Never print colour but printer consuming color ink

[Ivan]

I have a Canon i455 which I use to print only in black ink. How come
the colour ink is depleting at a "alarming rate". I use up two blank
cartridges and the originally full color cartridge is going empty
soon. Why?

Can I just leave the empty color cartridge as it is and continue to
print only in black. Any damage to the printer?

Thanks!

 

[Jimw]

Several of the printer companies use combination ink to lay a base or black
color with the black..

 

[Mr Jessop]

I have a Canon i455 which I use to print only in black ink. How come
the colour ink is depleting at a "alarming rate". I use up two blank
cartridges and the originally full color cartridge is going empty
soon. Why?

Can I just leave the empty color cartridge as it is and continue to
print only in black. Any damage to the printer?

Thanks!

The printer may not let you continue to print. If it did you may burn out
the colour nozzles.

 

[leo]

I have a Canon i455 which I use to print only in black ink. How come
the colour ink is depleting at a "alarming rate". I use up two blank
cartridges and the originally full color cartridge is going empty
soon. Why?

Can I just leave the empty color cartridge as it is and continue to
print only in black. Any damage to the printer?

Thanks!

Maybe cleaning the nozzles each time it's turned on? I had several inkjets
in the past and had to keep replacing the inks even though I rarely printed
colors, so I now mainly use b/w laser and color laser. I do have an Epson
R200 for photo prints only so it doesn't go into ink wasting cleaning duty
too often.

 

[Bill 2]

Several of the printer companies use combination ink to lay a base or black
color with the black..

My HP is set by default to print grayscales using the color cartridge. There
is an option to force it to only use the black cartridge.

 

[PC Medic]

I have a Canon i455 which I use to print only in black ink. How come
the colour ink is depleting at a "alarming rate". I use up two blank
cartridges and the originally full color cartridge is going empty
soon. Why?

Can I just leave the empty color cartridge as it is and continue to
print only in black. Any damage to the printer?

There are a few reasons this may be happening such as driver settings, type
of print jobs, type of application (text vs graphics), etc.
Do not run the printer with out the color tank in place or constantly dry as
this may cause damage to the printhead preventing the colors from working
again should you ever decide you need to print color.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Each time most inkjet printers are turned on, the printer goes through a
cleaning cycle to clear any drying ink from the nozzles of the head.
This is done to all the head nozzles, which means black and colors.

So, over time, the colored inks will also run down.

Some printers allow you to print in black only without a color cartridge
installed. In some printers, where the head is incorporated into the
cartridge, (HP, Lexmark, and some older Canon) the danger of damage is
zero, because if the cartridge is removed the head leaves with it.

If you have no need for color printing at all, for the foreseeable
future, you could just fill the color cartridges with water a glycol
water mix which would cost you a few cents, and refill it as you run
low. This should protect the color heads and also help flush the ink
out of the heads so they won't clog.

Art

 

[Ivan]

Maybe cleaning the nozzles each time it's turned on? I had several inkjets
in the past and had to keep replacing the inks even though I rarely printed
colors, so I now mainly use b/w laser and color laser. I do have an Epson
R200 for photo prints only so it doesn't go into ink wasting cleaning duty
too often.

So in other words I am consuming colour ink even though I don't print
in colour at all. I had set the printer correctly to print only in
greyscale as default.

And while I was printing only in greyscale, when I used up about two
cartridges of black ink, the colour ink cartridge will also be almost
empty. Pretty expensive.

I noticed that whenever I started to print, the printer will be
rattling a lot before the actual printing can be completed. So if what
you said is true, those rattling must be the cleaining sequence. And
this happens almost everytime in between print jobs. And this process
waste colour ink. Is there any good way to save on the ink?

Would appreciate if others can also give some advise.

 

[Bill]

I noticed that whenever I started to print, the printer will be
rattling a lot before the actual printing can be completed. So if what
you said is true, those rattling must be the cleaining sequence. And
this happens almost everytime in between print jobs. And this process
waste colour ink. Is there any good way to save on the ink?

I missed the start of this thread, but if you have a model that allows
removal of the colour cartridges, then remove them and keep them in a
proper container or ziplock bag until you need them. That way it won't
waste any ink.

However, some models require all of the cartridges to be installed.

Would appreciate if others can also give some advise.

Until recently, I had a Canon i850 that required the presence of all of
its ink tanks. There was no sensor to determine if the tanks were
present or not (only if the reservoir is empty).

If you remove any of them, the printer merely assumes they're there. And
if you print with any of the missing colours, the printhead may be
damaged as the ink is used to help keep the inkjet nozzles cool.

My new HP 6540 uses a tri-colour cartridge and it prints in black
without the colour cartridge installed, or if it's empty. It will also
print without the black.

