I have an Epson Stylus Color 600 printer. I have not made any color p

I have an Epson Stylus Color 600 printer. I have not made any color prints lately, but the level of ink in the color cartridge continues to go down anyway as I make black and white prints. I don't understand why it should. I always make sure the "setup" is always at Black.
- Elmer

This question was answered on July 23, 2001. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

Inkjet printers have been improved dramatically over the years and one of the “standard” features now included in most every printer is the ability to check the level of ink remaining in the cartridges

This is generally done by a piece of software that can communicate with the printer, such as the “Status Monitor” utility used by Epson In addition to ink levels, it can monitor paper trays, paper jams and power status.

The ink level monitor will always show the exact same levels for all three colors (cyan, magenta and yellow) regardless of the actual level of each chamber The level displayed for all three will represent the lowest of the three chambers.

The most likely cause for the reduction in the levels, even though you have not used color, is the automatic cleaning process that runs on a regular basis

Inkjet printers spray ink through nozzles that have dozens of tiny holes (smaller than a human hair) that can easily clog from dried ink Part of the cleaning process includes spraying a small amount of ink through the nozzles each time.

Most of you have experience the repeated “clanking” of your printer for an extended period of time before it starts to print This is generally the printer going through a cleaning cycle

Since clogged print heads have plagued the inkjet printer since its introduction, all manufacturers have an automated cleaning cycle built into the printers “firmware” In most cases, every time you turn your printer on, it will go through a quick check/clean of your print nozzles It will also run through a cleaning cycle after a pre-determined number of pages have printed or after a long period of inactivity.

Epson printers are designed a little different than other brands in the relationship between the cartridge and the print heads The print nozzles are not part of the ink cartridge, so they must be kept extra clean

This design also keeps you from being able to use a cartridge, once it is removed, even if it still has ink in it (The reason for this is the lack of a “valve” to keep the air from entering the chamber and drying the ink in the pathway.)

If you turn your printer off and on as needed, you may want to try leaving the power on all the time which may reduce the number of cleaning cycles and the amount of ink (The LED power indicator is the only thing that will draw current.)

You use the same “economy” method of printing as I do by setting the default to “black only” printing, which saves the color cartridge from accidental usage

Anyone that has kids knows the pain of looking at stacks of printed web pages, homework or anything that is loaded with full color pictures and tons of colored ink!

You can set the global printing defaults to “black only” by clicking on Start/Settings/Printers then right-clicking on the inkjet printer entry Select Properties and then look through the various tabs for the ink color options In the case of my Epson printer, it is in the Main tab.