HP Officejet Pro 8600 - Now won't print in Black Ink Only!

[edk630]

How do I set up the same on a mac. Icant seem to get to the that option

[Ericb_PRINTER]

I will never buy an HP product again because of this issue.  I only print in black, my black cartridge is NEW however my printer will not allow me to print because of the expiration date or toner level of the color cartridges.

Is it possible to update the drivers or printer software to work around this royal P.I.T.A?  I can purchase a basic printer for the same cost of the ink.  The individual cartridges are prohibitively expensive in comparison to the complete ink set which is wastefull because the cartridges never age at the same rate however any one cartridge will completely disable the printer.

This was obviously done to get more toner business but in hindsight they are destroying any chance of customer loyalty.   I feel this was not always the case and I think this new "feature" came to be after a software update. 

I WILL NEVER BUY AN HP PRODUCT AGAIN!

UPDATE: I found a fix, taking a sludge hammer to my printer cleared the printer error message.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@HATE_HP_PRINTER wrote:

I will never buy an HP product again because of this issue.  I only print in black, my black cartridge is NEW however my printer will not allow me to print because of the expiration date or toner level of the color cartridges. [snip]

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The discussion below does not just relate to HP printers, you will find the same issues with printers from any manufacturer.  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 below may be a good choice.  

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.

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 Deskjet 6980 series is an example, or for an all-in-one see the Officejet 8040.

• 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.  

[LisainIL]

This is just not true.  I have had other printers where this has not been the case.  I've even had other HP printers where this has not been the case and I have always bought printers where each color of ink is separate.  Always ran without the color ink - sometimes for long periods of time - sometimes for shorter.  I've never had to replace the print head (and they were replaceable but EXPENSIVE) and was never "told by the printer" that I couldn't print at all.  So clearly you CAN print without the color and probably for quite some time.  The printer is out of warranty after a year anyway so what difference does it make if the software would just let you print but give you a warning saying "you could be causing" permanent damage or something to that effect just so HP could cover their asses.

[olilynton]

Whether this is true of other printers or not is not the point. The fact there are other printers that do allow the choice. HP even say in their manuals that you have the choice. A Lle!

HP have decided, to ensure that they make more money, to set the firmware not to print unless certain criteria are met. This is a decision by HP purely fueld by the bottom line.

Goodbye HP.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@olilynton wrote:

Whether this is true of other printers or not is not the point. The fact there are other printers that do allow the choice. HP even say in their manuals that you have the choice. A Lle!

HP have decided, to ensure that they make more money, to set the firmware not to print unless certain criteria are met. This is a decision by HP purely fueld by the bottom line.

Goodbye HP.

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There are different printhead technologies, as I mentioned above.  Some will be damaged by running a color out, others will not.  You say that HP says in their manuals that you have the choice  - what printer model?  Page 91 of the user manual of the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus here says (emphasis is mine):

Printing with black or color ink only

For regular usage, this product is not designed to print using only the black cartridge
when the color cartridges are out of ink.

However, your printer is designed to let you print as long as possible when your
cartridges start to run out of ink.

When there is sufficient ink in the printhead, the printer will offer you the use of black
ink only when one or more of the color cartridges are out of ink, and the use of color ink
only when the black cartridge is out of ink.

• The amount that you can print using black or color ink only is limited, so have
replacement ink cartridges available when you are printing with black or color ink
only.

• When there is no longer sufficient ink to print, you will get a message that one or
more cartridges are depleted, and you will need to replace the depleted
cartridges before you resume printing.

CAUTION: While ink cartridges are not damaged when left outside of the printer,
the printhead does need to have all cartridges installed at all times after the printer
is set up and in use. Leaving one or more cartridge slots empty for an extended
period may lead to print quality problems and possibly damage the printhead. If you
have recently left a cartridge out of the printer for an extended period, or if you have
had a recent paper jam, and have noticed poor print quality, clean the printhead.

Your assumptions about HP's motivation in firmware design are unfounded speculation.

[olilynton]

The HP user manual available at  http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03026243.pdf on pages 40 and 41, in the section "Print photos on photo paper ", it clearly states:

"b. To print the photo in black and white, click Grayscale from the Color pop-up menu, and then select one of the following options:

•

High Quality:

Uses all the available colors to print your photo in

grayscale. This creates smooth and natural shades of gray.

•

Black Print Cartridge Only:

Uses black ink to print your photo in

grayscale. The gray shading is created by varying patterns of black

dots, which might result in a grainy image"

The final paragraph suggests you can print using the black cartridge only. Admitedly the color cartridges have to be installed but this option is not available in the print menu, even if you select photo paper.

