I have an Epson Stylus C80 that I use for black ink printing only. Unfortunately this is one of those printers that won’t let you print in black if the color cartridges are empty. I have no interest in printing in color, and I would like to somehow fool it into thinking that the color cartridges are full. I checked all the settings and options and there’s no way to override this. Even when I tick black and white instead of color on the general tab, I still get the red light indicating that my cartridges are empty and it won’t print. Has anybody found a work-around for this problem?

Thanks,
Relztrah

You must have ink in the color cartridges as it keeps the little piezeo pumps lubed.
You could use a refill kit if you don't use color to save a few $$, I don't think Epson has lockout chips in their cartridges, unlike some other printers.

Have you tried going into the properties of your printer and setting the default to print greyscale only? (as opposed to clicking the box each time you print)