Epson 895 - black won't print (when full), but colour cartridge has emptied?

[Keith \(Dorset\)]

Hi,

Excuse me for posting rather similar question to the one below regarding an
HP printer - but the answer may well need to be different and I need to get
this sorted out a.s.a.p.

My Epson 895 appears to have emptied the colour cartridge - and not the
black one, after printing out lots of pages in black, but hardly any in
colour.

1. Can this be possible?

2. Otherwise, how can I get the printer to print only black text pages, when
the black cartridge has ink in it, but the colour cartridge is empty?

(I have only ever used genuine Epson cartridges in this printer. I have a
spare black cartridge, but not a colour one - hence the panic).

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Keith

 

[Tony]

Hi,

Excuse me for posting rather similar question to the one below regarding an
HP printer - but the answer may well need to be different and I need to get
this sorted out a.s.a.p.

My Epson 895 appears to have emptied the colour cartridge - and not the
black one, after printing out lots of pages in black, but hardly any in
colour.

1. Can this be possible?

2. Otherwise, how can I get the printer to print only black text pages, when
the black cartridge has ink in it, but the colour cartridge is empty?

(I have only ever used genuine Epson cartridges in this printer. I have a
spare black cartridge, but not a colour one - hence the panic).

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Keith

Keith
You can't.
The colour ink is used even when you don't print in colour, it is used to keep
the printhead in good condition by performing routine head cleaning.
When any cartridge has used up the ink in it the printer will refuse to print,
this is because with no ink in the cartrdige the printer can no longer perform
a head clean and there is a high risk of printhead failure.
There is no work around, you must have ink in all cartridges to print. You
could buy a cheap compatible colour cartridge or one that has been refilled,
the quality doesn't matter if you don't print colour.
BTW, this applies to Epson and other printers that do not have heads built into
the cartridge, it does not necessarily apply to cartridges with integral heads
like many HP printers.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Yes, it is possible your printer has run out of colored inks, and yes,
it will not print in black if the printer is out of colored ink.

Each time you turn the printer on, and each time you do a cleaning cycle
to get the black head printing clearly, color ink is also wasted and
goes down the waste ink tube into the waste ink pads in the bottom of
the printer. If your printer has a larger black cartridge than color
ink ones, the black cartridge will have ink in it beyond what the
colored inks had.

In order to save the heads from drying out, Epson requires all
cartridges have ink in them.

Art

 

[Keith \(Dorset\)]

Guys,

Thank you very much for the most comprehensive replies.

Every cloud has a sliver lining... my printer is not broken!

Best wishes,

Keith