Dirty little secret of injet printers

[merliondude]

I don't know if this has been posted before but I think it exposes a real flaw in printer design.

http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/inkjet_printer

Anybody actually try it and opened their printer?

 

[kurtlim]

thats the cons of inkjet printer, they use ink and ink will dry up and clog the print head. the only way to clean them without dismantle the printer is use fresh ink to run them thru.

Epson with their Piezoelectric tech is infamous for printhead clogging and ink wasting. I had a few Epson, if I dont print in a week or two, they would took forever to "boot"--bascially wasting ink cleaning the printhead. currently am using Canon, they are miles ahead in basically everything. and I don't think Canon printer would need that much of ink just to clean. the manual clearly state "Waste ink absorber" will fill up eventually, its been 2 years and 200 page used every month, i yet to see the error sign. Canon also advise to leave the printer power on as every start up the printer will perform self cleaning.

I've dismantled quite a few dead inkjet printers (for the motors and other useful components) - and they've all been like this to some degree.
The printer depicted here is - I will freely admit - a particularly bad example of the phenomenon - but perhaps only because in this case, the specific cause of failure was a full waste ink reservoir.

clearly, this example is the exception. I had seen tons--yes, tons of used printer--karang Guni place obviously, I have yet to see dripping ink from the printer when the worker throwing them around.

 

[ymmij]

wow now i know... so a colour laser would actually be more worth it?

 

[karnage]

What about bubblejets? Do they work the same way as inkjet in terms of self-cleaning nozzles? What kind of printer, then, is good for long, very occasional, in-between prints?

 

[OldFlower]

DAMN!
Looks like I was right about what I think of inkjets all these while!
Glad I don't own one...

 

[imaginary_number]

What about bubblejets? Do they work the same way as inkjet in terms of self-cleaning nozzles? What kind of printer, then, is good for long, very occasional, in-between prints?

dot matrix? lol...

 

[ricohflex]

Canon ink jets are good.

Epson got some problem. But if not clogged then give good print.

HP I think got design flaw - every time you buy a new ink cartridge, you are buying another costly new print head.

 

[LittleWolf]

dot matrix? lol...

Inkjet printers ARE dot matrix printers.

 

[dark72]

I used to own that Inkjet! Lol :bsmilie:

 

[Rashkae]

Inkjet printers ARE dot matrix printers.

No they are not. Dot matrix printers used the ink ribbons.


As for inkjets/bubblejets (essentially the same thing) I've used Epson, Canon and HP. HP is unbelieveable at wasting ink, Canon usually gave me very odd-looking colors (and the ink took quite a while to dry - usually the next page would smear the ink) and so far, I'm happiest with Epson. Even after not using it for a month, I boot it up and it prints without problems.

 

[leongster]

The ink catridges of Canon and HP comes with print head. Epson print head is attached to the printer itself.

 

[etegration]

i just complain about the printer industry not too long ago.


600 million
0 Comments Published by etegration May 8th, 2008 in Site News

yep. That’s the amount of money in USD the printer industry make in a year. Year after year after year. So why can’t it innovate?

I’m talking about one single design for a single manufacturer or brand. HP to use a single design for all their range of whatever HP printer, one single ink cartridge. That’s it. I just need to know I need a HP, not an Epson or Lexmark or Canon ink cartridge, I pop by any supplier or shop to buy a HP ink cartridge. Oh no, not a HP C3218743 ink jet printer with the color black ink cartridge part number F492 nor the Canon BJC9421 with think tanks model FS42-1 in CYAN color only. Just a plain simple HP ink cartridge. Be it in black or the color I need.

Why?

It ain’t that the printer industry cannot innovate. Who needs to when it is pouring in 600 million USD a year?! The minute you buy a printer, they invent something new, something better, something faster and EOL (end-of-life) the ink cartridge technologies that have been invented for the “very efficient”, “5 million PPM”, “more real to life print out”, “top of the line” printer you just bought.

The printer industry is of course, a big industry. 6 million dollars big and growing. 3rd party vendors have sprouted with the same frustration and/or money making scheme. They invented the “continuous ink” technology. Never change ink cartridges forever! (?). All major brands will tell you, you use them, you void all warranties of course. Others take them to court around the world. Some do proposper making big bucks still. Why again? Of course due to people. People mindset, why bother? I spend less than SGD$100 for the printer, if it breaks down, I’ll just jolly well get a new one. Buying that $100 printer for my home use, 5 to 10 changes of the ink cartridges will very well more than the cost of the printer.

Manufacturers know that. They know what people think, well of course they do. They just don’t want to.

 

[imaginary_number]

Inkjet printers ARE dot matrix printers.

U need me to be so specific? Dot Matrix Impact Printer? I thought it was commonly understood that Dot Matrix printers refer to Dot Matrix impact printers, and not inkjets...

"Although nearly all inkjet, thermal, and laser printers produce dot matrices, in common parlance these are seldom called "dot matrix" printers, to avoid confusion with dot matrix impact printers."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_matrix_printer

 

[imaginary_number]

The ink catridges of Canon and HP comes with print head. Epson print head is attached to the printer itself.

Canon ones have the print heads built into the printers, which explains their relatively cheaper ink cartridges. My past few Canon printers have all had the print heads built into them.

 

[nikkie]

ink sublimation printers. ehhe.. like Canon Selphy printers. Maybe it will be good enough for A4 prints one day..

 

[bousozoku]

No they are not. Dot matrix printers used the ink ribbons.
...

Dye sublimation printers also use ink ribbons, as well as impact dot matrix printers and any printer that uses fully formed characters.

Canon ones have the print heads built into the printers, which explains their relatively cheaper ink cartridges. My past few Canon printers have all had the print heads built into them.

At least, the Canon printers' print heads aren't rather permanently attached the way Epson print heads are. Once the Epson print heads clog, you only have a choice to dispose the whole unit.

 

[Rashkae]

Dye sublimation printers also use ink ribbons, as well as impact dot matrix printers and any printer that uses fully formed characters.

Yup, but they're not bubblejets/inkjets.

At least, the Canon printers' print heads aren't rather permanently attached the way Epson print heads are. Once the Epson print heads clog, you only have a choice to dispose the whole unit.

Nope. The worst ever print-clog I had was back in 2002 or so on an Epson, and a cotton bud with isopropyl alcohol fixed it in 5 minutes.

 

[bousozoku]

...
Nope. The worst ever print-clog I had was back in 2002 or so on an Epson, and a cotton bud with isopropyl alcohol fixed it in 5 minutes.

You're lucky and I'm much happier since I switched to Canon printers. For high end equipment, I probably wouldn't use Canon, though.

 

[peekarwe]

I think the answer is CIS. Continuous Ink Supply. Why is it that so few people use that?

 

[yanyewkay]

my printer refuse to unclog and i literally wasted 1 new set of ink cartridges on trying to unclog it. isopropyl didn't work and it is the exact same one featured in the link