Printer running out of coloured ink when I print only in greyscale.

[dizzy078]

Hello,

As title says, I have a HP deskjet 3630 which runs absolutely fine. My only irk is that I seem to be changing the coloured ink more often than the black. I print mainly hermes labels (4-8 pages a week) so use greyscale. I know this is supposed to use a small amount of coloured ink also, but I find the printer runs out of coloured pretty quick.

Any suggestions what I could do? Maybe something needs a clean? Also would like suggestions for third party ink, as I'm unsure what cheap alternatives are available. At the mo I use the HP ink.

Thanks.

 

[Steeps]

The real risk with 3rd party inks is either colour reproduction or drying out with infrequent use, as you're using it regularly and for shipping labels I'd just buy whichever brand of compatibles gets good reviews on any of the marketplace sites.

Do you think the amount of labels you print could increase? Might be worth investing in a 150x100 thermal printer (around £150) for labels or a cheap B+W laser if you want to continue with the sheets and buy compatible toners

 

[dizzy078]

I only print more around Christmas. Apart from that it's pretty steady. It's not worth it for me to change printer until it packs up. I'll have a shop around for third party ink then.

 

[UnworthyBean]

cheap B+W laser

TBH this is what I would do. I know you say it's not worth it to change, however I'd say it'll be massively worth it. Yes you'll have to pay for the printer but the toner will last you far far longer than the ink cartridges.

Third party ink, as has been mentioned, are a bit of a gamble. Sometimes you can get ones that work flawlessly but more often than not they'll just refuse to work , print infinitely less pages or give you rubbish quality prints.

Get a laser as it's ideal for the job.