Q: I bought my printer in the USA and the ink cartridge (black 336 made by HP, NOT by a third party) in Europe. The ink cartridge box said it was compatible with the HP photosmart C3180. When I inset the cartridge in the printer following the instructions, the printer says there is a problem with the black ink cartridge. When I re-insert the old one, which is almost empty, there are no errors. Why does the ink cartridge not work? I suspect the European cartridges are not compatible with printers from the USA. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you
A: your thinking is correct, European voltage is 220V-240v whereas USA is 100-120V. Thus the printers are designed to work of different voltages, this carries all the way down to the cartridge. The cartridge functions b a series of electronic impulses. Your European cartridge is not receiving enough of an electronic signal in your American printer to function.