Many printer owners get frustrated when they see the “low ink” light blinking on their inkjet printers. Some owners are just too “lazy” to buy a replacement ink cartridge. Whatever the reason is, some printer owners ignore this sign and just push their inkjet printers over the edge. This can bring you many problems, and end up costing you money.

The ink that flows through each nozzle assembly, functions as a lubricant and coolant for the print head so that it does not get damaged. It is very important never to attempt to print with an empty ink cartridge. The print head can burn out if the ink cartridge is not refilled or replaced promptly. The effect of the damage may range from poor print quality that will show up in the form of lines across the print page, blurring and light or dark patches on the page. This can eventually lead to your printer completely failing, forcing you to throw it away.

Sometimes printer owners ignore the “low ink” sign for the color ink. They think that since they print mostly black and white documents, replacing the color ink can wait. Yet, to their surprise, some color ink is used even if you only print in black or vice versa. If you printed with a color missing, you could destroy that print head from the friction of running without ink to lubricate it. That's why most printers won't allow you to print with a color missing even if you aren't using it.