In the C309, How can I use just the regular black ink cartridge only?

Question

Hi
I just bought a HP C-309 a short time ago.  I bought a HP reg black cartridge XL quite quickly.  This thing is a sweet
machine, works perfectly, but is a terrible terrible ink hog. 
Had I known, I would have gone for the Kodak which touts much lower ink costs.
I only use this thing for documents.  I do not want to keep putting color cartridges in.  They are all on low except for the black XL cartridge.  How can I set it up to use only this cartridge for black and white..and just leave the color ones on empty.
I will have to get rid of it if I have to keep feeding it this way.  The ink levels seem always low.  By the way, the help asks me for model number.  They want to know whether it is 309n or 309g.  I see no way to find out..no notations on machine or purchase documents.  HP, if  you need this info...make it easy for the consumer to FIND the info...gheesh!

Answer 1

Hi   lyn1360
There are several circumstances when color ink may be used—primarily to improve print quality, and sometimes to improve printer reliability—even if the document appears to be only black text-and-graphics. Many HP printers utilize chemical interactions to improve the quality and permanence of plain paper black text-and-graphics by adding small amounts of color ink to certain black areas. Some dark images which look black to human eye may contain a combination of black and color inks. For black and white images and photos or grey black which we think as black, a blend of colors called "composite black" may be used to achieve significantly better image quality and smoother gray tones than can be accomplished with black inks alone. Some inkjet printers utilize pigmented black ink, which is incompatible with some inkjet photo paper. In this case, dark or black areas are made up of color inks.
For users who wish to print utilizing just black ink (despite the reduced print quality), many HP printers offer options. For example, a driver color setting (by selecting "print in grayscale with the black cartridge only" in printing preferences) specifies printing using only black ink. In addition, many IPH printers can operate in "reserve mode," which allows the user to continue to print with just the black cartridge when the color cartridge is removed or not installed.In HP IIC systems like your printer C309, all supplies are required to be installed in the printer for the printer to function.
To find the correct model number for your printer, you can just open the carriage access door and on the right side you can see the model number. For OJ Pro printers, we need to open the cartridge access door on the front left side to see the model number.
For more info regarding the ink usage, check the below link:
http://h10060.www1.hp.com/pageyield/en-019/article​s/howInkIsUsed.html?cCode=us
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