HP OJ d145 color ink out error replace color ink cartridge message

[Deborah Pace]

Does anyone know what the HP OfficeJet D145 message means
"Color ink out. Replace color ink cartridge."

The ink level is fine (always was) and I've turned off the ink level
checking for the color ink long ago (by pressing the double-arrow 456 key
sequence).

Since this HP message isn't about the color ink being out....

Can this message be an HP ink cartridge expiry message disguised?
Does HP count the many times I've removed the the ink cartridge to refill?

Problem is the Hewlett Packard OfficeJet printer is dead until I figure
this out. It isn't what it appears to be....so what is it?

Any ideas....what the HP "color ink out" message really means?

Deb

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Jette Goldie]

Does anyone know what the HP OfficeJet D145 message means
"Color ink out. Replace color ink cartridge."

I'm really in a bind as the printer won't work.
I've tried two different color ink cartridges (all filled to the brim).
Doesn't ANYONE in HP land know what this Hewlett Packard office jet printer
error really indicates?

Deb

 

[Aluxe]

I'm really in a bind as the printer won't work.
I've tried two different color ink cartridges (all filled to the brim).
Doesn't ANYONE in HP land know what this Hewlett Packard office jet printer
error really indicates?

Deb

Do what I do when I get that hewlett packass color ink out message.
Actually, I always get black ink out but it's the same thing.
Just shut the hewlett packard office jet printer off.
Pull the power cord.
Let it sit a day or two.
Always in my case, the color ink out or black in out message is gone.
Until it reappears for no good reason a month, a week, a year later.
I have never figure out why that message comes up as I always keep the ink
sponges soaking wet with good quality ink (better than the crap hewlett
packard puts in as oem ink that's for sure!).

 

[Aluxe]

What I think happens, at least with my HP printer, is that you can only
TEMPORARILY turn off the color ink drop counting!

Someone at HP can tell us if this is true ... but what I think happens is
you turn off the color and black ink checking with the double-arrow 456 and
double-arrow 389 sequence ... BUT ... (and this is a big but) ...

What you think you turned off, secretly turns itself back on the very next
time you reboot your HP printer! Yup.

What seems to happen is:
- You turn off color and black ink checking
- You print a few pages and then at some point, power down the printer
- When you power the printer back up, the ink checking is back on
- But you don't know that (how can you tell)
- So, even though you fill the cartridges to the brim
- The printer is counting drops and saying it's empty at some point
- Notice that if HP REALLY wanted to tell how much ink was there
- They'd use a more reliable and cheaper method (of which there are many)

Point is, the system is rigged so that you have to turn off the ink drop
checking EVERY SINGLE TIME you turn the HP printer on.

If you ask me, HP printers aren't worth the hassle!

 

[Bob Headrick]

What seems to happen is:
- You turn off color and black ink checking
- You print a few pages and then at some point, power down the printer
- When you power the printer back up, the ink checking is back on
- But you don't know that (how can you tell)
- So, even though you fill the cartridges to the brim
- The printer is counting drops and saying it's empty at some point
- Notice that if HP REALLY wanted to tell how much ink was there
- They'd use a more reliable and cheaper method (of which there are
many)

I would love to hear about a "more reliable and cheaper method" of
detecting the amount of ink remaining.... I suspect you do not have a
clue about how these things work, or why the printer should/would care
about remaining ink.

- Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Tony]

What I think happens, at least with my HP printer, is that you can only
TEMPORARILY turn off the color ink drop counting!

Someone at HP can tell us if this is true ... but what I think happens is
you turn off the color and black ink checking with the double-arrow 456 and
double-arrow 389 sequence ... BUT ... (and this is a big but) ...

What you think you turned off, secretly turns itself back on the very next
time you reboot your HP printer! Yup.