If you don't need colour printing, I suggest you consider getting a
laser printer for your black and grayscale needs. You don't have to
worry about any of the ink drying issues.

 

[PC Medic]

I missed the start of this thread, but if you have a model that allows
removal of the colour cartridges, then remove them and keep them in a
proper container or ziplock bag until you need them. That way it won't
waste any ink.

But in doing this you will certainly run the risk of causing premature
failure of the printhead.

However, some models require all of the cartridges to be installed.

And for a very good reason!

Until recently, I had a Canon i850 that required the presence of all of
its ink tanks. There was no sensor to determine if the tanks were
present or not (only if the reservoir is empty).

If you remove any of them, the printer merely assumes they're there. And
if you print with any of the missing colours, the printhead may be
damaged as the ink is used to help keep the inkjet nozzles cool.

Then why recommend someone do this.
By the way, contradicting and incorrect statement you have made above.

My new HP 6540 uses a tri-colour cartridge and it prints in black
without the colour cartridge installed, or if it's empty. It will also
print without the black.

And you risk the same damage as it uses the same ink delivery process.

If you don't need colour printing, I suggest you consider getting a
laser printer for your black and grayscale needs. You don't have to
worry about any of the ink drying issues.

BINGO!

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

But in doing this you will certainly run the risk of causing premature
failure of the printhead.


And for a very good reason!


Then why recommend someone do this.
By the way, contradicting and incorrect statement you have made above.


And you risk the same damage as it uses the same ink delivery process.


BINGO!

I have an HP-5550; there is a setting to use the Black Cart only
without having to remove the colour cart. I assumed that most inkjets
provided this feature.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

And you risk the same damage as it uses the same ink delivery process.

Is this true? This printer uses the 96 and 97 cartridges, and I
suspected these were a contained ink and head combo cartridge, meaning
if the cartridge was removed, so would the head be, and therefore I do
not see how the printer, or head would be at risk...

Art

 

[PC Medic]

I have an HP-5550; there is a setting to use the Black Cart only
without having to remove the colour cart. I assumed that most inkjets
provided this feature.

Many do, many do not

 

[Arthur Entlich]

E. Barry Bruyea wrote:

I have an HP-5550; there is a setting to use the Black Cart only
without having to remove the colour cart. I assumed that most inkjets
provided this feature.

That would likely allow the black ink to be used during any printing,
but it may not stop the printer from doing cleaning cycles of the color
cartridge on start up or otherwise.

Art

 

[PC Medic]

Is this true? This printer uses the 96 and 97 cartridges, and I suspected
these were a contained ink and head combo cartridge, meaning if the
cartridge was removed, so would the head be, and therefore I do not see
how the printer, or head would be at risk...

I stand corrected. On models where the tank is an integral part of the
printhead this obviously would not be an issue.

 

[Bob Headrick]

Is this true? This printer uses the 96 and 97 cartridges, and I suspected
these were a contained ink and head combo cartridge, meaning if the cartridge
was removed, so would the head be, and therefore I do not see how the
printer, or head would be at risk...

Art is correct - once again PC Medic is spreading misinformation. The DeskJet
6540 uses integrated printheads; if you remove one of the cartridges and print
with only the black (or only the color) there will not be any damage to the
remove printhead as it is contained in the cartridge. The removed cartridge
should be stored in the humidor (a small plastic capping station) to prevent
the cartridge from drying out when it is outside the printer.

This is a different situation than would be the case with a separate ink and
printhead printer, when the printheads would remain in the printer and might
dry out or otherwise be damaged if run without ink. That was probably the case
PC was referring to, but it does not apply to the DeskJet printers.

As another poster mentioned, there is also a setting in the driver to print
with only the black cartridge while leaving the color cartridge installed in
the DeskJet 6540 driver. The printer will still do a very limited amount of
servicing of the color cartridge at the end of a print job.

 

[Bill]

I have an HP-5550; there is a setting to use the Black Cart only
without having to remove the colour cart. I assumed that most inkjets
provided this feature.

All inkjet printers I've ever come across in the last several years have
a grayscale option. But even so, the colour cartridge is still cleaned
as a preventative measure.

If you don't intend to do any colour printing for a while, and your
printer has integrated printheads in the cartridges, then you can safely
remove the colour cartridge and store it properly. That way no colour
ink is used at all.

 

[Bill]

Is this true?

Not at all.

This printer uses the 96 and 97 cartridges, and I
suspected these were a contained ink and head combo cartridge, meaning
if the cartridge was removed, so would the head be, and therefore I do
not see how the printer, or head would be at risk...

That was the point of my post...the HP printers can not accidentally
damage the printheads since they are removed with the cartridge. Only
printers that have a separate printhead inside the machine would be at
risk of damage or clogging.