Issues with my HP OfficeJet Pro

I’ve got an HP OfficeJet Pro, and honestly, my wife is constantly at the local repair shop because of it. It’s the same headache every single month—the colors are just shot. The machine insists on printing everything in grayscale, which is useless, yet it still bleeds through all the ink cartridges like nothing is wrong. Is there some kind of workaround or a way to trick the thing? Or maybe there are cheaper ink options out there... has anyone actually tried ordering stuff from eBay, specifically something like this— http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-CARTUCHO-...EAAOSwmrlUthwe

Nicholas Moore7 said:I've got an HP OfficeJet Pro—my wife uses it for her bookkeeping work—and honestly, the color issues every single month are driving me nuts. It’s basically screaming at me to just stick to grayscale since it won't print colors anyway, yet it keeps draining the ink tanks, not just the black one. Is there some kind of workaround to trick the thing? Or maybe some cheaper ink options out there? Has anyone tried ordering stuff from eBay, like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-CARTUCHO-...EAAOSwmrlUthwe

If you're just looking for B&W prints, you aren't going to get anywhere with that setup. Those cartridges have tiny capacities, and by the time you pay shipping from eBay, you'll have spent more on postage than you actually saved on the ink.

Basically, $34 for roughly 30 ml is a decent price. That puts you at about $1 per ml, or effectively $100 for 100 ml.

For that same amount of cash, you could probably find a similar Canon here in the States with a built-in CISS system. Later on, a 400 ml bottle of black would run you about $50 plus tax.

Or better yet, check the local classifieds for an old HP OfficeJet Pro that comes with 100ml of refillable black ink for maybe $200— $100. That's definitely your best bet for an IBM-style solution for bookkeeping needs.

If all you really need is B&W for accounting, the smartest move is finding a laser printer that uses high-capacity toner—around 4,000 pages—for maybe $150 to $67 or roughly $500. $667 You can just keep using your current Canon on a different USB port as a scanner. As for copying, there are plenty of programs that'll emulate an IBM multifunction device.

So, when you crunch the numbers, grabbing a B&W Canon HP OfficeJet Pro for $200 $100 is the winner, provided you can still find one bundled with 100 or 200 ml of refillable black ink
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You could always go buy a brand new LaserJet, but you'll quickly realize you're right back where you started.

The truth is, between a new inkjet and a new LaserJet, there isn't much difference regarding toner or ink costs; if there were, manufacturers would have locked the whole system down ages ago.

Looks like you or your wife got lucky. 😬Printers are such a joke. Manufacturers these days are basically performing magic tricks just to force you into buying their overpriced original ink. It’s a total scam and a complete rip-off, but then again, that's how they fund their R&D and sell those dirt-cheap printers in the first place. It's a rigged game.

hollowmarlin27 actually had the right idea there. Everything he said is spot on.

I picked up an HP OfficeJet Pro and managed to find a dirt-cheap CISS kit for it. The only headache was that the manufacturer intentionally built these useless plastic dividers right where the cartridges and print heads sit, making it impossible to install the CISS without hacking away at the casing. It wasn't a huge deal, though—I just trimmed the plastic, and now you can't even tell from the outside. It cleared enough space to get the setup working perfectly. Honestly, I couldn't be happier. With those massive ink tanks, I don't have to deal with annoying chip errors or anything like that. I just order more ink on eBay once every six months and call it a day. My printing costs have dropped to about a fifth of what they used to be. 👍

I've got no clue what's going on with the HP OfficeJet Pro. I can't even find a decent tutorial on YouTube specifically for this model. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=HP+OfficeJet+Pro+ciss

But you can find a really cheap CISS right here: I’ve been looking into this refill system for the IP1200, and honestly, I'm skeptical. It claims you can just pump ink directly into the cartridges, which sounds like a total headache waiting to happen if you don't get the pressure exactly right. You're basically playing a high-stakes game of "don't leak ink on your carpet" every time you try to save a few bucks. If you're thinking about trying this, just be prepared for a mess.

He doesn't explicitly mention the HP OfficeJet Pro, but he does say the inks used are replacements for the PG-540 and CL-541 sets, which happen to be exactly what I use. Look, just give him a call and find out. They ought to know if this installation is going to be a headache or not. Honestly, I might even be able to do it for you. If you don't have to hack up the casing like I did, the whole setup takes maybe fifteen minutes. After that, you're just topping off the ink from the outside whenever it runs low.

