Canon MP780 is using color ink and I only print in black and white

Terry

I never print in color. The machine has to have color cartridges even
when I am printing in black and white. I replaced the original empty
color cartridges with Staple's brand.

After about 3 months I started getting a message that one color was
getting empty. The other two colors were still showing full. After
about month one of the other colors is showing almost empty.

I took the cartridges out and looked at them. Yellow still has a
noticeable amount of color left but the other two do look empty.

I printed a maintenance page and it prints fine, although the color
looks light. Staple's said the problem might be that the cartridges
had dried up.

I should not have to be replacing color cartridges when I only print
in black and white.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Tony

Terry <kilowatt@charter.net> wrote:
>I never print in color. The machine has to have color cartridges even
>when I am printing in black and white. I replaced the original empty
>color cartridges with Staple's brand.
>
>After about 3 months I started getting a message that one color was
>getting empty. The other two colors were still showing full. After
>about month one of the other colors is showing almost empty.
>
>I took the cartridges out and looked at them. Yellow still has a
>noticeable amount of color left but the other two do look empty.
>
>I printed a maintenance page and it prints fine, although the color
>looks light. Staple's said the problem might be that the cartridges
>had dried up.
>
>I should not have to be replacing color cartridges when I only print
>in black and white.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>Thanks

The printer uses ALL inks during cleaning cycles. This is the same for all
inkjets. It may also be using colour inks for some of your prints (colour inks
are sometimes used to make up monochrome images), make sure the printer driver
is set to print black only or grayscale. The cleaning cycle issue cannot be
overcome on this printer. There are some (mainly HP I think) printers that will
work with the tricolour cartridge removed but I do not believe this is true for
Canon printers that use tricolour cartridges.

Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

WyleCoyote@Cactus.com

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:15:04 -0400, Terry <kilowatt@charter.net>
wrote:

>I never print in color. The machine has to have color cartridges even
>when I am printing in black and white. I replaced the original empty
>color cartridges with Staple's brand.
>
>After about 3 months I started getting a message that one color was
>getting empty. The other two colors were still showing full. After
>about month one of the other colors is showing almost empty.
>
>I took the cartridges out and looked at them. Yellow still has a
>noticeable amount of color left but the other two do look empty.
>
>I printed a maintenance page and it prints fine, although the color
>looks light. Staple's said the problem might be that the cartridges
>had dried up.
>
>I should not have to be replacing color cartridges when I only print
>in black and white.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>Thanks



I have an MP 830. It appears to use the pure black cartridges
only when set to 81/2X11 plain paper. I'm still experimenting
because it's not clear from the maual about how it uses inks
and it's not straightforward. Tech support said that would
work and apparently it does. Mine was using only the color
cartridges for black and white printing and mixing them until
I changed the setting ... my color cartridges were half gone
and the blacks were full after printing 75% black and white.

You would think Canon would have a section in the manual
about ink tank usage and printing .... bunch of ****ing morons.

Terry

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:27:47 -0400, WyleCoyote@Cactus.com wrote:

>On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:15:04 -0400, Terry <kilowatt@charter.net>
>wrote:
>
>>I never print in color. The machine has to have color cartridges even
>>when I am printing in black and white. I replaced the original empty
>>color cartridges with Staple's brand.
>>
>>After about 3 months I started getting a message that one color was
>>getting empty. The other two colors were still showing full. After
>>about month one of the other colors is showing almost empty.
>>
>>I took the cartridges out and looked at them. Yellow still has a
>>noticeable amount of color left but the other two do look empty.
>>
>>I printed a maintenance page and it prints fine, although the color
>>looks light. Staple's said the problem might be that the cartridges
>>had dried up.
>>
>>I should not have to be replacing color cartridges when I only print
>>in black and white.
>>
>>Any suggestions?
>>
>>Thanks
>
>
>
>I have an MP 830. It appears to use the pure black cartridges
>only when set to 81/2X11 plain paper. I'm still experimenting
>because it's not clear from the maual about how it uses inks
>and it's not straightforward. Tech support said that would
>work and apparently it does. Mine was using only the color
>cartridges for black and white printing and mixing them until
>I changed the setting ... my color cartridges were half gone
>and the blacks were full after printing 75% black and white.
>
>You would think Canon would have a section in the manual
>about ink tank usage and printing .... bunch of ****ing morons.
>
They sell printers for cheap and then make it up selling the ink. They
want us to use up the more expensive color cartridges as often
possible.

I took a Epson printer to the dealer, and he fixed it under warranty.
When I went in to get it back, he mentioned that he had given it a
thorough testing. He offered to sell me some ink before I left the
store.

Terry

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:27:47 -0400, WyleCoyote@Cactus.com wrote:
>
>I have an MP 830. It appears to use the pure black cartridges
>only when set to 81/2X11 plain paper. I'm still experimenting
>because it's not clear from the maual about how it uses inks

I forgot to mention that this is bad news for me as I print on
envelopes frequently.

