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- HP Community
- Printers
- Printer Ink Cartridges & Print Quality
- Printer won't show ink levels

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12-11-2020 10:34 AM
I recently ended my Instant Ink sub and installed non-HP cartridges. They work fine. I recently got a printer message warning that one of the carts was low. Today I tried to check again and neither the printer menu nor HP Smart shows the levels, just blanks. Is this some kind of punishment for unsubscribing? (The printer certainly measures the levels or I wouldn't have gotten the first warning message.)
Thanks
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Accepted Solutions
01-01-2021 01:31 PM
To clarify, IF your third party cartridge contains a legal complaint monitor chip it should read, however many 3rd party do not contain a compliant chip and therefore the printer is unable to monitor and update levels. It works like this: when you install a new cartridge, the printer recognizes that a new cartridge is installed it starts tracking amount of pages or ink used from that cartridge. If the 3rd party cartridge does not contain a new chip, the printer sees that cartridge as used and therefore it cannot provide any data because it has no idea how much ink was in the cartridge in the first place.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.
12-21-2020 09:09 AM
@chris123hp, Welcome to HP Support Community!
Since you're using a non-HP ink, the printer may not be able to read the ink levels.
The third-party ink cartridges will work. But there are many cartridges in the market which is refilled and sometimes the chip is not configured to work with the printer. You need to contact the cartridge manufacturer and find out why it is not working. Try a different cartridge supplier and check if that works.
I hope that answers your concern adequately. Let me know!
Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!
TEJ1602
I am an HP Employee
12-21-2020 03:24 PM
Thanks - I recently cancelled my Instant Ink subscription and installed LD cartridges. Shortly afterward the printer issued a warning that my black cartridge was getting low, so it can read the levels; but when I tried to monitor them, it doesn't show.
I'm glad to know that my printer WILL show ink levels for non-HP cartridges in principle. I will check with LD, but before I went to Instant Ink the levels were available.
I've just re-upped with I-Ink, but the LD carts are still in; could this be a function of that?
12-22-2020 06:26 AM
Instant ink cartridges cannot be monitored on the printer, you can monitor them through the account page. Canceling Instant ink has nothing to do with non-HP ink.
I hope that answers your concern adequately. Let me know!
Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!
TEJ1602
I am an HP Employee
12-22-2020 10:37 AM
Thanks, but no, your reply doesn't answer my concern. My concern is that the printer doesn't show ink levels for the non-HP cartridges, either on the printer menu or HPSmart. As I said in my previous reply, it has done in the past but not now. (My detour into Instant Ink just mentioned that I've reupped but still using LD cartridges till they're done.)
12-28-2020 11:37 PM
For further assistance, reach out to the HP Instant Ink team.
For more details, click on this link.
They should be able to assist you with the issue.
TEJ1602
I am an HP Employee
01-01-2021 04:16 AM
Like I mentioned it could be an issue with the after-market ink cartridges and HP is not responsible for the same.
Please reach out to HP Support in your region regarding the service options for your printer.
Hope this helps!
Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping
TEJ1602
I am an HP Employee
01-01-2021 12:45 PM
Thanks. So just to be clear - the printer SHOULD show ink levels no matter what cartridges are installed, unless there's a flaw in the cartridges themselves (in this case, all four). In other words, the HP printer is NOT configured so as to show ink levels only with HP cartridges. In which case, what good would reaching out to HP Support be?
Chris
01-01-2021 01:31 PM
To clarify, IF your third party cartridge contains a legal complaint monitor chip it should read, however many 3rd party do not contain a compliant chip and therefore the printer is unable to monitor and update levels. It works like this: when you install a new cartridge, the printer recognizes that a new cartridge is installed it starts tracking amount of pages or ink used from that cartridge. If the 3rd party cartridge does not contain a new chip, the printer sees that cartridge as used and therefore it cannot provide any data because it has no idea how much ink was in the cartridge in the first place.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.