I have a Lexmark Z32 printer. Recently, for some unknown reason, it quit printing words on the paper. Colors it does fine. Words, forget it. For instance, I wanted to print out one of the threads here. I clicked on “show a printable version” and all the printer printed was the Straight dope logo at the top of the page plus lines between the posts. But no posts.
This printer has an “ink monitor”. However, I have no clue how accurate it is. It shows that both black and color cartridges are over half full. If I print out a test page it works fine, including words written in black.
It seems that the built in ink guage that the printer has is about as accurate as the rain guage out in my back yard. (the coffee can with a ruler stuck to it )-- Not accurate at all. I did what astro suggested and sure enough, it printed all kinds of pretty font colors except black. So, it’s off to the ink cartridge store to buy 2 new cartridges. 1 color and 1 black one. I figure the color one will run out also real soon since it is also the one that came with the printer.
I sell lexmark printers, so this is a mildly informed answer.
The way the counter works is as follows: Every time you print something, be that 1 single character, or a page filled to the brim with text, the counter marks another page printed. The counter knows how many pages you can print on average with a cartridge, compares the two, and then displays how full your cartridge is on-screen.
Of course, this is almost never accurate. It looks cute though
)-- Not accurate at all. I did what astro suggested and sure enough, it printed all kinds of pretty font colors except black. So, it’s off to the ink cartridge store to buy 2 new cartridges. 1 color and 1 black one. I figure the color one will run out also real soon since it is also the one that came with the printer.