HP Store Online - how come my epson printer doesnt print, but it says the black ink is full. but the color is empty.?

how come my epson printer doesnt print, but it says the black ink is full. but the color is empty.?

but im not using the color.

Doesn't matter if you are not using the color, the printer setup is telling it you are wanting to print in color. Go to Start/Settings/Printers and Faxes a window will open showing your Printer Right click on the icon of the printer and select 'PROPERTIES" then click on each of the tabs, it will either be in the Advanced tab, or color management and select Black and White instead of 'Full Color' for print options. then click OK and try printing again, it might then let you print with the black cartridge by itself, if it does not, unfortunately then you might have bought one of those printers that has to have a full cartridge in every bay for it to work ... and there are a lot of those...that is how the printer ink manufacturers make their money ....
Yes you are using color. Epson underlays color to darken and sharpen the black. This is a function of the printers firmware and cannot be disabled. You do need do need to replace the empty cartridge in order to print black.