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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
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Count yourself lucky that you have the choice in Preference to print in Grayscale or Black Ink Only.  With my new HP 8625 those choices are NOT available in the Prefence menu.  I wouldn't care right now if I had to do this everytime, because I can ONLY print in COLOR.

 

I really dislike this printer.  I have owned only HP printers in over 15 years.  This one is going back to Costco and I am buying something different.

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No fixed for me yet! Lucky you.

HP Recommended

It wasn't a preference option, just came up when a color cartridge ran out in the middle of a print run (so I cancelled the print run as per the first error message, started a new print run and got another HP error message with the option to print in black only).

 

I've retrieved the old cartridge and hope to have time tomorrow to retest this.  Will let you know.

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I know how irritating this is BUT it has happened to me many times with EVERY BRAND OF PRINTER so before I'm going to slam one model or brand, I want to know if all the others still do the same thing.

 

I have had hp printers in the past that warn me that "yellow ink is low do you want to print anyway" and since I had not accidently tried to print I said yes and it printed (which I was very thankful for).

 

Something you can do in an emergency is highlight the text, change the font color to a dark blue and print that.

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How will you find another printer that doesn't do the same thing? Seriously they don't advertise it, I don't know how you can find out ahead of time. Seems like the best option is to have spare cartridges on hand when you hit the half full mark

HP Recommended

@jmohr wrote:

How will you find another printer that doesn't do the same thing? Seriously they don't advertise it, I don't know how you can find out ahead of time. Seems like the best option is to have spare cartridges on hand when you hit the half full mark


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

 

    • Some have printheads built into the ink cartridges, AKA IPH (integrated printhead).  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 Deskjet 6980 series is an example, or for an all-in-one see the Deskjet 2540.  IPH printers will typically have two cartridges, one black and one tri-color cartridge.
    • Other printers have separate ink supplies and replaceable printheads.  An example would be the Officejet 8600 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. Generally speaking, IPH printers will allow printing with depleted  cartrdiges, IIC printers will have issues.


Bob Headrick,  HP Expert

I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.

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Thanks, Bob, that provides the Technical reason. 

 

What it doesn't cover is why users are given no warning of this problem, either in the marketing material, or in the warning messages prior to the printer ceasing to print in black only (due to a color cartridge running out).

 

The machine may not be broken, but the user experience is and needlessly so.

 

The user experience can be fixed (perhaps not ideally, but at  least practically) by:

  1. Including a notice in the marketing/getting started material advising that to prevent printhead damage the 8600 requries in all four cartridges to print, even when printing in black only.
  2. Updating the ink low warning messages to warn that all printing, including black only printing, will stop when the cartridge runs out to prevent damage to the printhead (which, due to technical limitations, requires ink in all four lines even when printing in black only).

 

HP Recommended
To print only using a black ink cartridge out of colored, Email the document you want printed to your hpeprint.com email address (your printer's email address). Then on your computer, or phone, log into www.hpconnected.com. This will show any documents you sent to your hpeprint address. Select the document you want printed, click the print icon, and select black ink only. It will then print!!
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i did exactly that and it doesn't work!!

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Just wanted to add my "Me Too"...

I am not happy with the fact that my HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 will not print in "black ink only" when the yellow is out. I have owned MANY HP printers in the past and this has never been the case. I bought this printer solely because there were separate ink cartridges and I mostly use black ink so I could therefore replace only the cartridge I use the most. I understand that to keep the printheads from drying out, the printer always uses a little color ink in every print job. However, when a color runs out, I SHOULD still be able to print in black ink only. How about instead of completely shutting down the ability to print you give a warning: "you risk damaging the print heads if you continue to print in only black ink"? It should be MY decision if I want to take that risk. The printer's out of warranty anyway... it's not like you'd be responsible for fixing it.
In the meantime, I've bought cheap "remanufactured" ink for the Yellow.  But this is ridiculous and if I bought it at Costco, I'm returning it. And you can be sure I'll never buy another HP printer ever again.

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