Officejet 6700 Premium says color cartridge is depleted and won't print at all

[BoydJones]

HP - give us a clear answer.  Can we print with only the black ink cartridge or not?  I remember in previous HP printers one could leave the color ink cartridges depleted or empty and still print in black.  Did you change this?  If so, why?  It seems very usurious.

Your answer about needing yellow for a true black color is unacceptable and I think most of us will be happy with a quasi-black color.  It is unacceptable that we have to purchase your very expensive color ink cartridges when we only want to print in black...

Please respond ASAP or I will return my 6700 to Costco posthaste.   I will then avoid all HP products in the future (what choice do you leave us?)

[OrnahP]

BoydJones,

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums. I'm sorry but this is a peer-to-peer community of HP customers, and not a venue to contact HP directly. Most of the users here are consumers like yourself who are offering solutions because they like to help others, and any HP employees you see are here on their own capacity and not representing the company.

If you have additional or direct feedback for HP about their products or services, or questions about repair, you can use the link below for contact information.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

If you have other questions and concerns about using the forum, please feel free to send me a private message.

[slclark3]

Ornah,

I'm the originator of this forum thread, and even though you are the "moderator", I have to disagree with your comment, even if it may have some truth in principle.

When I made my original complaint, Shirlzz1 graciously referred me to someone inside HP who could help me find a solution, and I was subsequently contacted via Private Message by the referred person at HP. So the comment that this is strictly a peer-to-peer forum was not true in my case, as I was able to reach someone at HP.

Granted, the problem still remains with the toner issue, as it appears to be a design flaw, but at least I was offered a "workaround" that was satisfactory for the time being. No one else except for someone inside HP would've been authorized to do this.

[BoydJones]

Hi guys.  Well, I'm certainly not trying to rock any boats here -- apologies if it was inappropriate for me to assume HP is involved with this site, etc. -- just expressing my frustration.

I had a robust dialogue with HP Support on Twitter.  It seems like we are all stuck with having to purchase expensive ink to even print in black only -- even though I remember the good old days when it was not thus.

I think you can click on this link to my first tweet to HP Support and then read the whole discussion.  Guess I'm going to print much less (although I almost never used color ink and it all got depleted somehow magically...)

😞

[Personal Information Removed]

[jason_h]

Hey BoydJones,

I see you are having an issue with your Officejet 6700 Premium and have a few questions.  There are 2 major types of ink systems for inkjet model printers: IPH (integrated printhead) and IIC (individual ink cartridges).  Many older model printers used the IPH style cartridge system: Tri-Color and Black.  Most newer printers use the IIC system, but not all.

There was a reason for the paradigm shift in the ink systems.  The tri-color cartridge contained all 3 colors used in color printing: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow.  If any one of the 3 ran out, then you had to replace the cartridge no matter how much of the other 2 remain in the cartridge.  In the IIC system one can change only the individual color that is out.

As to the reason your color is draining from what appears to be little color usage:  The printer uses ink in many ways.  Ink is used when cleaning the printhead to ensure proper performance in print jobs, a small amount of color ink is placed below black ink to ensure a full rich black color and a long lasting printout, and ink is used to perform other preventative maintenance in the printer.  For more information on how ink is used in HP printers please click here.

The reason one has to change the cartridge in the IIC style ink system is to prevent damage to the printhead of the unit by ink drying in the ports of the printhead.  The printhead in the 6700 premium is a stationary/permanent printhead and any damage of this nature could prevent the unit from printing at all.  In the 2 cartridge, IPH, system the printhead is contained with the cartridge and replaced with each cartridge change.  Thus, if one runs out of color and waits to replace the cartridge there will not be an issue of dried ink in the ports as the printhead is changed with the cartridge.

I hope this helps to explain and clarify.  As well, I saw your post and forwarded it to the right people for their review. You should hear back from someone shortly via private message on this Forum.

Jason

[ArteestHistoria]

I have an HP at home and work and I have the same issue. We NEVER use color at work, but to get the all-in-one fax/scanner/printer machines it takes color too. We print faxes and copies constantly. Always black. But now it won't copy because a color is empty.

I have the same problem with my home one. And the worst part, I specifically asked the sales person if this printer will work without color ink!!!

[slclark3]

Jason_h,

While I understand your explanation for the functional change, the problem most of us are frustrated with, is that the User Guide specifically says the printer will continue to function if a color cartridge is depleted, as long as the black one isn't. But that's not what happens!

Here's the exact text from the User Guide (page 74):

"The printer can still operate when the black ink cartridge or one or more color ink cartridges are depleted, but it will print more slowly. Also, the quality of printed documents might be affected.

The printer will not be able to print when both the black cartridge and a color cartridge are depleted.

• If the black cartridge is depleted, any black color in printed documents is created using a combination of the remaining colors. As a result, blacks might not appear to be as dark.
• If a color cartridge is depleted, the printer will print in grayscale using the black cartridge."

So, bascially, the User Guide is a lie.

For people who actually research this before making their buying decisions, and then it turns out not to be the case, it is a real problem. Doesn't not look good on HP - how else would customer trust what you say is true if what is in clear, plain ink isn't true?

[jason_h]

I do not represent or speak on behalf of HP.  I am merely trying to explain the functional nature of the unit.  I have reported this information to the correct people, but this is far as my abilities reach in that regard.

I understand the frustrations.  I hope the explanation of functionality is clear and reasoning behind.

Jason

[JKL1234]

I have also had the same issue and also feel the manual blatantly lied to me. It seems as if HP is more interested in the print quality (not wanting blacks to appear "murky") and selling more ink than allowing the customer to decide how they want to use the product...

Also, I don't print very much but have noticed that every time I turn on the printer (maybe once every 2-3 weeks), the printer goes into a fairly lengthy maintenance routine in which it makes a lot of noise  and ultimately results in one of my ink cartridges being depleted.... Seems a little over engineered for someone that was just looking to print, scan, and copy basic documents.

Buyer Beware - anyone looking for a printer, I wouldn't recommend this one. It has all the "bells and whistles," but fails to meet this customer's most basic needs - being reliable!

[AFreddie]

We have changed the Magenta and now the yellow is out... we've replaced it too.  and the printed won't print anything.  It is less than a year old.  It won't update the levels on the supplies. This is realy frustrating.

I can't find anything to fix this...