dumb printer question

[pobblebonk]

Why does my color ink get low when I ONLY print in black ink, every time?

[Szpixman]

The coloured ink cartridges will get plugged up from little or no use...the printer will react as if they are empty.  Remove the cartridge & clean gently with a little rubbing alcohol & a Q-tip around where they fit in.
I print a colourful picture once in a while if I have only been using the black.  Hope this helps.

[alexK]

Hey Popplebonk,

I have a HP printer and no colour cartridge, just the black one. It gives me that message all the time. It wants you to use their (OverExpensive) colour cartridge. As far as I can see it is a build-in message, and no way of getting rid of it. Last week I got a refill on the Black one, and now it shows a shaded cartridge Icon with the message "low on Ink", and the inklevel a couple of MM high. I figure (and the Refill person and others say so) that somehow HP has a little usage counter inside and also it detects a refill, therefor the shaded Icon. 

[pobblebonk]

Unfortunately, my printer refuses to print anything if any of the cartridges are deemed "empty."

I'll try cleaning them and see what happens. Thanks.

[CBMatt]

Maybe this is silly, but...do you actually have a black ink cartridge installed?
If so, what level is it being reported at?
Is only your color getting low or are both getting low?
If you take out the color cartridge and run a test print, is it successful?
Have you checked your printer settings?  You can sometimes set it to print with only color ink or only black ink or both.

It's quite possible that your color cartridge is getting low simply because your printer is using it to print black text/images.  And when color is used to print black objects, it gets drained rather quickly.

It might help to know your OS and the make/model of your printer.

[pobblebonk]

Yes, I have a black ink cartridge installed. Right now it's about half full. The color ink is being reported at "less than 20% remaining" for all three colors. I always choose "black ink only" when I print.

I have an Epson Stylus CX4600, and I'm running Windows XP. I cannot run a test print if a cartridge is removed. If any of the cartridges are removed, it will not print at all..... it will merely alert me that a cartridge is missing or empty, and will not resume printing until the cartridge is replaced.

[CBMatt]

Based on the way your printer operates, I was going to suggest checking to make sure you have the latest drivers...
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=41663&infoType=Downloads

However, after looking through the FAQ's, this seems to be normal behavior...
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=FAQ&oid=41663&prodoid=46048266&foid=45311

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=FAQ&oid=41663&prodoid=46048266&foid=45312

If you ask me, this seems silly and wasteful.  There doesn't really seem to be any way around this.  If your color is running out at an abnormaly quick rate, then it might be worth contacting the Epson support.  Otherwise, I'm not so sure there's anything you can do besides buying a new printer.  And personally, I think that wouldn't be a bad idea.  Some new printers can be a bit pricey, but if you get one that isn't going to waste ink, it'll be cheaper in the long run.