Can I print in black ink only on an Officejet 6600/6700? How would I do this? Thanks for all help.

[Matt82654]

To anyone reading this, NEVER buy HP again!  They just want to seel you product you do not need!  Get a Lexmark.

[YnotSayItNow]

I've read all the postings and i'm very disappointed to find out that I'm basically S**t out of luck and my only option is to throw this printer in the trash.  Talking about saving the environment!  HP should be ashamed for putting out a product that will only force the consumer to either continue buying EXPENSIVE color cartridges that we do not use or corner the consumer into giving away the printer or throwing it away.  SHAME ON HP!  But who am i kidding?  HP does not care which is why now there are only Apple electronics in my home.  This printer was the last HP Im ever going to purchase and now this printer is going in the thrash. 

[ShirinA]

I have the same problem

I can not use the black cartridge to print a back and white document  if a color cartridge is empty.

This is a rip off and I would not buy any more hp printer too.

It is cheaper to replace this printer than to keep buying the hp color cartridge.

I will not buy any  hp printer, computer or consumer quipment too for the family. This is a very dishonest way of selling your products (dump your color ink cartridge).

Goodby HP

[Bob_Headrick]

HP and other printer manufacturers have different printer technologies for different needs.  

• 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 Officejet 8040 series is an example.  

• Other printers have separate ink supplies and replaceable printheads.  An example would be the Officejet 6500 printers.  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  series 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 discusses how ink is used.  You will find the discussion above applies to printers from HP as well as from other manufacturers.  Printers with separate ink supplies and printheads can be damaged if allowed to run dry.   This may not be what you want to hear, but it is the case and has nothing to do with marketing.

[JeremyC]

I understand that ink technologies differ with different printers.

However, if I want to print in black ink only, I shouldn't have to have color ink cartridges with ink in them. Can you explain why the color ink cartridges must have ink in order to print in all black? That part of your reply did not make any sense. Are you saying that color ink is USED in the Office 6600/6700 when you print in all black?

Let me just summarize the reasons why I will not be using HP products in the future (or recommending them to anyone):

1) The ink system for my current HP printer is costly and ineffective.

2) There is no way to print black without using color ink

3) None of the HP support staff have provided a solution to (2)

4) No one on the HP staff has sought to correct the problem in (2), either by creating a driver update or by fixing the hardward in their printers

5) No one on the HP staff has acknowledged the frustrations that result from this, nor do they seem to care that their customers are unhappy with this anti-feature.

6) It's clear from the above that this problem is costing HP customers a lot of time and money and frustration, so why would anyone ever buy their product.

If someone from the HP staff would care to give a good response that is helpful to the customers having this issue, fixes the issue, or at the very least provides a supportive way to allow customers to use their product without buying new color ink cartridges every three months, then I will consider purchasing more HP products and recommending them. However, please DO NOT respond if you are only going to repeat the excuses listed in previous posts for why the printers MUST waste customer time and money. That's just bad business, and bad customer service.

[BUSTY]

Thank you Jeremy for stating the case against HP. I will not purchase HP products nor recommend HP to anyone. As a matter of fact, I will steer them far, far away from them. Shame on you HP.

[Never_buy_HP]

This is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo and excuses. HP has been in the business too long to make such an inferior and downright angering product. They could do better. It's a conscious decision they made to extort money out of their customers for their over priced inferior ink cartridges.
I have had many printers over the years and have never experienced anything like this. I replaced my piece of crap HP that I broke into pieces after starting this conversation far over a year ago, with a less expensive Brother printer. Works great. Prints in black without using color and prints great in black when color is empty. There will never be another HP product bought with my money. I'll keep my money and you keep your petty excuses.

[TuacaTom]

I think this was finally fixed in the last firmware rev. I'll test it out more thoroughly when I empty another color cartridge soon.

[Bob_Headrick]

---

@JeremyC wrote:

I understand that ink technologies differ with different printers.

However, if I want to print in black ink only, I shouldn't have to have color ink cartridges with ink in them. Can you explain why the color ink cartridges must have ink in order to print in all black? That part of your reply did not make any sense. Are you saying that color ink is USED in the Office 6600/6700 when you print in all black? [snip]

---

I have explained a few times why color is required, but will try one more time:  For printers with  separate printheads and ink supplies (like the Officejet 6600 and 6700) the printheads are waving around in the air while printing.  Without some ink to service the nozzles would dry out and become clogged.   If this is allowed to happen the likely result is that service would be required later when the color ink was replaced.  For printers with removable printheads this may be an inconvenience that can be fixed with a new printhead, at a cost of perhaps $50-100.  For printers with non-replaceable printheads the resulting printhead clogs could result in service required to restore proper printing.

During printing of black only some color ink is "spit" in the serice station to keep the printheads from clogging.  If the ink supply runs out the "plumbing" between the supply and the printhead may become dried out and clogged and/or the channels in the printhead itself may become clogged. The ink used in servicing does not end up on the paper, it is deposited in the service station area on the right side.  Some color ink can be used to print on the paper, even when printing a black only document.  When printing with automatic two-sided printing (aka duplex printing) some color ink is used to underprint the black text.  This is not intuitive, but it causes the black ink to set faster so that it does not smear when pulled back into the printer to print the back side.  In "Best" mode the black is typically underprinted with color to give darker blacks.  See the document here for information on how ink is used in HP printer.

If you only need to print black I would suggest a B&W laser printer.  If you need to print color only infrequently then a printer with integrated printheads may be a good choice.  If you print a lot of color then an inkjet printer with separate printhead and ink supplies may be the most economical on a cost per page basis.

The issue with the printer needing color ink available when printing on a printer with separate ink supplies and printheads is not unique to HP, it will be likely to be the case for any inkjet manufacturer.

HP and other manufacturers make inkjet printers that can print black ink with the color inks depleted.  They (HP and other manufacturers) also make different models, based on different technology, that do require color ink to be present when printing in black.

You may not like the answer, but that does not change the facts.

[BUSTY]

Why in God's name would anyone want to purchase this IF they had known this peculiarity about this type of printer!!! It is a money pit! The sales people cannot be responsible for this information because most don't know anymore than the average consumer. You can explain the different types pf printer heads till the cows come home, it doesn't change the fact that HP KNEW this was a money grabber. I still say shame on HP.