What seems to happen is:
- You turn off color and black ink checking
- You print a few pages and then at some point, power down the printer
- When you power the printer back up, the ink checking is back on
- But you don't know that (how can you tell)
- So, even though you fill the cartridges to the brim
- The printer is counting drops and saying it's empty at some point
- Notice that if HP REALLY wanted to tell how much ink was there
- They'd use a more reliable and cheaper method (of which there are many)

Point is, the system is rigged so that you have to turn off the ink drop
checking EVERY SINGLE TIME you turn the HP printer on.

If you ask me, HP printers aren't worth the hassle!

The printer is simply protecting the printhead (your printhead). If ink is not
supplied to the printhead then it will fail, this is true of all inkjet
printheads regardless of who the manufacturer is. This printer uses separate
printheads and ink containers, if it used combined heads and ink containers
then this would not be an issue.
It seems to me that you are making a slightly paranoid assumption. HP does not,
to my knowledge, build trickery into their printers.
Tony

 

[Ben Myers]

It all depends on what one means by the word "trickery." Just like the
meaning of the words "is" and "sex". Is it trickery to design inkjet printers
with small cartridges that need regular and expensive replacement? Is it
trickery to embed circuits in the cartridges to prevent refilling?

.... Ben Myers

 

[Aluxe]

The printer is simply protecting the printhead (your printhead).
This printer uses separate printheads and ink containers
If ink is not supplied to the printhead then it will fai
HP does not ... build trickery into their printers.

Hi Tony,
But, do you have an answer to the OP's question?
Seems to me I'm the only one who answered the original question.
If you have a better answer ... you should tell us what the message "Color
Ink Out" or "Black Ink Out" means because it certainly doesn't mean the ink
is out!

Note: I'll kindly respond to your "other" issues separately.

 

[Aluxe]

I suspect you do not have a clue about how these things work,
or why the printer should/would care about remaining ink.

Hi Bob Headrick,

I can see from the google record you are very experienced, albeit not in
this class of printers, so I take any response from you with much gravity.

However, even though you DO know what you are doing (and you know it well),
I still didn't see an answer to the original OP's question other than mine.

Seems to me, even though my knowledge obviously pales in comparison to that
of those others who posted replies, I seem to be the only one who came up
with an hypothesis as to why a "Color Ink Out" or "Black Ink Out" message
would be trying to tell us (bearing in mind there is no way it's actually
indicating how much ink is in the ink containers!).

If you, or anyone else, has a better hypothesis as to what this "Color Ink
Out" or "Black Ink Out" error is indicating, that would be useful.

 

[Aluxe]

Hi Bob Headrick,

I'm sorry for interjecting emotion into my previous helpful reply to the
poster and to you. Keeping back on technical topic, is there any way for
you to find out if my hypothesis is true?

1. Does the (<>456, or <>789) turning off the ink drop counting on the
hpojd145 only work until the next power-on cycle?

2. How can a user tell for sure when the hpojd145 ink-drop counting is on
or off?

 

[Tony]

Hi Tony,
But, do you have an answer to the OP's question?
Seems to me I'm the only one who answered the original question.
If you have a better answer ... you should tell us what the message "Color
Ink Out" or "Black Ink Out" means because it certainly doesn't mean the ink
is out!

Note: I'll kindly respond to your "other" issues separately.

I think your hypothesis is not founded in fact. If the printer reports ink out
or ink low it is quite simply because it believes that to be the case. If
cartridges have been refilled then there may well be a disconnect between the
actual levels of ink remaining and the printers ink usage tally. I am not
opposed to refilling but it is clear that the mechanisms that are used by some
printers to determine remaining ink is not compatible with refilling, this may
or may not be by design but I do not see why any manufacturer should change
their designs simply to assist people who want to refill. Having said that I do
not believe they should make it too difficult either, as in all things there is
a balance to be had.
This printer uses separate printheads and ink containers, it is of paramount
importance that the printer ensures that ink is available to the head in order
to avoid head damage. If the printer believes that ink is not available it will
attempt to protect the head, as indeed it should. I see no more complexity than
this in this issue.
Tony

 

[Tony]

