Black ink won't print even though the cartridge is

The problem is that the printhead of your printer or your cartridge is too clogged, try to open it up. If this does not manage to make it work, change the cartridge orprinthead

I have the same problem. Everything on the printer is working just fine. It'll do a test page just fine, so everything's working right. The %$^ thing just won't print. It makes noise like it's printing when you give it a print job, but it spits out blank pages.

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.

First thing, make sure the cartridge is seated properly. If so, try cleaning the print head. Normally if the other colors are good and the old black cartridge was working before if went empty try using the maint option and cleaning the print head it gets gummed up sometimes. Also look at the board on the cartridge/cartridge housing (the little gold connectors) and make sure none of them are damaged.

From what i understand with the kyocera colour printers theres a menu option to print black as black opposed to a combination of the colours. I'm not too sure where it is, however it sounds like the kodak is very simular and is using the colours to create black instead of using the blank ink cartrage.

Hi, this is not a solution because I don't think there is one apart from buying new inks. You need to consider 2 things, firstly the official line: Epson (and all other inkjet manufacturers) do this to prevent the coloured print head nozzles from getting blocked. If they are not used for a long time the ink dries up and blocks the nozzles. Epson recommends printing at least once a month with all colours to prevent this. Whenever the printer is turned on it performs a head clean, this is why the coloured inks get used over time even though they are not used for printing. It is also why the "print in Black only" option (available on some printers) only works when the coloured inks are OK.
The 2nd unofficial line is that it is a win-win situation for manufacturers. Firstly they get to cut down on costly warranty call outs for blocked heads (replacement printers, technician manhours, etc) and secondly they get to sell lots more inks (Ka-ching!). If you really want to print black text only (and save cash on price per-print) then a mono-laser printer is the best way as they can now be bought at inkjet prices.

Hi, this is not a solution because I don't think there is one apart from buying new inks. Epson and all other inkjet printers do this to prevent the coloured print head nozzles from getting blocked. If they are not used for a long time the ink dries up and blocks the nozzles. Epson recommends printing at least once a month with all colours to prevent this. Printing in black only option will only work if the colored inks are OK. Whenever the printer is turned on it performs a head clean, this is why the coloured inks get used over time even though they are not used for printing.

marcarrico,

Even though you do not print in colour, your printer will still slowly but surely **** out the colour ink in your printer/fax machine. The unit does a thing called purging. this is a necessary part of the printer maintaining the print head in a printable condition. Everytime it does this it will **** a small amount of ink through the head, Including your colour inks. Over time the inks will empty even if you don't use the ink. All inkjet printers do this and there is not a thing you can do about it. If you want to use the printer, you will have no choice but to replace the colour cartridges.
As a suggestion, if you only ever use black then you would be far better off with a small laser fax. they start from about $350au and they will give you a better print in text and the cartridges will last about 10 times as long as the ink jet.

Gremlin11

try to remove the front cover of the printer is 2 screews or 3 and a few clips and whit a clean cloth absorb the waste ink from the waste tank, and this is o quik fix that i use.

Unfortunately, like most multi cartridge ink jet printers when one ink is empty the printer will cease printing regardless of whether you just want to print in black and white and you have plenty of black ink left. I have heard of people tricking the printer into believing the cartridge is full by placing coloured tape etc in front of the ink sensing device but I am not sure how the Brother senses the ink levels as i have some aftermarket ink cartridges for mine which seem to be completely non-opaque (unlike the originals). The need to have colour cartridges in even if you only ever print with black ink is good news for Brother as the MFC-210c uses a large amount of ink during it's routine cleaning cycles (that you cant stop) and will empty all 3 cartridges in under 6 months without ever printer a single drop of colour ink. Sorry about all the bad news, at least your not alone......