartridges need to use some ink in the printhead maintenance routines.  When the head is being maintianed if there was no colour ink present that part of the printhead would heat up too much or overheat.

Anyway, back to printing with black only.  You mention that you don't want t p rint in greyscale so therefore you know where to look in the driver to get to this option. So in Word, Excel or whatever program go to the print function.  Click on properties. Click on Advanced. You should see where you have greyscale.  If you clock on the option area it should reveal other options one of which will be "Black Only". Select this.

Like I said you should be able to print using black only but you will need ink in the colour cartridges.

Hope that this helps.

[kevmzie63]

can I put all 4 black inks instead of color?

[jason_h]

Hey kevmzie63,

The printer ink slots are keyed and a chip system is used to determine the inks.  The printer cannot use 4 black inks instead of the standard CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black).  If you are needing a black only printer, then I would advise looking into one of the monochromatic (black only) Laserjet models available.

Jason