[Ted L. Nancy]

My 2600n won't print. When I try to print, of course the printer dialog status window thing opens. In the upper portion of that window (next to the picture of the printer) it just says "Printer Ready". In the lower portion (where it its the queued jobs, the job status is "Stopped".

I checked the printer, and it says to order supplies. All three color cartridges look as though they read as empty. (However, when I check the supply levels through the printer software on my computer, they read that my color cartridges are nearly full. In the software, only the level of the black cartridge seems to match the its level on the printer's display.) The black is more than half-full. I am merely trying to print a text email in grayscale.

I could be waaay off here, but I'm guessing my printer won't print because hp wants me to buy new color cartridges. If so, I will be really upset because I'm purposely very frugal with my color printing. (I almost always print in grayscale. Nevertheless, I need a color capable printer, as I do need print one or two color pages about every 45 days.) Since I've only had this printer about a year, I can't imagine that I used all the color in my printer's cartridges.

Where did the color toner go? I've noticed the supply levels of my color cartridges on my printer's display progressively falling over the past year, even when I hadn't printed in color. I can only assume at this point that when the printer does its self maintenance cycles (sometimes I will here it making noises when I'm not printing) that it is (perhaps purposefully) leaking my color toner. I have no idea why this would be necessary, but if this is in fact the case, then it seems I need to find I printer that won't waste my color toner.

The other possibility, I suppose, is that something is just not working or communicating correctly. I hope this is the case. It would be good if my cartridges are not in fact empty and that the supply level readout in my software- as opposed to the one's on my printer - are accurate.

Any thoughts or troubleshooting ideas on this matter would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Cold Warrior]

I think printers will use a small amount of color ink even when printing black or grayscale. Often there's an option in the print dialog box (maybe advanced settings) to use only the black ink cartridge.

If you can find this option, you may be able to continue using your black cartridge until it runs out.

Also, consider getting a laser printer. They're much better with toner, although the printers themselves can be a bit more expensive. Not really a difference nowadays if you get just a black & white laser printer. It'd probably cost you as much as it would to buy new black and color toner.

[Ted L. Nancy]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

I think printers will use a small amount of color ink even when printing black or grayscale.

Bummer.

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Often there's an option in the print dialog box (maybe advanced settings) to use only the black ink cartridge.

I looked for this, but I couldn't find anything like it. The closest thing was a checkbox under "Color Options" to "Print in Grayscale," which I've always left checked.

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Also, consider getting a laser printer. They're much better with toner, although the printers themselves can be a bit more expensive. Not really a difference nowadays if you get just a black & white laser printer. It'd probably cost you as much as it would to buy new black and color toner.

Wait, I thought the 2600n was a laser printer! I'm seriously considering getting rid of this thing anyways. It just seems to have too many annoyances (e.g. you have to insert envelopes the opposite direction than what the printer tells you to, otherwise it will print incorrectly), and this expensive color toner that I can't seem to stop from disappearing is really impractical. The problem is, I'm not sure what to do with this thing. I seem to remember it being about $400 when I bought it, it is very heavy in weight, and I don't have the original packaging for it (as it was just too bulky to justify storing in my limited space). I therefore think eBay is out of the question. Perhaps a local pawn shop would be interested?

The next question would be with what d I replace it...

[frdmfghtr]

I've seen several posts scattered about that tell of half-full toner cartridges "expiring" after a certain number of pages or time, regardless of the toner level.

I'd suggest contacting HP and explaining the situation to them. It could be a technical probelm that can be cleared up with their help.

If HP says that the cartridges are in fact expired even though they are nearly full, I would present two options: (1) HP sends a free set of new cartridges; or (2) I go to a competing manufacturer. Toner should not expire because some arbitrary number of pages have been printed. If I print 5000 pages with black toner and use zero red toner, the red toner cartridge had better not be expired.

If your color needs really are that few and far between, I'd get color runs done at some copy shop like Kinko's; it's a little inconvenient, but so is replacing toner cartridges unnecessarily.

[mduell]

How long have you had the printer? Toner isn't stable forever and the printer may expire it after so many months or thermal cycles.

If you primarily print black and white you're probably better off with a black and white printer (cheaper and often a larger toner cartridge) and going to kinkos or similar for your occasional color job.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by Ted L. Nancy 

Wait, I thought the 2600n was a laser printer!

You are correct. It's a color laserjet printer. I didn't look up the model because it sounded like you were talking about ink cartridges.

Anyway, if you're burning through toner even on a laser printer, then you probably have high-volume printing needs. I doubt there's anything and any model you can choose that would dramatically improve your toner consumption.

