Separate Ink Cartridges

[du]

I have just purchased a Epson stylus C64 printer and was reading the
online manual which came with the printer. It mentions in the manual
that you cannot continue printing if one of the ink cartridges is
empty, this printer has four separate ink cartridges, so surely if say
the yellow ink cartridge ran out why would i not be able to continue
printing using just the black ink.

does anyone have experience with printers that use separate ink
cartridges? as this is my first printer that uses them and with my old
epson stylus if the color cartridge ran out you could continue using
black ink.

Thanks in advance

du.

 

[Safetymom123]

I don't know which Epson you had before but for as long as I have had them
when any cartridge runs out the printer will not work. With ind. cart. when
one runs out you can't print. It gives you a warning with the blinking
light so you have plenty of time to buy a replacement cart.

 

[Wolf Kirchmeir]

=>I have just purchased a Epson stylus C64 printer and was reading the
=>online manual which came with the printer. It mentions in the manual
=>that you cannot continue printing if one of the ink cartridges is
=>empty,

Thanks for the warning -- can now strike Epson off my list
of possibles.

 

[Ron Cohen]

I won't disagree with striking off the Epson's as I'm a die hard Canon fan.
But in fairness to Epson the shutdown is to save the printhead from burning
out from lack of ink. This shouldn't be a problem if you have a replacement
cartridge available - ideally a refilled one for cost savings. On printers
which use the $$$$$ cartridges with a built in print head this isn't a
problem. All you do when a color runs out (although the other colors may be
nearly full) is to discard the partially used cartridge and put a new $$$$$
one in. Both Canon and Epson are way ahead of the game on this point.
Individual cartridges allow full usage of all ink from all tanks.

 

[GB]

and I don't think any modern printer will print anything with a known empty
cart, its not exclusive to Epson.

 

[Bob Headrick]

and I don't think any modern printer will print anything with a known empty
cart, its not exclusive to Epson.

HP DeskJet printers will continue to print even if one or more colors are
empty.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

 

[Wolf Kirchmeir]

On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 07:07:12 -0700, Bob Headrick wrote:

=>
=>=>> and I don't think any modern printer will print anything with a known empty
=>> cart, its not exclusive to Epson.
=>
=>HP DeskJet printers will continue to print even if one or more colors are
=>empty.

Precisely.

That's one reason I still use the old HP660C - it's tough,
it just keeps on going. While the Epson Stylus 740 is
beginning to make ominous squeaky noises on longer print
jobs (>10pages at a time.)

 

[GB]

fair enough. I think HP have print heads on every cart don't they? I guess
there is nothing to loose from HPs perspective even if it burns the heads
out on a cart that is empty, they get replaced each time and a damaged cart
is one that can't be used for refilling anyway.

 

[Lukasz Spychalski]

does anyone have experience with printers that use separate ink
cartridges? as this is my first printer that uses them and with my old
epson stylus if the color cartridge ran out you could continue using
black ink.

Your old printer (stylus color 800) had two separate heads and two
separate pumps/head caps (like color II, color 500, 850, 1520 and
3000). So it was allowed to print in black if color cart (to be more
accurate - at least one color in it) was out, as pumping operations
were performed on black and color printhead separately.

Modern printers use one integrated head with all colors including
black. Operations like ink pumping are performed on all colors at the
same time by one pump, so all systems must be filled with ink -
otherwise air would go through an empty system much easier, than ink -
making such operations useless. That's why those printers must lock.

Best regards,
Lukasz Spychalski

 

[du]

Your old printer (stylus color 800) had two separate heads and two
separate pumps/head caps (like color II, color 500, 850, 1520 and
3000). So it was allowed to print in black if color cart (to be more
accurate - at least one color in it) was out, as pumping operations
were performed on black and color printhead separately.

Modern printers use one integrated head with all colors including
black. Operations like ink pumping are performed on all colors at the
same time by one pump, so all systems must be filled with ink -
otherwise air would go through an empty system much easier, than ink -
making such operations useless. That's why those printers must lock.

Best regards,
Lukasz Spychalski

Thanks a lot for explaning that i never realized, now it all makes
sense.

du

 

[CWatters]

I have just purchased a Epson stylus C64 printer and was reading the
online manual which came with the printer. It mentions in the manual
that you cannot continue printing if one of the ink cartridges is
empty,

Correct and worse they frequently "re-prime" all the carts when you change
the empty one.

I've got an Epson 2100 and three of the carts were getting low. When one ran
out I replaced it and the prime caused the other two to run out grrrrr.
There is NO excuse for this waste of ink. Why can't they prime just the cart
that has been replaced?

 

[Lukasz Spychalski]

I've got an Epson 2100 and three of the carts were getting low. When
one ran out I replaced it and the prime caused the other two to run
out grrrrr. There is NO excuse for this waste of ink. Why can't they
prime just the cart that has been replaced?

Indeed, it's a drawback of separate carts/integrated head idea. A small
amount of ink is pumped out from all systems during one cart exchange. But
average ink loss is much smaller than with integrated all-colors catrridge.
Of course, it's a matter of design - the printer could have as many
caps/pumps, as colors. Unfortunately this would make the printer price much
higher ... .

Best regards
Lukasz Spychalski

 

[GB]

and as if the 2100/2200 isn't too expensive to start with

CWatters <[email protected]> wrote:

..... Unfortunately this would make the printer price much