Ink jet printers

[Seeker]

I know from work experience on large format ink jet printers that they don't like being left unused for an extended period.
Having said that, I use my Epson DX6000 printer rarely and, even doing the other "no no" of using aftermarket inks, it has worked well. Till now.

On my last print, I noticed that the cyan was misfiring. So I did a nozzle clean and cyan disappeared completely and this colour was still running a genuine Epson cartridge. After several cleans, the magenta disappeared too.

I bought a nozzle flush kit and flushed the cyan and magenta. Did a nozzle clean and hey presto: now yellow has gone. :(

On the large format printers they have a capping station which is pressed against the heads and sucks the ink through the heads as part of the cleaning cycle, plus a wiper that squeegees the head's surface. Not sure if the small units have these, I can't see one. Again, on the bigger machines you could only do 2 full cleans before the waste ink tank was full (Mutoh printer). I wonder where the ink goes on the smaller machines since there isn't a waste ink tank.

So, it's decision time. A full set of genuine inks would cost £50-£60 with no guarantee the problem would be fixed - I have been using aftermarket inks for a couple of years.

From what I've been reading, the best solution would be to abandon colour printing (I don't do much anyway) and buy a b&w laserjet since they seem tolerant of long periods of inactivity. Buying another inkjet would ultimately lead to the same problems although the newer ones have refillable tanks which should be cheaper to run. The DX6000 is a scanner too, so I'd have to keep that unless I bought a laserjet combo.

I could have done without the expense this month.

Anyone have any laserjet recommendations? I've used Brother models in the past and they worked well.

Edit: update. In the long family tradition of clutching at straws, I put the printer in the warm conservatory and, after a couple of cleans, I have all 4 colours back, slightly ropey but it's a step in the right direction. It wasn't that cold where the printer had been sited - 18°C/64°F, so might be a coincidence.

[Sir Trev]

Pretty sure this is built in obsolescence from the manufacturer. Once a page count has been reached they start to fail, assuming the waste ink area is full. Some can be fooled into a reset - an Epson we had then worked tor another couple of years with a small plastic catch tank added by me, full of cotton wool to soak up the contents. That model just used a tube going into a void in the body, with some blotting paper at the bottom, so I rerouted the tube out of a drilled hole. The Epson that eventually replaced it could not be reset and I could not find the catch "tank", so Epson were getting wise...

Every time you replace a printer you have to start using different cartridge models too, which is another terrible practice that grabs your cash!

If Lady Poppy was not so keen to print photos so much I'd have a very simple b&w laser printer and basic scanner, and the odd photo printed off at Boots.

[BoltonSte]

May be humidity wetting the heads out again, desktop tend to have a sponge to catch the drops rather than a vacuum head pulling ink through.
Epson used to be (I've been out the game for a while) piezo and pretty robust heads (we used to test R&D inks through them, and they took a LOT of abuse).

Try putting a cleaning solution damp sponge in contact with he head for a while so you are wetting it from the outside (likely to be dry) rather than trying to get the cleaning solution to travel through the channels from the inside.

[BoltonSte]

There is obsolescence in them, but normally they start lighting up like a Christmas tree and just don't fire the head at all.

[daktulos]

I've thrown too many inkjets in the bin (metaphorically) for blocked jets and years ago switched to laser a which can be left untouched for years without problem. I bought a cheap colour laser, and unless you're printing photos on glossy paper, I've not found any down-sides.

[Bibio]

simple. if you dont do colour glossy printing e.g. photos then go laser. if you do presentation colour then get a colour laser.

i ditched inkjet about 15 years ago and have never looked back. there is a reason office's use laser.

my laser printer Samsung LM-1910 sits unused for ages and ages but still performs perfect each time i use it.

i would also say invest in a wifi laser printer as they can be tucked away anywhere.

you can still use the scanner on your inkjet till you invest in a flatbed (most cheep all in one scan/print have low res scanners).

[keith_d]

I've still got my A3 inkjet printer sitting on top of a cupboard, but it's been there too long and I'm going to have to chuck it out because the print head will have dried up (again).

Unfortunately, what I really want is just not available:

1) A3 photo inkjet printer
2) Roll paper handling for panoramic photos
3) Flush cartridge (water/glycol mix?) to wash out ink from heads prior to storage
4) Removable waste tank to deal with the mess resulting from 3)
5) Full six colour photo head
6) Pigment inks at sensible prices
7) No chipped ink cartridges with expiry dates and lock in.

Anyone see a business opportunity there for someone like Epson??

[Sir Trev]

Unfortunately Epson and the like have copied Gilette's business model of sell the handle (printer) cheap and fleece the punter on the price of the blade cartridges (ink). The simple HP printer we have uses 2 carts - black and a multi. Lady P uses it for printing text documents so the multi cart is never used or replaced. Good job as the multi colour cart is more than the purchase price of the printer!

Personally I almost never print anything.

[Kenzie]

We picked up an Epson Ecotank machine as I was sick and tired of running out of ink. Machine cost more (£199) but the ink is cheaper as you buy it in bulk and just top up the tanks

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