Black Cartridge Not Being Used While Printing

The following cartridges are compatible with Canon MP160:

Canon PG 40 Black Ink Cartridge Black Ink Cartridge

Canon PG 50 High Capacity Black Ink Cartridge
Black FINE Cartridge, High Capacity

Canon CL 41 Tri Color Ink Cartridge
1 Cartridge of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow

Canon CL 51 High Capacity Color Ink Cartridge
Color FINE Cartridge, High Capacity

No!

The large cartridge is used for text only printing.
The smaller black cartridge is used for black in images such as pictures.

You have a "C (cyan) M (magenta) Y (yellow) and B (black) color system. This actually saves the color inks for you. If the Black was not there, you would need to make a composite black from the color inks.

Don

whenever you print greyscale what actually happen is that the printer mixes the red, blue and yellow to give the output in gray scale. See if you mix red, blue and yellow ink in the right proportion it gives you very close to black. just try to print your greyscale with your black ink finished you will still get the same print quality as when the black has ink in it. Or find a way seal the nuzzle of the black in and print your greyscale. check what results.

the part number is hp 21 black injet print cartridge part# c9351aa, hp 22 tri-color inkjet print cartridge part# c9352aa cartridge for everyday printing and the high volume printing cartridges hp 27 black inkjet print cartridge part# c8727aahp 22xl tri color inkjet printer cartridge part# c9352ca; these cartridges is for hp officejet 4355 all-in-one inkjet printer

Have you tried replacing the cartridges? Some programs such as Adobe Reader will generate a "black" equivalent from the color cartridge. In this case, if the color cartridge is low in red, the outcome will be blue. This would signify that the color cartridge needs to be replaced. HP supplied a utility program for the HP6122 to detect and report ink levels. If you have this utility, check the levels. The utility will only work if the computer is directly connected to the printer -- not thru a print server. If you don't have the utility, you should be able to get it at the HP website http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?prodNameId=83028&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=88749

You might find that both the black and the color cartridges are out of ink. Some print drivers can detect when the black cartridge is empty, then attempts to print a black equivalent using the color cartridge.

The PGI-220 is the larger ink tank and is filled with standard black ink. The PGI-221 black cartridge is the photo black. There is no way to force the printer to use the photo black cartridge (skinny one) to print documents. The photo black cartridge is only used if you print a photo. I own a Cartridge World ink refilling shop and I can't refill these cartridges yet. There is no way to reset the ink level chip without a resetter and any replacement chips you find on the internet are technically violating patent law.

if your document only black and white , the machine only use black ink, no going withdraw the color ink. but you have had to leaved the full color ink in the machine.

The PGBK cartridge is a pigment black ink, while the others use a dye for coloration. The pigment black is used when printing text and other documents. The dye ink is used when printing photos and other colored documents. The dye black is used in conjunction with the color (dye) inks to provide tinting and color gradation, and therefore is not used nearly as much as the pigment black unless you use your printer only for printing photos.

If you're printing text and documents, you will need to buy another pigment black (PGBK) cartridge.

Yes, this printer has fixed printheads and must have ink in each color to prevent damage to the printheads. Even when printing black only each color is spit in the servicing area to keep the printhead unclogged.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Printing/Imaging

HP #74 Cartridge Refill Instructions
Black cartridge
Instructions
1. Put the cartridge on some paper towels in an area where you can tolerate a spill.
2. Peal off the top label.
3. Fill the syringe with 20ml. of black ink.
4. Very S-L-O-W-L-Y inject ink into any hole (they all go to the same sponge, HP just used the same color mold for the black ink cartridges).
5. When finished, replace the top label or leave it off (it will make no difference in the printing).
6. Replace the cartridge and run 1 - 3 cleaning cycles as per printer instructions.
Or print the following pages:
http://www.refillinstructions.com/black.htm for Black

For best results, leave cartridge in printer for 8 hours after refilling so the ink can saturate the entire sponge.
A Refill Kit should include Ink plus the following:
One 30cc Syringe