Epson sc 740: how to select black ink in dos

[PiErre]

Hi,
I have an old program running only in dos (no way to make it working in any
m$ windows os) and it has to print many pages
of text. Last month the printer stop working complaining about missing ink...
but it was the colored tank that was empty while I was printing in black...
or at least I thought it was the black cartrigde! I don't know if I can detect
what tank is being used...
My main question is: is there any driver configuration
utility in dos to force the espson sc 740 to print using the black cartrigde?
TIA! My pc has a dual boot with win95 and the printer is working fine
with that!
bye,
PiErre

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I can't answer that specifically, but Epson printers need to have the
head filled with something (usually ink) to keep them from drying out,
unless they have been fully flushed of all ink.

If you were to clean the head fully and flush it, you could run a
totally empty cartridge in the color and then print with the black.

You may not have been printing with the color inks, all inkjets use up
some ink each time they are turned on (all the inks).

If you wish to use the color heads later, you don't want to leave them
without a cartridge unless they are cleared of all ink.

Art

 

[siggy2]

I can't answer that specifically, but Epson printers need to have the

head filled with something (usually ink) to keep them from drying out,
unless they have been fully flushed of all ink.

If you were to clean the head fully and flush it, you could run a
totally empty cartridge in the color and then print with the black.

You may not have been printing with the color inks, all inkjets use up
some ink each time they are turned on (all the inks).

you're right!

[CUT]

Thanks for your help! What if newsservice doen't exist?
(Epson support did not reply to my e-mail!)
bye,
PiErre

 

[John McWilliams]

I can't answer that specifically, but Epson printers need to have the

head filled with something (usually ink) to keep them from drying
out,

unless they have been fully flushed of all ink.

If you were to clean the head fully and flush it, you could run a
totally empty cartridge in the color and then print with the black.

You may not have been printing with the color inks, all inkjets use
up

some ink each time they are turned on (all the inks).

you're right!

[CUT]

Thanks for your help! What if newsservice doen't exist?
(Epson support did not reply to my e-mail!)

If, say the black print heads failed on the 740, could one fill a color
cartridge with black, and, after a time where the remainder of the color
ink flowed out, have a decent black and white printer (mostly for drafts.)?

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I suppose what you could do if you wanted to use the printer for
printing something from a word processor, is fill a color cartridge with
black ink in all three chambers (Cyan, Magenta and Yellow). Then, when
you finish your document in the word processor, change the text color to
one of those three colors (a fully saturated Cyan, Magenta or Yellow
(which would be hard to read on the screen!)) and randomly use one color
on each document. That way, all the heads would get exercised, and be
kept from clogging.

However, as I recall, the black head on the 740 had about twice or 3
times the number of nozzles that the color heads had each, so the
printing process would probably be slower when printing from the color
heads, as I imagine more passes are required to form and fill out the
lettering.

Art

I can't answer that specifically, but Epson printers need to have the


head filled with something (usually ink) to keep them from drying

out,

unless they have been fully flushed of all ink.

If you were to clean the head fully and flush it, you could run a
totally empty cartridge in the color and then print with the black.

You may not have been printing with the color inks, all inkjets use

up

some ink each time they are turned on (all the inks).

you're right!

[CUT]

Thanks for your help! What if newsservice doen't exist?
(Epson support did not reply to my e-mail!)

If, say the black print heads failed on the 740, could one fill a color
cartridge with black, and, after a time where the remainder of the color
ink flowed out, have a decent black and white printer (mostly for drafts.)?

 

[John McWilliams]

I suppose what you could do if you wanted to use the printer for
printing something from a word processor, is fill a color cartridge with
black ink in all three chambers (Cyan, Magenta and Yellow). Then, when
you finish your document in the word processor, change the text color to
one of those three colors (a fully saturated Cyan, Magenta or Yellow
(which would be hard to read on the screen!)) and randomly use one color
on each document. That way, all the heads would get exercised, and be
kept from clogging.

However, as I recall, the black head on the 740 had about twice or 3
times the number of nozzles that the color heads had each, so the
printing process would probably be slower when printing from the color
heads, as I imagine more passes are required to form and fill out the
lettering.

Ah, makes sense. I guess that relegates my sometimes-maybe plan of
action into if-I-get-really-bored-and-want-to-muck-around status.
Thanks. You saved me some future grief.