# How is a printer damaged by printing when low on ink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604 "2010-12-10T00:59:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/1 "2010-12-10T00:59:01Z")
I was very bad today and printed after being warned by the software that my printer will be damaged. It is a Canon dot matrix printer with four ink cartridges. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/2 "2010-12-10T01:07:27Z")
A dot matrix printer? Seriously? Assuming you meant inkjet, if it doesn’t have enough ink the element that heats the ink can overheat and your printer will go :mad: then ☹ and won’t print anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/3 "2010-12-10T01:12:47Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > A dot matrix printer? Seriously? > > Assuming you meant inkjet, if it doesn’t have enough ink the element that heats the ink can overheat and your printer will go :mad: then ☹ and won’t print anymore. While technically possible, it almost never happens. and, if it does, it’s because it is a cheap printer for which it would be cheaper to buy a replacement printer (with ink included) than to just buy new ink. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/4 "2010-12-10T01:20:18Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > A dot matrix printer? Seriously? > > Assuming you meant inkjet, if it doesn’t have enough ink the element that heats the ink can overheat and your printer will go :mad: then ☹ and won’t print anymore. Why yes, I typed in inkjet and the keyboard sent dot matrix.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/5 "2010-12-10T01:51:29Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > Why yes, I typed in inkjet and the keyboard sent dot matrix.😃 What model of teletype are you using? ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/6 "2010-12-10T01:59:18Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > What model of teletype are you using? Punched tape with a optical reader, steam powered, why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/7 "2010-12-10T02:14:07Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > Why yes, I typed in inkjet and the keyboard sent dot matrix.😃 Your inkjet may be a dot matrix printer. It’s just not a conventional impact dot matrix printer. The number of people not viewing a dot matrix image of this post right now would be very small, possibly zero. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/8 "2010-12-10T03:31:56Z")
What, nobody else reads the Dope on a Tektronix vector display? OK, neither do I ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/9 "2010-12-10T04:57:57Z")
The other issue is that the ink feed can start to suck air, and thus get a bubble in the system, which pretty much wrecks it. Not so much damaged, but it becomes unusable until you can work out how to reprime it. With gluggy inks this may not be easy or even possible. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/10 "2010-12-10T04:58:44Z")
Sending it through that time warp without enough ink would damage just about any printer. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/11 "2010-12-10T20:31:18Z")
I would suspect that it damages the printer in the following way. The fundamental purpose of a printer is to sell ink. The printer will not be working towards this purpose with optimal efficiency if you wait until the ink cartridge is empty before you buy more ink. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/12 "2010-12-10T21:21:43Z")
The Canon printers use the same printer head forever and only the cartridge is replaced. Running out of ink means the remnants dry in the printer jets. HP replaces the printer head with the cartridge so it wouldn’t matter for that brand. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-printer-damaged-by-printing-when-low-on-ink/563604/13 "2010-12-11T01:06:17Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I would suspect that it damages the printer in the following way. > > The fundamental purpose of a printer is to sell ink. The printer will not be working towards this purpose with optimal efficiency if you wait until the ink cartridge is empty before you buy more ink. Truth. Low on ink, well, it is still printing fine. Out of ink, still printing. You must press the reset button to over-ride the warning, still printing. Mr software writer, have you ever heard of the story where a boy cried wolf, no,I didn’t think so.