Why does my printer light keep blinking?

Why won't my Canon printer print after changing an ink cartridge?

• I have a Canon Pixma MP210 that has done a great job of printing! I've been pushing it since the ink levels say empty & the black & color light have been on. I have something big that needs printing & didn't want to chance running out of ink, so, I changed the black cartridge! The lights stayed on, so, I searched & found all kinds of info, but none is working....such as holding the reset button for a few seconds to holding it along with the power button! I took the cartridge out & put it back in & tried again with no luck! I get an "F" in the window where errors would show. I can't find why an "F" is shown in the owners Manual or anywhere online! I took it to, maybe, mean "failed". I bought the cartridge at my local Meijer store & it says "for use in Canon printers" & on the side of the box, my printer is listed. I read somewhere that some cartridges are not recognized by the printer, but didn't understand what to do & something about a microchip! Can someone help & also tell me what the "F" is for & why I can't find anything online concerning it? This has been a great printer & I've had problems with others & want to keep this one!

• Answer:

  With most printers you are required to have ink in both the black and color ink cartridges in order to print in black as they work in conjunction with each other. So you will need to have the both color and black ink cartridges with ink, the same thing applies for color. This also helps to prevent print head damage. Refilling cartridges are simple enough, but at times refilled ink cartridges may work, but mostly not. Most printers will not recognize refilled ink cartridges. Once the ink is exhausted, the chip expires. Refilling them may be a costly gamble on your part. So to save you any grief, it may be advantageous on your part to just replace the ink cartridge..