Printer ink cartriges not empty?

[orypecos]

I saw a thing on TV that said that most cartridges still had significant amounts of ink in them when recycled. I understand that the printer software counts the number of copies and that is how it determines if a new cartridge is needed. But that software is not accurate and causes much wasted ink. Is there another way to check ink levels? I have a Canon MP-350.
Maybe by weighing the cartridge full and then weighing again when the printer software says that the ink is down? The Canon manual says that if you let the cartridge run all the way empty it can cause the printer to be damaged.

 

[franklin97355]

Color cartridges will almost always have at least one of the inks still good but when one color runs out you need to change the cartridge if you want full color printing. Some printers do a better job of estimating the ink used than others.

The answer is "42"

 

[orypecos]

I particularly bought a printer that had separate cartridges so wouldn't have to replace a one piece cartridge that only has one of the colors empty. My printer has 5 cartridges.

 

[wahnula]

See if there is a choice in the printer menu to "continue on empty". Our office Konica-Minolta printers would just stop working and say "Yellow toner empty" until I found a setting for "Toner Empty" and the choice was set by default to "Stop". I changed it to "Continue" and you would not believe the amount of pages it printed until the lack of color started to show, at least 1,000. At $100 a pop for toner this setting will save us thousands, we just keep printing until it's TRULY empty!

Tony

 

[kmcferrin]

I agree. There's two ways to handle this. First, buy a printer that uses separate ink cartridges for each color. That way you don't have to throw out a mostly full cartridge just because you used one color more than the others.

Secondly, I usually continue to let the printer run until it is really out of ink/toner (or low on ink/toner). I've had B&W laser printers that print hundreds more pages after the toner cartridge says that it's empty. My inkjet printer at home has been telling me that it's out of yellow for months, but every time that I print something with yellow on it the output is just fine. I won't bother replacing the cartridge until the yellow becomes streaky or stops printing.

The thing to keep in mind is that the inkjet printer business is like the razor business. They sell the printers for dirt cheap and then charge you through the nose for the ink cartridges (cheap razor + expensive blades). There are all sorts of tricks that the companies use (ALL of them use them) to sell more ink.

For example, all of the printers come with ink cartridges. But what they don't tell you is that the cartridges they come with only have 1/4 to 1/2 the capacity of the ones that you buy separately. So when you buy a printer, a month later the cartridges run out. So when you buy a replacement you buy more than one set because you figure you'll run out in another month (which you don't).

Another trick is the software that "calculates" when the cartridge should be empty and tells you to change it. Why would you need that whenever you could just as easily have a sensor that detects the level of the ink reservoir? Plausible deniability I think. They can say that the software only provides "an estimate", but if they had a sensor that actually measured the level then they'd be accused of fraud if it wasn't accurate.

In the inkject business, it's all about selling cartridges.

Back to the original question about the Canon, I have never had a printer die on me because I ran it out of ink. When a cartridge is truly empty, I replace it and everything is back to normal. And on the off chance that it actually could damage the printer to run it dry, who cares? Inkjets are dirt cheap these days, and every year they get faster, higher resolution, and cheaper. At this point, anything that you're likely to still be using after a year is considered disposable.

 

[ATLMatt]

For my personal and office use, I continue to use "empty" cartridges until the print quality visibly suffers.

As noted above, there are some printers that default to not printing when it thinks an ink cartridge is low, but this can usually be overridden with software settings. There are a few printers that use a pop up window to display ink levels, and the software refuses to print when it thinks it is to low on ink. If you search, you can often find a generic driver, or driver only package that allows the printer to work, but doesn't include the annoying software.

 

[orypecos]

I ran the printer until it said that one of the cartridges said that it was totally out. I don't know if it is sensing that that the ink was out some way or if it is just guessing that it is out according to the number of copies I have printed. Maybe I should open the cartridge and see if there is any ink in there?
I noticed that in the manual for the copier that it says that all cartridges are used to some degree even if color printing isn't done. It says that this is for maintenance purposes so that they don't jam up or some other reason. I bought this printer so I wouldn't have to replace one cartridge when only one color was empty, but that might have been a whist full dream of saving money if the printer software only looks at number of copies whether or not they are color or not.
The box for the cartridge tell the milliliters of ink, but not the weight. I thought that I would weigh the next new cartridge and compare to the old one and see if there was any ink in it, but without the weight I will probably just have to open it.
I just about took the printer back when I called customer Canon customer support on one of their cameras that I have and the support was terrible.

 

[orypecos]

I will also look to see if there is a option to override the 'ink out' when the next cartridge runs out. I have only printed 4 color photos, but still the printer thinks that it is out of almost all the cartridges and I have only had the printer for 6 months.
The Canon manual has many mistakes in it to add to their bad service, so I will probably not get a Canon again.

 

[orypecos]

while searching to buy replacement cartridges I found this note on a ebay listing. It appears that this is suggesting that there are sensors on the cartridges that tell the printer that they are low or out. That is rather than a copy counter that is suggested in posts by others.
NOTE #1 (Please read): This type of cartridge are currently without a computer chip. So you must have in possession of the original cartridges because you will need the computer chip from the original cartridges. There are simple instructions provided to help you replace the chip and disable the printer from reading the ink status. A copy of the instructions can be viewed here. We are not responsible for any installation errors. Please follow instructions accordingly.

NOTE #2 (Please read): If you encounter a blinking amber light after new cartridge installation on the printer.
For iP Series Printers: Holding the paper feed button down for 3-5 seconds will allow you to override the counter. The cartridge will print , however the ink level display may not show.

For MP Series Printers: Holding the STOP/RESET button down for 3-5 seconds will allow you to override the counter. The cartridge will print, however the ink level display may not show.