Brother, you cost too much

[LegalDocs]

Hello, I am a legal document preparer, and I am trying to stay one step ahead of my brother printer and the cost of ink. Maybe your printer is the same as mine and you cannot print black if your color is low. I don't need color. Just black. Thanks for the add.

MFC-J5845DW

 

[thebestcpu]

I don't think your printer supports just B&W with the Black cartridge only over the long haul. Here is a table from the web summarizing what can be done:

Over the long haul, it would less expensive to use a B&W laser printer for your needs. Less expensive per page and you don't run into any ink cartridge issues.

Just some quick thoughts
John Wheeler

 

[LegalDocs]

I figured out how to refill my color cartridges and get the printer to recognize it (not a small feat). My issue at this point is, is the original ink dye or pigment. The ink I put in today was dye. I don't trust third parties to really know or care.

So far, its working great. I ran Windex in the color cartridges for about a month and just put the colored ink in today. I hear that the black may be pigment. My black has a long, long time to go before it needs replacing. Its the color I go through with just normal cleaning. I don't think I printed that many pages in color, but it sure ran out quick.

 

[PeterBJ]

There are some tests to determine if an ink is pigment or dye.

• Dye ink is transparent in near infrared light and pigment ink is opaque in near infrared light. See this.
• Pigment black ink is neutral grey if diluted in water, dye black normally has a reddish tint if diluted in water. See this.
• Pigment black ink for plain paper documents doesn't adhere well to glossy photo paper, dye black ink does. See this.
• Pigment black ink for plain paper documents is much more water resistant than dye black ink. See this.

There might be more tests, please post if you know a test not mentioned here.