Printing black--Pixma iP4700
- Thread starter chas
- Start date
Why you need color cartridges in place.
Sure seems like you should be able to print with only black cartridges in place, right? Unfortunately that's not the way it works. Even if you print only black (I print only black & blue) you'll find yourself replacing color cartridges that you never use. Offhand we might be tempted to blame the ink waste on corporate greed but in fact the major reason for this is that ink needs to flow through the heads regularly to keep them from clogging. This is done by spitting a small amount of ink into the waste tanks every so often - like the first time you print for the day. This is the same process as 'head cleaning' but doesn't waste as much ink as going through the formal process. It's important to the manufacturer to make sure that this process happens so they don't end up with bad ratings from print problems due to clogged heads. (Epson did some years back and they had great printers!) The manufacturer shouldn't have to take a hit just because users only print color once a month so they've learned to protect themselves. My problem with Canon is that I think they tend to overclean and I really wish the user had some control over the process! I go through a lot of red and yellow ink cartridges and never even use the colors.
So your question was, Is there a way to defeat this? If you really never want to print color you can physically clog your color heads so they don't spit ink when cleaned. Crazy glue or silicon or possibly even clay would do the job. You will still need to keep cartridges in place that register ink or have been reset but at least you won't be buying color cartridges when you don't print color.
Incidentally if you own an inkjet a cartridge chip resetter is a worthwhile investment. I got one that's easy to use and works perfectly (along with some chipped cartridges) on ebay from a company in Hong Kong called shopeasy24.com. The savings is worth the short wait but getting stuff from half way around the world is quicker than one might think anyway.
Sure seems like you should be able to print with only black cartridges in place, right? Unfortunately that's not the way it works. Even if you print only black (I print only black & blue) you'll find yourself replacing color cartridges that you never use. Offhand we might be tempted to blame the ink waste on corporate greed but in fact the major reason for this is that ink needs to flow through the heads regularly to keep them from clogging. This is done by spitting a small amount of ink into the waste tanks every so often - like the first time you print for the day. This is the same process as 'head cleaning' but doesn't waste as much ink as going through the formal process. It's important to the manufacturer to make sure that this process happens so they don't end up with bad ratings from print problems due to clogged heads. (Epson did some years back and they had great printers!) The manufacturer shouldn't have to take a hit just because users only print color once a month so they've learned to protect themselves. My problem with Canon is that I think they tend to overclean and I really wish the user had some control over the process! I go through a lot of red and yellow ink cartridges and never even use the colors.
So your question was, Is there a way to defeat this? If you really never want to print color you can physically clog your color heads so they don't spit ink when cleaned. Crazy glue or silicon or possibly even clay would do the job. You will still need to keep cartridges in place that register ink or have been reset but at least you won't be buying color cartridges when you don't print color.
Incidentally if you own an inkjet a cartridge chip resetter is a worthwhile investment. I got one that's easy to use and works perfectly (along with some chipped cartridges) on ebay from a company in Hong Kong called shopeasy24.com. The savings is worth the short wait but getting stuff from half way around the world is quicker than one might think anyway.
It is actually vert simple, leave the cartridge in place and when it gets to the point where the printer will not print do not exit dialogue boxes, simply press and hold in reset/continue button (next to the now flashing yellow light on front right of printer.
This will eventually clear and let you keep printing. You will however destroy the section of the print head associated with the empty cartridge if you print with it dry.
You can refill the cartridge if you want and keep printing, but the tank will always show empty or full and you will have to check ink level manualy.
This will eventually clear and let you keep printing. You will however destroy the section of the print head associated with the empty cartridge if you print with it dry.
You can refill the cartridge if you want and keep printing, but the tank will always show empty or full and you will have to check ink level manualy.
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- Jun 27, 2013
- Messages
- 216
* It's not clear whether you are talking about your CLI-221-Black dye cartridge or PGI-220 pigment black cart. Also, is the MediaType set to "Plain"?
* Theoretically, a printer could allow b/w text to print when a dye cartridge is empty, but "it is what it is". Also, there are so many things that could do wrong with "corner cases", that I find myself in agreement with Canon's restrictions.
* They are doing us a favor to reduce "shooting ourselves in the foot". We can agree to disagree on that, and YMMV.
* The iP4700 is a pretty decent printer with separate CMYK dye carts, and separate pigment cart. IMO, it would seem to be a shame to potentially or actually damage it by doing what the other replies describe (and I realize that neither are advocating what they describe, and providing accurate answers to your question).
* If you really just want to do b/w text printing, a monochrome laser could be a much better option than pretty much any inkjet.
* To me, disabling ink level monitoring as described in the second reply is a really last resort, to be avoided more than 99.44% of the time. I'm not a mind-reader, but I don't think drdoug is advocating that you do what he describes. Hope not, anyway.
* Your warranty is probably already expired, but disabling ink level monitoring will void the warranty, which is completely reasonable on Canon's part, imo.
* Theoretically, a printer could allow b/w text to print when a dye cartridge is empty, but "it is what it is". Also, there are so many things that could do wrong with "corner cases", that I find myself in agreement with Canon's restrictions.
* They are doing us a favor to reduce "shooting ourselves in the foot". We can agree to disagree on that, and YMMV.
* The iP4700 is a pretty decent printer with separate CMYK dye carts, and separate pigment cart. IMO, it would seem to be a shame to potentially or actually damage it by doing what the other replies describe (and I realize that neither are advocating what they describe, and providing accurate answers to your question).
* If you really just want to do b/w text printing, a monochrome laser could be a much better option than pretty much any inkjet.
* To me, disabling ink level monitoring as described in the second reply is a really last resort, to be avoided more than 99.44% of the time. I'm not a mind-reader, but I don't think drdoug is advocating that you do what he describes. Hope not, anyway.
* Your warranty is probably already expired, but disabling ink level monitoring will void the warranty, which is completely reasonable on Canon's part, imo.