Printer cartridges running out quickly

MattJKing71

*UPDATE* I'm carrying on printing B&W with (allegedly) empty BK and Yellow and all is fine (I just get a warning about the colours I don't currently need, being low).
I wonder if the ink levels are actually a countdown from the max prints they want you to get out of a cartridge, not an actual measure of ink volume remaining! Sad to think you have to print until the printing is patchy, to know you're getting decent VFM.

I've just printed the first 600 pages on a new printer and wondered if others experience the same:
The separate ink cartridges are reported as running down when you wouldn't expect to have used them!
e.g. I've seen the Yellow level go down on my printers display, during a print of a 50 page document that looks completely black and white AND I selected to print in greyscales in the usual Word printer dialogue.

The Cyan and Magenta melted away (originally 7ml then replaced with XL cartridges), even though I've printed half a dozen colour photos and some docs had green and blue logo in the header every page. Even the BK cartridge has run down whilst I've been printing only docs (BK is only used for black in photos, PGBK is for black text).

John_Gray

Manufacturer and Model?
Some printers will use the colour cartridge(s) even when printing black only.
This enables the manufacturers to recoup some money from the ink cartridges.
Printers are significantly underpriced; the ink is mind-blowingly overpriced!
It is their business model...
(Thwart it by buying non-original cartridges from a good source...)

System

New printers come with ink cartridges or toner cartridges that have low amounts of ink or toner in them compared to replacements. Its one of the ways they hope to recoup their money.

Also if you don't use your printer often you'll waste a lot of ink via nozzle clearing routines because it'll do them more often on an unused printer than an often used one to prevent the ink from drying out in the nozzles and blocking up. Part of that start up routine you hear every time you turn it on if its been turned off for a while is a nozzle clean.

angryparcel

Tarambor wrote: »

New printers come with ink cartridges or toner cartridges that have low amounts of ink or toner in them compared to replacements.

The ink provided with new printers will be 40% to 50% of a retail cartridge. these are only supplied to allow the user to calibrate the printer and run the test sheets.
Some printers now don't even come with ink

MattJKing71

Thanks for reply: Canon TS5051. I didn't want to 'name and shame' originally as I suspect it's not just them or this model. I don't mind the business model in principle, but at the prices I'm seeing it soon adds up.

The photos were printed on the small capacity cartridges that came with the machine, and I wasn't really monitoring ink levels. As I started printing 50 page (B&W) documents I was buying XL cartridges as replacements and noticed colour inks cartridge levels plummeting even though the only colour on them was the green/blue logo on page headers - bit yellow and BK reduced too (admitted less quickly, but I've no idea how I used loads of magenta).

MattJKing71

Yes, I read that they're 7ml but the XL replacements are 20ml.
Still the magenta XL is running down though I'm currently only printing B&W

angryparcel

MattJKing71 wrote: »

but I've no idea how I used loads of magenta).

It is because yes you have a black, yellow, cyan, magenta cartridge, but if you print in blue, then it will mix the colours to get the right shade, it does not just chose the cyan, even printing in black it will mix colours

MattJKing71

Thanks. And yet I see the same 7ml cartridges available (as replacements) on Amazon

MattJKing71

Thanks. And yet I see the same 7ml cartridges available (as replacements) on Amazon

MattJKing71

Hmm, blue and magenta would be purple and I haven't printed any.
The manual for this printer says the PGBK is for black text (they don't mention also mixing colours to make black - though maybe other printers do that).

angryparcel

MattJKing71 wrote: »

Thanks. And yet I see the same 7ml cartridges available (as replacements) on Amazon

yes, some people will sell them and i have know some small retailers take them out of the printer boxes and sell them