HOW TO BYPASS DEPLETED INK AND KEEP PRINTING

[mines1962]

Printer is HP Officejet 7610

Estimated (ESTIMATED) in levels show cyan is depleted.  Just replaced entire (EXPENSIVE CARTRIDGE) 2 days ago so I know the cyan is not empty. 

I keep getting ink is depleted and cannot print anything  when I attempt to print a page.  If I know the ink is there and the printer is giving me estimated levels how can I bypass this warning and keep printing until I run out of ink and the printing fades.

I've rechecked the levels through the printer setup page and it does not change.  I can't afford to keep changing cartridges when I know the ink is still good.

Thanks

[Drakster]

Hi @mines1962,

Welcome to the HP Support Forums!

I understand that you wish to bypass the depleted ink message on your HP Officejet 7610 Wide Format e-All-in-One Printer. I would be happy to help you and please remember to return to this thread and mark 'Accept as Solution', if I have successfully helped you resolve the issue. If you wish to say 'thanks' for my effort to help, click the 'thumbs up' to give me a Kudos. 

HP Officejet 7610 Wide Format e-All-in-One requires ink in all cartridges, if you're receiving depleted ink message you will not be able to bypass this message. In addition allowing the ink to completely deplete can cause harm to the printhead, as air can get trapped inside.

There could be an issue with dirty contacts or the cartridge could be defective. It is likely that the printhead might need to be cleaned also.

I would follow this guide to see if you can resolve the issue with the cartridge, An 'Incompatible Cartridge' or 'Cartridge Problem' Error Message Displays for HP Officejet 7610 Wid.... 

If you have a defective ink cartridge, it might be under warranty. To check the warranty on your ink supplies, go tohp.com/go/learnaboutsupplies, select your country/region, and then review the limited warranty information for your supplies. Contact HP.

Here's a document I suggest for maintaining the printer for resolve missing ink, the HP Printers - Fixing Poor Print Quality. 

Here's more  information on how ink is used: Ink Usage in Inkjet Printers. 

In the printing process, some ink is used to prepare the printer for use

HP offers two general inkjet print head designs: integrated into the ink cartridge (Integrated Print Head: IPH), and a long-life print head integrated into a printer which has Individual Ink Cartridges (IIC). Both IPH and IIC printers commonly perform start up and calibration processes, which consume some ink, to ensure reliability and optimize print quality. IIC printers also may use ink to prepare the long-life print head for use by purging storage fluid from and pumping ink through the print head. IIC printers may use more ink in start-up than IPH printers as a result of these additional start-up procedures. When a replacement cartridge is installed in either IIC or IPH printers, replacement cartridge start-up routines require some ink.

Print head nozzles get clogged over time, most commonly by microscopic dust particles or dried ink. Nozzles are kept clean by servicing, including wiping the surface with a small rubber wiper, ejecting ink through the nozzles to purge particles and to prevent drying, and pumping with ink to clean the print head. To keep the printer ready to print in either color or black, these service routines typically consume some ink from every cartridge, even if only black or color is used in the document being printed.

Tiny bubbles of air form in the ink over time and can block the flow of ink in long-life print head printers (IIC). In some IIC printers, air bubbles can be caused by an ink cartridge change. Air bubbles can be removed by pumping them out of the print head. When removing these air bubbles, some ink is also removed.On IIC systems, multiple colors may use the same print head. When a single color cartridge is changed, some ink is also consumed from the other color ink cartridges using the same print head.

Some color ink may be used when printing black text-or-graphics

There are several circumstances when color ink may be used—primarily to improve print quality, and sometimes to improve printer reliability—even if the document appears to be only black text-and-graphics. Many HP printers utilize chemical interactions to improve the quality and permanence of plain paper black text-and-graphics by adding small amounts of color ink to certain black areas. Some dark images which look black may contain a combination of black and color inks. For black and white images and photos, a blend of colors called "composite black" may be used to achieve significantly better image quality and smoother gray tones than can be accomplished with black inks alone. Some inkjet printers utilize pigmented black ink, which is incompatible with some inkjet photo paper. In this case, dark or black areas are made up of color inks. Page yield testing is conducted with all cartridges (black and color) installed in the printer. For more information see Inkjet page yields .

For users who wish to print utilizing just black ink (despite the reduced print quality), many HP printers offer options. For example, a driver color setting (by selecting "print in grayscale with the black cartridge only" in printing preferences) specifies printing using only black ink. In addition, many IPH printers can operate in "reserve mode," which allows the user to continue to print with just the black cartridge when the color cartridge is removed or not installed.In HP IIC systems, all supplies are required to be installed in the printer for the printer to function.

User Choice (print modes)

The user can also influence how much ink is used to print a photo or a document. By selecting different print modes in the driver, the amount of ink used to print the document can be changed. In general, all plain paper draft modes will have lower print quality and use less ink than the default plain paper normal mode.

To read the full document, see this link: Ink Usage in Inkjet Printers. 

Once you replace the cartridge and the depleted cartridge message is gone. You can setup a black only preset to help minimize your ink cost, so that your color ink is not being used up. Only the black cartridge will be used. 

To setup a black only preset, please follow these instructions.