You can grab a pack of five 3.4oz cartridges—two of them being black—for about $20, or you can go bigger with the 1-liter jugs. 😬 For about a hundred bucks, you could probably get enough ink to outlast the printer itself. 😬

Check out this eBay search link.

It’s not even about whether it pays off anymore; it's pure madness. Honestly, you just have to put in the work.

Look, you're right about one thing—even if you've set everything to grayscale, you're still burning through ink. Those cheap printers constantly run tiny nozzle cleaning cycles just to keep things from clogging up. Even if you aren't printing a single page, the machine is still sipping ink behind the scenes just to stay functional. It's a pain, but that's how it works.

So, basically, those CISS systems are just larger ink reservoirs that you can refill manually; you just have to install them into the printer since they sit externally
thanks a ton, I'll give the folks from that link a call on Monday to see what they say about it

CISS = continuous ink supply system

Instead of using standard cartridges, you swap them out for special ones without any chips. All the ink gets fed through a flat cable from large tanks sitting right next to the printer. The whole trick is figuring out how to route that flat cable and secure it so it doesn't get in the way of the print head when it moves left to right, making sure it can still reach its full range of motion.

Nicholas Moore7 said:So basically, a CISS is just larger ink reservoirs you can refill, you just have to install them into the printer—they sit on the outside.
Thanks a ton. I'll give the guys from that link a call on Monday to see what they say.

Before you drop any cash on this, do some digging. Check if anyone in the States is already selling an MF unit with a built-in CISS system.

If you find one, ask if the vendor will honor your receipt. You need to know the actual cost for installation, testing, and whether they’ll even touch the warranty. Just a heads up: looking for a similar device with CISS won't help much here, because apparently, this specific HP LaserJet of yours would be the first one with a CISS in the whole country. And we all know how Americans treat early adopters.

Nonsense. Did it ever cross your mind that manufacturers can just request to block specific searches and YouTube videos? They do it ruthlessly, whether it's on behalf of a massive giant like HP or even smaller players. You really think someone designed a CISS (I don't know, maybe just one single unit specifically to mess with someone here in the States?) just for those cartridges and that printer, and then managed to sell it on eBay without getting hammered by negative feedback?

Sometimes you write a decent post, and sometimes... well,

I couldn't find any installation instructions for the HP Envy anywhere—nothing. It wasn't until I stumbled onto a random forum where I found some guy who had actually done it; he even drew up a diagram showing exactly how to cut out space so the ribbon cable could move properly... After all that, it works like a charm.

Look, I’m not saying the OP needs to be some pioneer researcher, but if you guys selling CISS kits tell him it’s possible and show him how (or even do it for him)—why wouldn't he? It would save him a massive amount of money.

darkowl72 said:Nonsense. Did it ever occur to you that manufacturers can just request to block specific searches or YouTube videos? They do this ruthlessly for small companies, let alone on behalf of a giant like Canon. You really think someone manufactured an Epson system (I don't know, maybe just one unit specifically designed to mess with someone here in the States) just for those cartridges and that printer, then sold it on eBay without getting slammed by negative feedback?

Sometimes you write a decent post, and sometimes... well...

I couldn't find any installation instructions for the HP Envy anywhere. Just nothing. Eventually, I stumbled onto a forum where some guy had actually done it and even drew a diagram showing exactly how to cut out space so the ribbon cable could actually move... Now, it works like a charm.

I'm not saying the OP needs to be some pioneer researcher, but if the people selling the Epson kits tell him it’s possible and show him how (or even do it for him)—why not? It would save him a massive amount of cash.

It's just stupid to buy something when nobody in your neighborhood knows if it actually works or not.

Basically, if nobody is offering it as a complete package, there’s probably a catch you won't discover until after you've dropped the cash. All it takes is the manufacturer adding one tiny little flaw that some dealer hasn't encountered because they've never installed an Epson kit on that specific model. If you don't have experience with this stuff, there's a 95% chance you're just throwing money and time down the drain.

So, someone has to waste their time printing a few thousand copies on that exact device before they can safely offer it as a ready-to-go bundle.

If there isn't a pre-packaged solution available, it means there are better ways to spend the same amount of money—specifically, solutions where every part of the chain has been tested.

That's why, once an Epson kit is integrated into new printers, you can be sure the manufacturer did everything possible to make sure you get burned. You'll end up wasting your money and your time, and then you'll just say, "I'm done playing games with you guys."