I agree, it does depend on what is meant by trickery.
Providing small cartridges is something that I find annoying but I wouldn't
call it trickery since the detail is readily available from a variety of
sources.
Deliberately designing a printer and/or cartridges to thwart fair competition
gets close to my definition of trickery.
Trickery, in my opinion, is designing a printer that will not perform as
promised and a refusal to put it right. I have rarely heard of a case where HP
are guilty of this but I can provide a few examples where I think other
manufacturers are indeed guilty of this.
Tony

 

[Ben Myers]

Though probably not trickery, it is clear that neither HP nor any of the other
inkjet printers exactly want to publicize the fact that ink cartridges are teeny
tiny in capacity. None of these companies would ever buy in to a
consumer-oriented standard that states right there on the box and in the spec
sheet how many pages one can print from the often even teenier and tinier
"starter" cartridges that come with a printer AND how many pages can be printed
with replacement cartridges sold afterward. Then people could actually compute
cost per printed page and realize how expensive the el cheapo inkjet printers
really are. Not to mention the pain in the ass inconvenience of having to run
the the nearest Staples every other week to buy still more expensive cartridges.

HP was on the losing end of a class action lawsuit a number of years ago for the
design of its lamentable 1100 and similar laser printers, the ones with the
small footprint and vertical sheet feed. Only the lawsuit forced Hp to offer a
free kit to ameliorate a clear defect in the design, causing lots of paper jams.
This was probably not trickery, but just plain inept engineering design and
product testing before making the product available for sale. But when a
company is forced by lawsuit to do something, one has to wonder about trickery.

.... Ben Myers

 

[Aluxe]

I think your hypothesis is not founded in fact. If the printer reports ink out
or ink low it is quite simply because it believes that to be the case.

Hi Tony,

I thank you for your expert help.

The fundamental quesion is whether turning off the black and color ink drop
checking on the HP ojd145 via the "double-arrow 4 5 6" and "double-arrow 7
8 9" respectively - is temporary (i.e., until the next power on cycle).

My hypothesis is that you must turn off the ink-drop counting each time to
restart the hpojd145 printer. If you disagree with my hypothesis (which you
are welcome to do, but please provide facts), can you tell me how one would
be able to check whether ink drop counting is on or off. The answer to that
question would prove or disprove the hypothesis.

Does _anyone_ in this printer group know if turning off the ink drop
checking is temporary or if it lasts for a specified period or event?

 

[Aluxe]

None of these companies would ever buy in to a
consumer-oriented standard that states right there on the box and in the spec
sheet how many pages one can print from the often even teenier and tinier
"starter" cartridges that come with a printer AND how many pages can be printed
with replacement cartridges sold afterward. Then people could actually compute
cost per printed page and realize how expensive the el cheapo inkjet printers
really are. Not to mention the pain in the ass inconvenience of having to run
the the nearest Staples every other week to buy still more expensive cartridges.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the welcome comments as I agree with your EPA figure of "cost
per standard page" where the standard page is (perhaps not perfectly)
defined (but it would work - just like it does in other products). It would
be nice to see this as any engineer could look at an HP printer and say
"Geez, that ink tank is too small for that printer".

And, I understand the point about the printheads not drying out. But, of
course, that is a specious argument because the ink tanks are full so
there's no chance of the printheads drying out. Besides, I've boiled many a
printhead as part of my regular maintenance procedure so I'm fully aware of
the fact that not only should the sponges in the ink tanks never be allowed
to dry, but, the printheads must be kept clean of clogs and particles as
well as wet with good quality ink from a printer supply shop.

And I agree that better ink from a printer-supply shop costs about 1/10 of
what Staples charges for HP14 ink tanks where just one 20 ounce bottle of
each color lasts the lifetime of the printer (in my case anyway) - and,
it's both waterpresistant and uv-protected - two critical archival
requirements the inferior quality HP OEM HP14 inks lack.

However, the fundamental question is still whether the hypothesis is true
that the ink-drop counting of the hewlett packard officejet d145 printer
turns back on in all cases after the machine is powered up.

