Computer help forum: Why don't printers last ??

I generally buy HP inkjets but also like Epson. About 10 years ago, I bought an HP960C. After 9 years and MANY reams of paper, it finally hung up. I went out and got a cheapie HP5740 which works like a charm. The following day, I cleaned the 960's travel track (the bar the head moves back & forth on) and it's again giving me reliable and excellent prints.

I agree with Willy both on the cartridge with integrated head and attention to cleanliness of the printer.

Only if you use the print a lot, and it doesn't sit around for a week without use. If it does, it is not worth the "savings".
Jim

The reason that your HP printers have never died is because you change the print head when you replace the cartridge. See the comments in the thread above. Why your epson has never died is because you are using it on a daily basis, this means that the ink jets do not get chance to dry up. If you leave an Epson for more than about 30 days the cloging process will have started.

i have read, and have followed the advice, of turning off the printer when not in use, in my case both epson and canon. this seems to be a way to avoid ink clogging the print heads because a heater is off and not then drying the ink on the printhead.
do not know enough about printers and their mechanisms to know all about this, but so far it seems to work for my printers.

I HAVE A CANON IP4000 FOR 10 MONTHS. I USE A REAM OF PAPER OF TEST (BOTH SIDES AUTO.) A MONTH. COSTS $2.50 BLACK PER INK TANK FROM THE INTERENT. I USE 250 SHEETS OF PHOTO PAPER A YEAR & 6 COLOR INK TANKS AT $2.50 EACH. MY SISTER HAS A NEW HP AND IT USES A BLACK INK TANK PER 250 PAGES AT ACOST OF $16.00 EACH. ACORDING TO CUSTOMER REPORTS CANON IS THE CHEAPEST TO OPERATE. MY LAST CANON (S450) PRINT HEAD LASTED 4 YEARS AND ABOUT 20000 PAGES.

While many of the arguments in the answers that followed are reasonable, I am more inclined to think that you are not printing enough and your ink is losing its resiliency. I print about 300sheets monthly, use refillable ink from Costco and the only real time I have rarely encountered any print quality problems. The lone exception being when I bought no-name brand black ink that you generally find in shopping centers.

I work from home, print a lot of reports, have three inkjet printers (all HP) and honestly believe that I would be bankrupt if
1. I replaced used cartridges whenever the printer indicated being low and needing replacing;
2. Only purchased HP cartridges

My oldest printer is over 10years old, an HP 722C, so I do not think you need to buy a new printer often, but look at Consumer Reports or any other Consumer publication that compared makes and models and purchase one that is within your budget and user needs.

Tony

Manyly because they are real cheap to build and they know that they will get you on the end by saying that you must buy their ink or the warranty will not be good. I have used Epson printers , like the software they come with mostly, but I don't go for the high cost of ink. I prefer to use ink brought thru PrintPal.com. Their cost for ink can be as low as
4.95 per cartlidge, which if brought at the local market would cost me about $24. Big difference and after using them once they will send you a 15% discount for your next order. I don't print much either but usually my printer will last about 2 to 3 years anyway.
garywigley

Uh, sorry, I had to post this as a reply, 'cause I couldn't find the 'New Message' button!

My printer (see subject line) has decided that every time we print a page, it will display the 'you may have changed cartridges, please align' message. Doesn't matter if we align it, it still shows up.

Any comment?

Bob K

What you didn't mention was why you were looking for your third? Have they broken? Are you unable to find cartridges? Or are you unwilling to pay the exorbitant prices for the cartridges?

If they are broken, the question remains: What is it that you do with them? Remember most inkjet systems are meant for occasional use by the regular joe user. Most Joe users don't print 100 page print jobs in full color nor do they create 50 copies of a photo of little joe.

In my case I have owned a single inkjet for 3 years now and am still happy with the quality of print and the cost of cartridges I can handle without cringing too much. Then again, I am only replacing a cartridge or two every 6 months.

If you are not happy with the quality, then it comes down to whether it is due to newer technology offering more (which unless you are purchasing top of the line you really are not seeing much improvement from a technical spec view) functionality that you want or if your current printer is having issues (skipping lines, dragging ink, etc..

If it is pricing on the cartridges, then you have to think about is it worth the effort to refill them myself, or am I just buying them from the wrong place. One of my friends who is a very heavy internet user doesn't buy his cartridges online. He goes to the store that he can get to. Radio shack. As we all know Radio shack tends to be over priced on most comparable products. I asked him why and he didnt' have a credit card. I told him next time give me cash and I will have them delivered to his door.

Anyway, I am going to believe that you are a heavy user of the unit. In that case You should probably be looking into Laser printers. You can even get a color one (relatively) affordably these days.

I don't have much experience other than what is used where I work, but HPs product line seems to be fairly solid. Our New Business Development teams are definitely giving our Laserjet4600c's and Laserjet2500c's a workout with over 1500 pages a week on average.

I know the consumer versions don't offer all the same details, but under the hood they are mostly the same price. And maintenance is so much easier these days. Most of the parts snap in and out for easy replacement. Unless it is not a recommended field replacement. In those cases there are screws to remove (imagine that..).

We have used Xerox color printers before but found them to be finicky and expensive to repair (often), and we also use Canon color copiers but those are usually out of the range for most joe users...

Other brands I have no experience with so you will have to take the words of the Community to heart.

Good luck on your next purchase.

Brandon

I have bought expensive HP and Canon ink jet printers and their quality does not hold up either. I also have a color laser and it has printed consistently for several years now.

