Fool my printer into thinking it has color

[jpmkm]

Okay so I found an HP 3820 inkjet printer in a dumpster(which I have come to find out that is the proper place for it) a couple nights ago. Fixed the stupid piece of shit broken cog and now it goes through all the motions just fine. However, it did not have any cartridges in it. I got a black cartridge but now I discover that it doesn't work without both carts. I really don't need color so I would like to avoid paying $30 for a stupid cart that I'm not going to use. Is there any way to bypass this? The ink light just keeps flashing and it won't let me do anything.

 

[133]

Go look in the dumpster behind Staples

 

[jpmkm]

Originally posted by 133
Go look in the dumpster behind Staples

I wish I had a staples! Actually I think there was one up here but it left town a few years back. I got the printer at the office machine shop. Unfortunately I think their dumpster gets emptied sunday night/monday morning so if the carts were there then they are gone. Anyway, it is looking like it needs both carts to print. There has to be a way to fool it, though. I doubt the printer would use a challenge/response system to query the cart, so it should just be a matter of jumping the right contacts.

 

[Phoenix86]

There are only a few contacts, like 6 or so, go hunting... Could be a hair risky, but it's a freebie, right?

 

[jpmkm]

Originally posted by Phoenix86
There are only a few contacts, like 6 or so, go hunting... Could be a hair risky, but it's a freebie, right?

More like 52 contacts. That comes out to 8.065817x10^67 different combinations if I were to do each combination of two contacts. Shit I may just put it up on ebay.

 

[OPUS1]

Take a piece of aluminim foil and rub it flat on the contacts so as to make the puter think there is a cartridge.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by jpmkm
More like 52 contacts. That comes out to 8.065817x10^67 different combinations if I were to do each combination of two contacts. Shit I may just put it up on ebay.

Well my next recommendation is to find an old dead cartridge, but that may be pretty hard too... Good luck.