A test of that hypothesis could easily be performed if we knew how to query
the hpojd145 printer to ask if it is counting ink drops at any particular
moment.

Does anyone in expert printer land know the answer to these two fundamental
HP questions?

 

[Bob Headrick]

Though probably not trickery, it is clear that neither HP nor any of
the
other inkjet printers exactly want to publicize the fact that ink
cartridges
are teeny tiny in capacity. None of these companies would ever
buy in to a consumer-oriented standard that states right there on the
box
and in the spec sheet how many pages one can print from the often even
teenier and tinier "starter" cartridges that come with a printer AND
how
many pages can be printed with replacement cartridges sold afterward.

This is not true - the industry has been working for a few years to get
an ISO standard test method to have an "apples to apples" comparison of
print yields. See
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/articles/us/en/IsoInkjetYield.html
for the general methodology and
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/articles/us/en/IsoInkjetYield.html
for specific printer yields.

- Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Gary Tait]

If you, or anyone else, has a better hypothesis as to what this "Color
Ink Out" or "Black Ink Out" error is indicating, that would be useful.

It is indicating that the ink droplet counter is at zero. When you put a
genuine new cart in, the count gets set to an estimated value
(or set to zero where printing increments the dropcounter), with allowances
for cleaning and such.

Under ideal conditions, the counter will show empty when the ink has nearly
been expelled. The estimation is conservative, so the user doesn't actually
run out of ink.

 

[Gary Tait]

I would love to hear about a "more reliable and cheaper method" of
detecting the amount of ink remaining.... I suspect you do not have a
clue about how these things work, or why the printer should/would care
about remaining ink.

- Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Cheaper, no, but a heck of a lot more reliable would be an actual low-ink
sensor, similar in function to Canon's optical prism. It could be a PTC
thermistor in the ink (pass a current through, if it is in ink the ink woul
cool it, keeping the resistance low, and dry it would heat up to a high
resistance), or actually optical (if Canon doesn't have a patent on that),
or maybe directly sense current passing through the ink, if present.

 

[Ben Myers]

Would it be unkind to say that an ISO standard for measuring print yields is a
well-kept secret? Is there a clearly defined methodology for the consumer to
determine cost per page, based on the ISO standard-under-development? Would HP
or Epson or Canon or Lexmark provide cost per page (consumables only)
information in store displays, on printer cartons, or on their various web
sites? Would any or all of these manufacturers consent to having an
independent test lab produce and distribute the results?

The inkjet printer industry at large, not just HP, continues to take a lot of
well-justified flak for weak (I'm being kind again) disclosure of cost per page
information, extremely expensive cartridge costs, shipping tiny "starter"
cartridges with many models of printers, and (some manufacturers only) creating
barriers to competitive 3rd party cartridge companies. In short, you never
know what you are getting when you buy an inkjet printer, until it has sucked
your billfold dry buying cartridges.

Positive answers to most of the questions asked above would rebuild the
credibility of inkjet printer (and INK!) manufacturers and introduce at least
some transparency into the whole business of figuring out which printer to buy.
Oops! I forgot. I'm trying to be rational again, like Mr. Spock and Mr.
Data.

Tell Mr. Hurd I said so. At least he is more likely to listen than Carly.

.... Ben Myers

 

[Bob Headrick]

Positive answers to most of the questions asked above would rebuild
the
credibility of inkjet printer (and INK!) manufacturers and introduce
at least
some transparency into the whole business of figuring out which
printer to buy.
Oops! I forgot. I'm trying to be rational again, like Mr. Spock
and Mr.
Data.

If you were actually trying to be rational you would have actually read
the web sites I provided, which answer many of your questions:
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/articles/us/en/IsoInkjetYield.html
for the general methodology and
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/articles/us/en/IsoInkjetYield.html
for specific printer yields.

It appears you have an axe to grind with HP, perhaps related to your
termination of employment with them a few years ago. I have a
suggestion - move on.

- Bob Headrick