how fast does printer ink dry up?

Jimmy Liew · 30th September 2004

have a epson photo stylus 895 and although i seldom print colored stuff, the colored ink will dry up within weeks and have to replace...same with black ink.

issit the same with other brands?

CanonFanatic · 1st October 2004

Are you quite sure the ink is really drying up?

Epson printers generally use fixed printheads i.e. users and customers cannot replace the printheads themselves. This is because Epson uses piezo-electric inkjet technology, rather than the more common thermal inkjet technology used by Canon, Lexmark and HP. Piezo-electric based printheads are relatively more expensive, and therefore are not cost effective to change regularly.

Because the printheads are fixed and cannot be changed by customers and users, Epson printers tend to have a high amount of printhead cleaning and flushing activity. This is to help make sure the firing nozzles stay healthy. If they do not do this, the nozzles are likely to get clogged, and may end up not being recoverable. In this sort of situation, given Epson's printer design, the only thing that can be done is to send the printer for repair.

So to avoid such a repair, the printer frequently cleans and flushes the printheads. This not only takes time, but also chews up a lot of ink. There is nothing else available for such flushing activity! The less printing is done, the more flushing there is per page printed.

I suspect this is what could be happening with your printer. Whenever you switch the printer on, listen for any activity, even if you have not sent a print job to the printer. And when you do send a print job down, listen and look out for activity immediately before the first page is printed, and immediately after the last page is printed. These are all signs the printer is doing its cleaning on the printhead. The longer this activity takes, the more ink it is likely to be using.

Although I am not completely certain about this, it is also possible the printer does some cleaning occasionally even when not in use, as long as it is still plugged in to mains power and the mains power is switched on. You can run an experiment to find out. Whenever you are not using the printer, unplug the printer from the mains power. Plug it back in when you need to use it. Observe for any differences in how quickly the ink "dries" up.

Do please let me know how things go. I am interested to know what is causing your ink to get used up so quickly.

CanonFanatic · 1st October 2004

You might also like to give epson a call to find out more information. Although they would rather you spend more money on ink, you might get some useful information from them.

sinlg · 26th July 2005

I thought part of the reason is the newer ink dyes these days are very corrosive and hence may corrode the print head.

In any case, should be just stick to HP and Canon instead of Epson? Since changing the cartridges on those printers essentially also changes the print-heads and thus is like having a new printer each time?

jsbn · 27th July 2005

Dry up? My one no problem leh... For the past 2yrs. Changed like 3 or 4 times ink nia.

joebaye · 31st July 2005

I own an epson 810, it is always powered on. But still printer head clogged up quite often.
I sent it to Epson Service Center, They sey that the printer head cannot be replaced or if it is replaced the price is the same as buying a new one. He suggested that I just buy a new one.
I just replaced it after a 2 years with a Canon Printer.

simon80 · 2nd August 2005

the best way to keep the printer gg is to do frequent printing
at least once a week ..

30th September 2004	#1
Jimmy Liew Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 160	how fast does printer ink dry up? have a epson photo stylus 895 and although i seldom print colored stuff, the colored ink will dry up within weeks and have to replace...same with black ink. issit the same with other brands?

1st October 2004	#2
CanonFanatic Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 52	Is it really drying up? Are you quite sure the ink is really drying up? Epson printers generally use fixed printheads i.e. users and customers cannot replace the printheads themselves. This is because Epson uses piezo-electric inkjet technology, rather than the more common thermal inkjet technology used by Canon, Lexmark and HP. Piezo-electric based printheads are relatively more expensive, and therefore are not cost effective to change regularly. Because the printheads are fixed and cannot be changed by customers and users, Epson printers tend to have a high amount of printhead cleaning and flushing activity. This is to help make sure the firing nozzles stay healthy. If they do not do this, the nozzles are likely to get clogged, and may end up not being recoverable. In this sort of situation, given Epson's printer design, the only thing that can be done is to send the printer for repair. So to avoid such a repair, the printer frequently cleans and flushes the printheads. This not only takes time, but also chews up a lot of ink. There is nothing else available for such flushing activity! The less printing is done, the more flushing there is per page printed. I suspect this is what could be happening with your printer. Whenever you switch the printer on, listen for any activity, even if you have not sent a print job to the printer. And when you do send a print job down, listen and look out for activity immediately before the first page is printed, and immediately after the last page is printed. These are all signs the printer is doing its cleaning on the printhead. The longer this activity takes, the more ink it is likely to be using. Although I am not completely certain about this, it is also possible the printer does some cleaning occasionally even when not in use, as long as it is still plugged in to mains power and the mains power is switched on. You can run an experiment to find out. Whenever you are not using the printer, unplug the printer from the mains power. Plug it back in when you need to use it. Observe for any differences in how quickly the ink "dries" up. Do please let me know how things go. I am interested to know what is causing your ink to get used up so quickly.

27th July 2005	#5
jsbn Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Planet Eropagnis Posts: 2,977	Dry up? My one no problem leh... For the past 2yrs. Changed like 3 or 4 times ink nia. __________________ "Wonders of the Human Mind. Unfathomable to the highest degree."

26th July 2005	#4
sinlg Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 355	I thought part of the reason is the newer ink dyes these days are very corrosive and hence may corrode the print head. In any case, should be just stick to HP and Canon instead of Epson? Since changing the cartridges on those printers essentially also changes the print-heads and thus is like having a new printer each time?

31st July 2005	#6
joebaye Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Tampines, Singapore Posts: 155	I own an epson 810, it is always powered on. But still printer head clogged up quite often. I sent it to Epson Service Center, They sey that the printer head cannot be replaced or if it is replaced the price is the same as buying a new one. He suggested that I just buy a new one. I just replaced it after a 2 years with a Canon Printer.

2nd August 2005	#7
simon80 Deregistered Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,501	the best way to keep the printer gg is to do frequent printing at least once a week ..