[compuman]

Ted,

I don't know if you can do it retroactively, but their is a way to override the page count limitations on the HP toner cartridges for your model of printer. Check out the link below. This should also clarify why your little used color toner cartridges might be registering as empty.

Printing problem - FixYa

Rich

[OreoCookie]

HP printers are becoming worse and worse. Most of them, anyway. When our institute's HP 4250 needed a maintenance kit (after 170,000 pages instead of the promised 300,000), our suppliers said it was sold out. We couldn't believe it and tried a few others, but all of them were sold out! We had to wait three months for a maintenance kit for a very popular HP printer.

The trick to use some color even if you print bw is old in the inkjet world, this is the first time I've heard that some printer manufacturers do this with laser printers, too.

[Ted L. Nancy]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

HP printers are becoming worse and worse. Most of them, anyway.

I agree. I learned the hard way about how, with their inkjets, they mark down the initial cost of the printer, but your subsequent cartridge purchases are relatively expensive.

I'e decided to set this thing aside and get a new printer. It's just too big of a headache and not suitable for my law office.

I think what I'm going to get instead is a brother b/w all-in-one. I could use a new fax and copier, and it would definitely save some needed office space to have this all built into one unit. If I need to print color, I'll just take my laptop home and hook it up to my wife's photo printer. I was also reading on brother's website that their all-in-one's that have an ethernet connection support scanning over the network! This could be a huge benefit for me! I wonder if it will let me hook up the unit to my Time Capsule and scan wirelessly?

Anyway, if anyone thinks this is a bad idea, I'd appreciate a warning against!

[OreoCookie]

I have been very happy with Kyocera printers and all-in-ones. The printers are very sturdily built and have cheap toner. We have a Kyocera all-in-one at work and scan-to-email works like a charm. It reduces the time to digitize notes (which is very handy and sometimes necessary) from literally an hour or so to seconds.

Brothers have good Mac support, although I have never owned one.

PS I have owned several HP printers as have my parents (I used to be their primary tech support), many lasers (starting with a LJ IIIP, III) and inkjets. Their quality has declined steadily and their supplies policies are unacceptable (they still sell inkjet printers with combo ink tanks).

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Ted L. Nancy 

I think what I'm going to get instead is a brother b/w all-in-one. I could use a new fax and copier, and it would definitely save some needed office space to have this all built into one unit. If I need to print color, I'll just take my laptop home and hook it up to my wife's photo printer. I was also reading on brother's website that their all-in-one's that have an ethernet connection support scanning over the network! This could be a huge benefit for me! I wonder if it will let me hook up the unit to my Time Capsule and scan wirelessly?

Pretty much all all-in-ones with ethernet have a network interface for scanning, and it doesn't matter how your machine accesses the network.

I like the HP LaserJet 3055, although the M1522n is also an option if you're on a tighter budget. They're both monochrome all-in-one (including fax) with ethernet.

[olePigeon]

I'd recommend avoiding anything by Brother and/or Lexmark. Konica Minolta and Xerox are pretty sturdy brands.

[moep]

Incidentally I faced the same problem today. One of my color toners ran out, two others are about to run out. Weird since only 15% of my prints are in color and I'm my second black toner now.)

Here's the real shocker though: One new Q6000a-Q6003a toner cartridge costs 70€ (so 280€ for four of them) while a new printer comes with four full regular-capacity (!) toners and costs 199€.

I'll try to sell off the new printer (sans toners) on ebay and will try to refill my next set of toners myself.

//edit: I logged into the web interface now and found a handful of options that might be useful:


(defaults: 15 min and 12 hours)


(default: No adjustment)

[DocDon]

Before you put the 2600n away try the following:

Cartridge Out Override can only be enabled from the printer’s control panel menu.
1. From the main menu, press (RIGHT ARROW) to System setup and press (SELECT).
2. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Print quality and press (SELECT).
3. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Replace supplies and press (SELECT).
4. Press (RIGHT ARROW) to Override out and press (SELECT).
5. Press (SELECT).
If Stop at out is selected, the printer will stop printing when a cartridge reaches the recommended replacement point. If Override out is selected, the printer will continue printing when a cartridge reaches the recommended replacement point. The factory default setting is Stop at out.

The above information is found on page 94 of the User Guide -- which no one reads.

We are still printing on the original color carts after 3700 total pages (1700 with new black now @ 45%). All of the color catrs are now at 0% but still printing. If you don't turn off the factory default the printer stops at ~2200 pages.

You can check the actual status via the HP 2600n toolbox interface (available as Admin only)