Just a guess, maybe the printer uses small amounts of color when printing black to keep the inkjets clear.  I have had a string of Epson photo printers where the color nozzles clogged up making the printers virtually useless.  My kids used them primarily for homework, using black ink only, and an occasional color printing task.  The older printers did not have ink monitors which effectively shut some printers down today if any color or black has run out.    
Paul Hachmeyer
    
From: "Dean Kukral" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 10:45:58 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [PCBUILD] HP 9100 Photosmart Printer Wastes Ink

One of the reasons that I purchased my HP 9100 printer at $400 was that it used separate ink cartridges, so I thought that I might
save money over the long run.  It has five colors plus black, six separate cartridges in all.

As it turns out, I use it very little for color printing on a day-to-day basis (only after a vacation), so that my only use is to
copy the newspaper crossword puzzle.  I always press "black and white" to make the copy, not "color."  However, over a reasonably
short time, the color ink cartridges go empty!  They are quite expensive to replace for the measly amount of ink that is in them and
considering that I do not copy in color.  Sure, I can afford it, but it is an irritation.

Does anyone know why this printer uses color ink even though I tell it to make a black and white copy?  Is there a way to fix this?

TIA,

Dean Kukral

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