Terry

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:27:47 -0400, WyleCoyote@Cactus.com wrote:

>On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:15:04 -0400, Terry <kilowatt@charter.net>
>wrote:
>
>>I never print in color. The machine has to have color cartridges even
>>when I am printing in black and white. I replaced the original empty
>>color cartridges with Staple's brand.
>>
>>After about 3 months I started getting a message that one color was
>>getting empty. The other two colors were still showing full. After
>>about month one of the other colors is showing almost empty.
>>
>>I took the cartridges out and looked at them. Yellow still has a
>>noticeable amount of color left but the other two do look empty.
>>
>>I printed a maintenance page and it prints fine, although the color
>>looks light. Staple's said the problem might be that the cartridges
>>had dried up.
>>
>>I should not have to be replacing color cartridges when I only print
>>in black and white.
>>
>>Any suggestions?
>>
>>Thanks
>
>
>
>I have an MP 830. It appears to use the pure black cartridges
>only when set to 81/2X11 plain paper. I'm still experimenting
>because it's not clear from the maual about how it uses inks
>and it's not straightforward. Tech support said that would
>work and apparently it does. Mine was using only the color
>cartridges for black and white printing and mixing them until
>I changed the setting ... my color cartridges were half gone
>and the blacks were full after printing 75% black and white.
>
>You would think Canon would have a section in the manual
>about ink tank usage and printing .... bunch of ****ing morons.
>
This came from Canon and confirms what you have said.


Thank you for contacting Canon product support. We value you as a
Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

We regret that you are having difficulties printing in black ink only.
Occasionally you may need to print using black ink only. Using
grayscale alone does not provide this option and the color inks will
still be used. By following the procedure below you may print using
only the pigment black ink tank:

Note: Image quality may be sacrificed when printing photographs.

1. Open the Properties/Preferences window for the printer.

a. For Windows Vista: Click Start from the bottom left of the
Windows screen, then Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, and then click
on Printers. (If you are in Classic view, Click Printers directly
from the Control Panel.) Click your right mouse button on the listing
for your printer, and then select Properties from the menu that
appears.

b. For Windows XP Home Edition: Click Start from the bottom
left of the Windows screen, then Control Panel, Printers and Other
Hardware, and then Printers and Faxes. Click your right mouse button
on the listing for your printer, and then select Properties from the
menu that appears.

c. For Windows XP Professional Edition: Click Start from the
bottom left of the Windows screen, and then Printers and Faxes. Click
your right mouse button on the listing for your printer, and then
select Properties from the menu that appears.

d. For Windows 2000/Me/98: Click Start from the bottom left of
the Windows screen, and Settings, then Printers. Click your right
mouse button on the listing for your printer, and then select
Properties from the menu that appears.

2. Click on the Main tab.

3. Select Plain Paper as the Media Type. If any other paper type is
selected, color ink will be used to create black.

Note: The pigment black ink will only be used when printing on plain
paper.

4. Select the box for Grayscale Printing. If the document to be
printed is in black only, then this step may be skipped.

Note: If either Borderless Printing or Duplex Printing are enabled
from
the Page Setup tab, grayscale will be created using a combination of
the
color (dye) inks to prevent smearing.

5. Click OK to save the changes. The printer will now only use the
pigment black ink tank.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we
can be of any further assistance with your MP800R.

Thank you for choosing Canon.

Sincerely,

Ken

Technical Support Representative

Chuck

When I print envelopes, my printer still thinks it's printing 8 1/2-11 paper
sheets.
The paper guides are moved manually to the correct position for envelopes
after printing one "proof" on regular paper.
(Makes sure that the application formatting is correct.)
The most common application I use for envelopes is word

(The envelope is setup in applications software, not the printer driver
options, which are left at 8 1/2-11.)
Some printers have a problem with this, since envelopes are thicker than the
normal sheet of paper.

And with some printer drivers, Word will set driver printing options on the
fly, making them difficult to get around.

"Terry" <kilowatt@charter.net> wrote in message
news:k3ung3l2mi1jp9dp6jc7te5ji66qra31s7@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:27:47 -0400, WyleCoyote@Cactus.com wrote:
> >
> >I have an MP 830. It appears to use the pure black cartridges
> >only when set to 81/2X11 plain paper. I'm still experimenting
> >because it's not clear from the maual about how it uses inks
>
> I forgot to mention that this is bad news for me as I print on
> envelopes frequently.

WyleCoyote@Cactus.com

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:37:38 -0400, "Chuck" <Chuckk2nospam@cox.net>
wrote:

>When I print envelopes, my printer still thinks it's printing 8 1/2-11 paper
>sheets.
>The paper guides are moved manually to the correct position for envelopes
>after printing one "proof" on regular paper.
>(Makes sure that the application formatting is correct.)
>The most common application I use for envelopes is word
>
>(The envelope is setup in applications software, not the printer driver
>options, which are left at 8 1/2-11.)
>Some printers have a problem with this, since envelopes are thicker than the
>normal sheet of paper.
>
>And with some printer drivers, Word will set driver printing options on the
>fly, making them difficult to get around.
>
>"Terry" <kilowatt@charter.net> wrote in message
>news:k3ung3l2mi1jp9dp6jc7te5ji66qra31s7@4ax.com.. .
>> On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:27:47 -0400, WyleCoyote@Cactus.com wrote:
>> >
>> >I have an MP 830. It appears to use the pure black cartridges
>> >only when set to 81/2X11 plain paper. I'm still experimenting
>> >because it's not clear from the maual about how it uses inks
>>
>> I forgot to mention that this is bad news for me as I print on
>> envelopes frequently.
>


On the envelopes I've only printed them through application software
and then you have to make sure it's set for envelope in the printer
driver. I'm not sure whether it's mixing for envelopes or not. I
think the envelope printing did look a lighter shade of black and I
thought at the time I wonder if it's mixing on envelopes when you set
for envelopes going through the printer driver. Guess the only way
to find out for sure is ask tech support what it's doing. I think the
panel on the printer stayed the same default setting I have for it of
plain paper 81/2 X 11.