09-11-2014, 07:28 PM
HP Officejet Pro 8100 - Printing with an empty black ink cartridge. It works!
Hi everyone,
I recently posted in a thread that my Officejet Pro 8600 all-in-one can print in black and white, even when one or more color cartridges is out of ink. My office’s Officejet Pro 8100 , the printer-only version of the Officejet Pro 8600 can do the same thing. However, something I pondered is if the printer can still print in black and white when the black ink cartridge is out of ink by creating a composite black from the color ink tanks.
The Officejet Pro 8100 had been informing me the black ink cartridge was low for a couple of months. Today, it finally ran out of ink and flagged me on my computer and on the printer itself when I attempted to print a UPS label. But, for giggles, instead of replacing the cartridge, I tapped the “page” button on the printer. Low and behold, it printed label. The output was noticeably lighter than the normal output and the color was a tad off. But, the printer printed the label despite an empty black ink cartridge. I printed another label the same way just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.
It could be the printer found just a touch more ink in the black cartridge or it could have created the composite black from the color inks. I don’t know. I would have pulled the cartridge out entirely and tried printing but time and circumstances didn't allow since my employees are crunching invoices and shipping labels at the moment. I also can’t say whether other HP printers have the same feature nor can I say if printers from other manufacturers have it. You’ll have to see for yourself with your printers. All I can say is that it worked and it'll probably work on the Officejet Pro 8600 all-in-one since they are siblings.
Robert
Hi everyone,
I recently posted in a thread that my Officejet Pro 8600 all-in-one can print in black and white, even when one or more color cartridges is out of ink. My office’s Officejet Pro 8100 , the printer-only version of the Officejet Pro 8600 can do the same thing. However, something I pondered is if the printer can still print in black and white when the black ink cartridge is out of ink by creating a composite black from the color ink tanks.
The Officejet Pro 8100 had been informing me the black ink cartridge was low for a couple of months. Today, it finally ran out of ink and flagged me on my computer and on the printer itself when I attempted to print a UPS label. But, for giggles, instead of replacing the cartridge, I tapped the “page” button on the printer. Low and behold, it printed label. The output was noticeably lighter than the normal output and the color was a tad off. But, the printer printed the label despite an empty black ink cartridge. I printed another label the same way just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.
It could be the printer found just a touch more ink in the black cartridge or it could have created the composite black from the color inks. I don’t know. I would have pulled the cartridge out entirely and tried printing but time and circumstances didn't allow since my employees are crunching invoices and shipping labels at the moment. I also can’t say whether other HP printers have the same feature nor can I say if printers from other manufacturers have it. You’ll have to see for yourself with your printers. All I can say is that it worked and it'll probably work on the Officejet Pro 8600 all-in-one since they are siblings.
Robert