How to make your Brother print when it says "Ink Empty"

andrewk_2

If you have a Brother printer (DCP-115C, for example - this trick should work on any printer that takes the LC900 cartridges), you'll surely be annoyed by the fact that you can't print at all, not even in mono, when one of the colour cartridges is "empty" - which usually means it has a small amount of ink left in it.

The cartridges indicate the remaining ink level by way of a small object that floats inside the ink cartridge (maybe it's magnetic, I don't know). As such, if you tip the printer up, the small amount of remaining ink makes the object float higher up the side of the cartridge, the printer thinks it's got ink left, and you'll be able to print again.

In order for this trick to work, you need to:
- open the cover as if you were about to change the cartridge
- lift the left-hand side of the printer up and stick a book under it, so that the whole printer is tipped up
- confirm that the screen says "Close Cover", then close the cover.

Seeing as Brother printers drink ink on the sly unless they're unplugged from the mains, you won't want to replace or refill your cartridges before you have to. If you print mainly in black and white, this could save you a fair amount of money.

Note that this will not allow you to get the last remaining drops of ink out of the cartridge, as the sensor is on the opposite side of the cartridge from the hole that allows the ink out.