Officejet 8500 won't print Black ink only if other colors are out

[Domainserv]

I can't believe I can't print in black and white on a 8250 when one of the colors is out. Totally frustrated with HP, moving to another manufacturer.

[Bob_Headrick]

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Domainserv wrote:

I can't believe I can't print in black and white on a 8250 when one of the colors is out. Totally frustrated with HP, moving to another manufacturer.

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HP, like other printer manufacturers, offers printers with permanent printheads that require ink for all the colors to keep from damaging the printheads.  HP, like some other manufacturers, also offers printers with user replaceable printheads.  These may of may not require ink in all colors to print, although damage may occur if printing with empty cartridge.  Finally, HP like a few other manufacturers also offers printers with the printhead built into the ink supply.  It is replaced at each cartridge change.  These printers will happily print with a supply low, empty or for many models even removed completely.

Your Photosmart 8250 is in the first category.  It uses permanent printheads that cannot be replaced.  If a supply is allowed to run out the printhead may be damaged, which would require service or replacement.

When you buy your next printer (from HP or another manufacturer) make sure you understand what the printer type is and pick one that matches your needs.

[Domainserv]

Bob, thanks for the reply. The frustration is that no one in the sales channel made it clear that this was the case. I never would have bought a printer with that design limitation if there was an alternative.

[MadMe]

This ticked me off soooo bad.  I had already set my printer to use "BLACK OLNY", I needed to print a boarding pass and just bacause the stupid yellow which I wasn't even using ran low, I nearly missed my flight.  I was ESTREAMLY TICKED OFF.   The purpose of the printer is to PRINT.  You should have warned us as one said,  IN BIG LETTERS

I take a knife and just cut the lable on both sides, then pry the front covering off with a knife (come off easy).  Then I cut a little peice of plastic out of a water bottle.  The roundness of the bottle tends to have just the right concave shape as the bladder roundness.  Then hold the plastic piece over the uninflated bladder and put the cover back on the hold it in place.  It works good.

Also you can put any cartridge in any slot just by swaping face plates.  So I have on that I keep after replacing it, and rigged it up.  When one runs out I just put this rigged one in.

[MGPG]

The really sad thing in all of this is that the 8500, like all of the HP printers I have owned, is a terrific product in every other way.  Nonetheless, when the time comes to purchase another printer, I will NOT purchase an HP.  

HP, you've lost a good and loyal customer.

[ronyfak]

I own a Officejet Pro 8500, first of all the printing quality is very good if you use the paper with the 'ColorLok' if you use normal paper that will do just fine with any other printer the result will be very bad with the 8500.

I ran out of yellow color, i then inserted a new yelow cartridge. I used it to print 2 pages. Few days after I started the printer and he go in this heavy cleaning process that take a lot of ink. But that time it take up to 5 minutes to clean the head! It was impossible to shutdown the machine and it didn't response to any button. I choose to disconnect the power cable directly. When i started it again it goes into the same cleaning process, 10 minutes after (still cleaning) it says the YELLOW ink is empty!!

It was a brand new that he suck it empty with only the cleaning task.

They say the printing quality is very good, but they don't say that you MUST use their more expensive paper.

They say it use very little amount of ink while printing but they don't say the cleaning will drink it all and they don't say the price of the cartridge is twice (or more) expensive than any other.

And while the black color is pretty full, it's always impossible to use it when another cartridge is 'near' (but not) empty.

I was very happy to buy it, but now it's the worst things I ever owned.

[angrycustomer12]

I have same problem. It is not rediculous, they are smart enough to dig out your money. I will never buy HP again

[honda4fun]

Same thing happened to me. I decided not to replace the expensive cartridges and instead buy another printer.

I contacted Canon and Kodak and they told me the same thing--once one ink tank is empty, the printer stops working. With the HP (I haven't tried it yet on my new Canon), I couldn't use the scanner either. Why, don't ask as it doesn't take any ink to scan. DUH!

Why I chose to stay away from HP printers, my last one is an OfficeJet 4580 and it was pricey. It was supposed to be Winodows 7 ready and when I bought my new compputer last month, it wouldn't work. I checked forums,... and many are having the same problem or if they do get the printer to work, the copier and scanner don't. Well, hello, that's why I bought that model. The two HP printers I had before this were made obsolete by a mandatory update--the scanner stopped working on both so I knew it wasn't a fault of the printer itself.--and I swear these ones' DID work when one cartridge was empty!

It is highway robbery...Sue  

[Bob_Headrick]

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honda4fun wrote:

Same thing happened to me. I decided not to replace the expensive cartridges and instead buy another printer.

I contacted Canon and Kodak and they told me the same thing--once one ink tank is empty, the printer stops working. [snip]

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As mentioned previously, there are different technologies for printhead design:

• Fixed printheads are not replaceable.  HP printers that use the 02 style have permanent fixed printheads.  The ink supplies are separate tanks connected with tubing to the printheads.  These printers will not print with an empty or missing cartrdige to protect the permanant printhead.
• User replaceable printheads with separate ink supplies.  Examples include the Officejet 8500 as well as most HP printers using the 564 style cartridges.  These have seperate ink supplies and printheads.  The printheads can be replaced by the user.  Some of these printers will allow printing with a low or empty ink supply, others will not.  In either case printing with a low supply may cause damage to the printhead.
• Integrated printheads, with the ink supply and the printhead integrated.  The printhead is replaced with every new cartridge.  Printers that use this technology typically will print even if one or more colors are empty, or on most models from the last half-dozen or so years with a cartrdige removed completely.  Example printers in this category are the Deskjet 6980 or the PSC printers such as the PSC 1510.

The different printer models have different strengths and weaknesses.  If printing even if one cartridge is empty is a factor for you I would suggest you pick a printer that has integrated printheads.

[MGPG]

Bob, I gave you a kudo for explaining the situation, but I am not willing to give one to HP.  

The company does not make clear these distinctions for consumers.  For those of us who have happily used HP printers for years, what would lead us to suspect that this radical (and very expensive) change had occurred?  

Thanks for the good advice regarding the next printer (which will not be an HP, in my case).