My hp photosmart c 3180 will only print in black even though I have a full color ink cartridge. How do I print in color if i'm using a mac?

Even though the interface says the cartridge is full, if the printer detects it being empty, odds are you will have to replace the color cartridge, even though you are only printing black.
You can try taking the cartridge out and cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser and reseat the color cartridge. If no change, replace the cartridge.

Hello, this is to be expected . You will need to have all cartridges installed and with ink in, even if you only want to print in black, or the printer will detect an error and won't work.
Regards,
nicam49

Hi,

The Photosmart printers work in Thermal Inkjet printing technology. This require all cartridges to be present with ink for printer to work.

You may disable the color printing feature using the printer properties, even though the color cartridge will still be in use.

Only Laser jet printers can work with Black cartridge alone.

Regards
Riztech
If this solution is helpful,kindly vote 'thumbs up' and testimonial.

First of all, if the ink cartridges are stuck, as you rightly guessed, it may not be the correct cartridge.

Now, even suppose, it is the correct cartridge, it would not have been installed correctly . the Label side of the cartridge should face upwards, Not towards you.. when you are inserting the ink cartridge.

if you are from India the compatible ink cartridge would be HP 850(BLACK) AND HP 855(COLOR)

In North,South America it is HP 92(BLACK) AND HP 93.

The black ink cartridge is larger than the photo black cartridge and black is used in photos to make the darker colors. Black text takes much less ink per page.

If this is happening after the cartridge was just replaced then make sure you do not have any flags setup in the color settings page in printer preferences that is not letting it use the black ink cartridge. eg. gray scale using color only etc.

Try the Clean cartridge function in the service menu in printer preferences and see if the test page comes ok.

Something is wrong with your Blach carrier or connections. Use a bit of alcohol and clean the array of gold contacts where the Ink cartridge plugs in. Most of the pins are shutter and piezo control (get the ink on paper) but a few do other stuff like check ink level, # of hours runtime, etc. This is very common problem with inkjet printers. Hope this helps.
Also... rub the contacts on the printhead with a pencil eraser to make them shiny and bright.

Cheers!

Did you pull the plastic tape off of the cartridge?

Hello merelU. I'm afraid you may have to replace the empty color cartridge as there may be problems with the printer while an expired cartridge is installed on the printer (even though some of the cartridges are still under warranty) and also, HP cannot guarantee the quality or reliability of expired ink cartridges.


all the best.
thx

Hi

HP Inkjet printers work only if both the cartridges have ink unlike HP Laserjet printers.
If you want the printer to print only in black, Follow the steps

Start --->Control panel -- >Printers and faxes ---->Right click on the printer icon (HP c5100) select printing preferences.
Under printing prefences there u will see an option to print with black or print in gray scale.

Note:HP Inkjet printers like Photosmart C5180 will work only both the cartridges have ink.

Thanks
Riz