[Gllug] OT: Printer Cartridges

[john gennard]

From: Chris Bell <chrisbell at overview.demon.co.uk> wrote:-

On Fri 17 Dec, john gennard wrote:

 >> Does anyone know if a colour cartridge can be loaded
 >> with black ink?
 >>
 >> I have an Epson Photo 810 (which needs both a colour
 >> and a black cartridge to work) and no longer use it
 >> for colour printing. Although I set the default to
 >> 'black' (for all text work), the colour cartridge
 >> gradually empties. If I fill all chambers of an old
 >> colour cartridge, with black ink would the printer
 >> 'fail to notice'?
 >>
 >> Can't find anyone on google who has tried this.
 >>
 >> John.
 >>

 >    As far as I know there is no sensing for the real colour of the 
 > ink, although I have heard that some cartridges have an embedded
 > chip which registers usage and not the amount of ink remaining.

These cartridges are 'chipped', but they only show the level of
ink remaining. If they register the usage, I don't know what
they use that info is put to.

 > You may also find that there is both a "black" which combines
 > colours to make a black, and a "registration black" which uses
 > only the real black ink, selectable in the printer setup.

Yes, that is what happens here. However, I thought the black
achieved by using all the colours only came into play if the
setup had 'colour' selected as default, and the black ink was
used if 'black' was the default.

 >   I have a printer which has four separate ink cartridges, but each
 > cartridge is mechanically coded to only go in the appropriate
 > colour slot.

I have only two 'stations' for cartridges, one for the narrow
black cartridge and the other for the much larger colour
cartridge which has five reservoirs for the colour inks. Is it
that colours are accessed in some sequence? I know I cocked
things up on another printer and accidentally refilled three
resevoirs with the wrong colours and got very strange prints.

Thanks for the help.				John.

 >-- Chris Bell

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