This, in my opinion, ammounts to effectively mis-selling by HP.

Oh, and just for the record Mr Headrick: Are you an employee of, or shareholder in, HP?

[Michael--D]

Bob,

Thank you for your technically informative posts (one of which you've posted twice in the last three months).  However, your focus on the print technology seems to be missing the real issue. 

Yes, the genesis of the problem does indeed lie in the limitations of the print technology used in the HP8600.  However, as you so thoroughly point out, many other printers also have this same limitation and I've yet to hear of one of those causing such high levels of user dissatisfaction (as an ex-HP field tech I keep an ear out for this sort of thing).

The real issue is that users are not informed about this limitation at the time of purchase, or, and end even more importantly, in the warnings that appear prior to it occuring in use.

The problem isn't the print technology, it's the user implementation - people who buy and use this printer need to know that it will not print in black if any of the color cartridges run out.  But it doesn't say that - not in the warning messages that preceed the cartridge running dry, nor in the marketing material that is used to promote and sell the printer.  As Olilnyton points out, the HP8600 user manual specifies Black Print Cartridge Only as a printing mode - so users can be forgiven for thinking that's how the printer works.

The real problems:

1. The lack of advanced warning  that the HP8600 will no longer print in black when a color cartridge runs dry is causing unnecessary  disruption to customers.  

In my case, because I wasn't informed of this detail when my first color cartridge ran out I was unable to do an urgent print and had to stop work to rush out to get a replacement color cartridge (rather than pick one up a couple of days later as I had planned).  A properly informative error message would have prevented this problem - I may not have liked it, but at least I would have known to get a color cartridge even though I only needed black printing.

If it is a design feature of the printer, then the warnings that precede a color cartridge running dry should make this clear.  Customers shouldn't need to know the technical differences between printers.  They just need clear instructions on how to successfully use the printer. 

But the HP 8600 doesn't provide that, instead that crucial piece of information is buried on page 91 of the user manual.  That's bad user design and the inevitable result is threads like this (NB: the people that report the problem here are just the tip of the iceberg).

The stupid thing is that this is easy to fix:  patch the warning messages to make it obivous black printing is affected too and the scale of the problem will reduce significantly.

2. The HP8600 printer does, in fact, allow limited printing in black when a color cartridge is empty in certain circumstances - but many users do not get this option. 

Does this really happen? Yes, it happened to me and I diligently recorded what occured, including the HP message text that read:

"Replace empty cartridges or cancel and resend print job to use black ink only.

The option to use black ink only will be offered before the job prints."

(Also, nmcarlin described a method for getting black only printing when a color cartridge is empty, by printing via www.hpconnected.com)

So, Bob, now that you've informed us about the printing technology used in the HP8600 (twice), could you perhaps turn your obviously considerable energy and experience here to the questions of:

• Why don't the HP8600 warning messages specify that emptying a color cartridge stops black printing as well?

• Given the HP8600 supports limited Black Only printing when a color cartridge runs out, why isn't this option standard the first time a color cartridge runs out?

• What can be done to get HP to update the warning messages on the HP8600 to mitigate this problem?

Thanks,

Michael D

[Edited for typos and formatting]

[Bob_Headrick]

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@Michael--D wrote:

[snip]

So, Bob, now that you've informed us about the printing technology used in the HP8600 (twice), could you perhaps turn your obviously considerable energy and experience here to the questions of:

• Why don't the HP8600 warning messages specify that emptying a color cartridge stops black printing as well?

• Given the HP8600 supports limited Black Only printing when a color cartridge runs out, why isn't this option standard the first time a color cartridge runs out?

• What can be done to get HP to update the warning messages on the HP8600 to mitigate this problem?  [snip]

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It is not visible here, but I have put some considerable effort into communicating with HP support folks about this issue.  I have suggested some fixes, including more customer messaging.  It takes a fair amount of time to get anything changed, and there are many players in the process.  My leverage these days is limited. 

For the record I do not work for HP (as indicated in my signature block).  I did work for HP for nearly thirty years, including about half that in the inkjet side of things.  I have been retired for nearly a decade, but I do still have some paths to raise issues.  I do own some HP stock, as well as many other companies, including some competitors.  I volunteer my time here because I want HP printing customers to be happy with their choices.

[Michael--D]

Thanks Bob, and, like I said, I appreciate the time you take here.

Good to know that the wheels are (hopefully) turning on this.