1. On your computer please open the Start screen by selecting the Windows icon on the bottom left corner of the computer screen or by selecting the Windows key on the bottom left of your keyboard, to the right of the Ctrl button

2. Under the Start screen type Devices and Printers. Click Devices and Printers to open the window

3. Under Devices and Printers please right click on your HP Officejet Pro 8100 Printer. Left click on Printing Preferences.

4. Under the Printing Preferences please click on the Advanced option on the bottom right.

5. Locate the Print in Grayscale option and click the dropdown next to it to adjust this setting to 'Black Ink Only'

6. Click OK to save the changes. Under the Printing Preferences window click Apply and OK.

Now, when you print from your computer only black ink will be utilised. If you do want to print a document in colour simply open the document. Click on File and Print. In the Print dialogue window choose Properties or Preferences (varies from Program to Program). The Printing Preferences window will now open. You can set the feature back to print in colour under Advanced by turning the Print in Grayscale feature OFF. Once this adjustment has been made print the document and it will print in colour. However, this colour adjustment will only occur for that one print job. After the colour document prints the driver will revert back to 'Black Ink Only'.

Source posted by my colleague X-23.

I hope this helps. Please respond to this post with the result of your troubleshooting. I look forward to hearing from you. Good Luck!

[Blathem]

I've installed a new black cartridge purchased from HP, I've tried power cycling my 3600, I've tried setting properties to black only, and I continue getting ink depleted error message.  Maybe I should discard this printer and buy a Brother.  Looks like HP is making it too hard.

[MKazi]

@Blathem

A very warm welcome to the HP community. A very good day to you. 

I understand that you have an HP Deskjet 3600 Printer. I read that you have installed a new black ink cartridge and the printer gives an ink depleted error message. Not worry, I'll do my best to help you. Not to worry, I'll do my best to help you. 

To provide an accurate resolution, I need a few more details: 

• Have you tried to remove and reinsert the cartridge?
• Is it an original HP ink cartridge or a refilled cartridge?

I did some research and suggest you to perform the following steps:

NOTE: You may ignore any steps that you have already performed.

• Disconnect the power cable from the printer while the printer is still ON.
• Disconnect any other cables if connected the printer.
• Press and hold the printer’s power button for 15 seconds.
• The printer should be directly connected to the wall outlet and not to a surge protector. Reconnect the power cable to print and the printer should power ON by itself. If the printer doesn’t power ON then please manually power it ON.

If the issue persists then clean the cartridge as described in the below steps:

• Open the printer top access door. The printer carriage will move to the center.

• Remove the USB cable from the back of the printer.

• Remove the print cartridges from the printer.

NOTE: The printer can operate with only one print cartridge installed.

• Unplug the power cord. (Do not press the Power button to turn off the printer).

• Verify that the cartridge reference meets the specifications for the printer. Cartridge reference can be found in the User Guide.

• Verify that the protective plastic tape has been removed from the print cartridge.

1. Protective plastic tape

• Locate the copper circuit strip on the back of the cartridge.

• Clean the copper circuit strip with a dry foam-rubber swab or a lint-free cloth.

1. Copper circuit strip

2. Nozzle plate

• Do not wipe the nozzle end of the cartridge or touch the nozzle plate.
• Do not use platen cleaners or alcohol; they may damage the cartridges and the printer.

• Reconnect the power cord to the printer.

• Turn on the printer if it does not turn on automatically.

• Insert the print cartridge into the cradle at a slight upward angle until a resistance is fallen.

  Firmly push the print cartridge into the cradle. A snapping sound will be heard when the print cartridge is correctly positioned. The print cartridge fits securely in its cradle.

• Close the top access door. The printer carriage should move to the left.

• If the printer light is on steady, perform a self test report as follows:

  • Press and hold the Power button, and then open and close the top cover four times.

  • Release the Power button.

• If the printer light continues to blink, replace the print cartridge or cartridges one at a time.

If the printer continues to not detect the newly installed cartridge then I suggest you to contact our HP phone support to seek a replacement cartridge as per the warranty options available. 

I hope this information helps. Feel free to let me know the results. Good luck! 🙂

[Millby48]

For my 8600, can you explain to me why I need to have color cartridges with ink in them to print a black and white document?

[UpnAdam]

I have the same problem, I have to click OK on the printer everytime I want to print with black ink.

None of the suggestions in this thread work. I've changed every setting to black ink only or black and white everywhere I can find. I only ever print with black ink and refuse to spend £150 (£50 more than the printer cost) replacing 3 colours I don't use.

So now I have a wireless printer that I have to get up, walk over to and press OK on the front everytime I want to print a page, it's a great use of my business time. My last HP broke amidst grinding noises, this one wants to force me to spend hundreds of pounds for no reason.

I knew I should have used a different brand after the first time. In fact it's cheaper for me to go and buy a different brand of printer than to replace the cartridges in this one simply to get rid of a message. A quick software update on the printer and they could make this go away, the fact they don't seem to want it to go away says it all. It's the last money HP will get out of me unless this is fixed, quite the opposite of what this message wants to force you to do, spend money, lots of it. I'll be avoiding them like the plague from now on and give my money to someone else who's more customer friendly.

On the plus side I earned the engaged badge on this forum for my first reply, very important I'm sure, silver linings eh.

[frickinfrack1]

This is absolutely ridiculous, never buying anything related to HP ever again. A very user-hostile company (as opposed to user-friendly) everything is designed to screw you over.

[rick-s]

@frickinfrack1

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
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