Alot has been said of inkjet printers in general as to thier printing quality or outright failure to print correctly. Usually the leading cause is "clogging" of the printhead. On this topic, I'll remain. Yes, ink clogs are the most persistant reason why inkjets tend to cause grief. The manufacturers response is to use "cleaning cycles"" and alot of them. Under normal circumstances that's done regardless as a usual course of operation. Further, improper power-OFF simply turning off power "before proper parking" allows drying out of the printhead further causing ink clogs. Hitting the printer's own power button will start the correct procedure. Use of a power strip or pulling plug is a no-no, it will catch up to the user.

Next, I found Epson printer's the most troublesome. They tend to have more inkjets and can be smaller than other vendors. This alone causes problems as clogs are easily started. On top of that, Epson inkjets don't use "removable printheads" and usage allows build-up for clogs; flavorable. Much has been said of cheap ink or 3rd party supplied ink carts and YES it does make a difference. Cheap is cheap and while some suppliers offer good quality others don't, you're at the mercy of finding out. So, if you find a good 3rd party source stick with them but don't allow price alone be the deciding factor. I found office supply outlets or older online vendors of refill carts be best. Also, factor in storage age as old ink isn't good. I should add, Epson use peizo vs thermal technology. Unles, that's changed, Eposn is the only maker doing so. Think of piezo as a metal band flicking ink while thermal spits ink through a small hole. Thermal heats ink and cause it to boil/spat out of jets, while peizo action is a quick reflex in a constricted space, get it.

Last, to recover from poor print output a "manual cleaning" is desired. Use a damp cloth or paper shop towel(not typical paper towel) of water to wipedown the printhead face to remove clogs and ink crud/build-up. Repeat as necessary and use deft care. I don't care for Q-tips, they can leave lint behind and be a source of poor print quality as well. I found Epson printers if parked on a damp soaked cloth/towel swatch at the parking station and allowed to sit for a long period even overnight can start recovery from a real bad clog. Cleaning cycles and repeated wipes can help, but if this doesn't help, pitch the printer as repair is too costly. This same advice can be used on other printers just beware you use at your own risk, so if you have any warranty, use it.

tada -----Willy

'I've heard some real horror stories from folks who have used cheap generic inks. While they may work for awhile, mechanical problems eventually show their ugly presence.'

Ditto here, bought Staples brand cartridge to replace the used up one on my Lexmark. Nothing but trouble, lines in solid colors and a lot of drop outs. Finally gave up (after trying cleaning, realignment, and a lot of cursing) and replaced with Lexmark brand cartidge, which worked right out of the box with no problems.

-Don

While I'm very appreciative of your advice, which seems very sound, I found the www.ssclg.com site that you recommended to be all "Greek to me" -- literally! My Greek classes are too long ago to help me out much with any of it. Any idea of a similarly helpful site in English? Thanks in advance.

For those of us who use epson, which are the off brand inks that you have been satisfied with?

For everyone who tells you that the problem is because you are using generic inks, there are eight people who have used nothing but Genuine Epson Ink who are having difficulties. The DuraBrite ink used in these printers has been a problem since everyone owning them has run the second ink cartridge set through them.

DuraBrite ink is thicker and more prone to drying up than the earlier dye based inks Epson used. It grows mushrooms in the discharge tray and clogs the waste ink discharge tube. This causes the head charging system to not be able to vacuum the ink out of the print head, causing a lot of people to try cleaning the heads to only come to the wrong conclusion that the printhead has clogged. In extreme instances, the pressure build-up caused by the clog will blow the tube off the bottom of the charging mechanism, making people falsely beleive that it merely fell off.

The only cure is to run a wire down the discharge tube to knock the chunks out and then run Windex or Citrus Clean through the charging cup every time you change the printheads and possibly even every time you are forced to clean the print heads because they start skipping (missing fine lines in print).

I personally have never used aftermarket Ink in any of the Epsons here because from the first one I owned, (an ancient and venerable Stylus Color 800 I wish I still had) I knew these things had a bascially non-replaceable piezo print head system that I DID NOT WANT TO CLOG. I also have a Stylus Color 1520 at work that I have just about worn out doing proofing for our print publications. I have a little experience here.

I decided to upgrade my home stuff. The first purchase was a C82 that functioned beatifully until the third set of cartridges. It started skipping. Two sets of cartridges ($100) and numerous print head cleanings later it still had problems. I found that the tube had fallen off the bottom of the charging mechanism (or so I thought). After spending a miserable 20 minutes trying to get the thing back on, I started the cleaning process to only have it seemingly fall off again. This time, I left the thing disassembled, stuck the tube on and had it pop off. This time I figured out the pressure thing, the tube was literally being blown off. That is when I figured out that the discharge tube clogged. I cleared it and the printer was able to charge its heads and went back into service. A year later, the tube reclogged. Every since that time, I have resorted to running Citrus Clean through it, cannot damage the printer any worse than it is already.

I also have a CX-5400. After the second set of cartridges, it clogged. Genuine Crapson cartridges, same results. Fortunately I can get to the discharge tube without disassembling the printer. I immediately attacked the thing by running a #22 copper wire down it. Sure enough, it needed angioplasty. Printer restored to function. I now Citrus Clean this thing as well.

Anyone who tells you that this problem is caused because you are using Generic Aftermarket Ink is straight and simple, LYING. It is a result of the formulation of Genuine Epson Durabrite Ink. There is nothing you can do about it but from the start, run an eyedropper full of Windex through the charging cup every time you clean the print heads. It voids the warranty, but everyone I know who does this before the tube clogs, amazingly does not have the problems I have had.