The last straw with home printers!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kevin C.
  • Start date Start date
K

Kevin C.

After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges, I'm
really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the cost. I
can't say I enjoy the prospect of having to go to a print shop every time I
want a hard copy of some file, but on the rare occassions where I do need
one it's hard to beat a maintenance-free, $0.10/page charge over a $40 ink
cartridge that clogs up before I can even use all of it. I mean, it gets
*real* old when you have to clean/dissolve the printheads before every
print, especially when it eventually becomes unsalvageable and you have to
plop down another $40 for a half-cartridge of ink.

So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership: do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly? If not I just may go out and buy a damn laser printer since
I'm not getting my money's worth with the stupid inkjets. Thanks for any
info.
 
So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership: do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly? If not I just may go out and buy a damn laser printer since
I'm not getting my money's worth with the stupid inkjets. Thanks for any
info.
Click to expand...


NO. One of the reasons I will never own an inkjet printer. Now toner
cartridges will get "old" but it does take a few years, and all that happens is
the print gets a little bit lighter. Some of the older toner cartriges will
develop a flat spot in the drum if the printer sits for several months without
printing. My current printers are the HP LaserJet 4000tn and a 5000n. Used
printers, but at 16ppm and 1200 dpi, more than enough for me.

How often do you go without printing?
 
So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership: do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly? If not I just may go out and buy a damn laser printer since
I'm not getting my money's worth with the stupid inkjets. Thanks for any
info.
Click to expand...
No, laser cartridges do not utilize nozzles that can clog. They are
great for B&W text & graphics and the cost/page for consumables is
less than an ink-jet. From what I have read, a color laser does
produce the print quality (color) of an ink-jet.

I recently needed to print about 2500 pages and wanted a waterproof
document. I purchased a Samsung laser for $70 (after rebates) and a 2
cartridge refills (3000 pages/refill) off eBay for $10 more. I figure
I got the printer free compared to the cost of having the document
printed at a print shop.

I never had a problem with the color nozzles, but my black did clog. A
printhead replacement fixed it. I will now use the laser for all my
B&W and the ink-jet for my photos.
 
Kevin C. said:
So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership: do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly?
Click to expand...

No.
 
Kevin C. said:
After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges, I'm
really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the cost.
I
can't say I enjoy the prospect of having to go to a print shop every time
I
want a hard copy of some file, but on the rare occassions where I do need
one it's hard to beat a maintenance-free, $0.10/page charge over a $40 ink
cartridge that clogs up before I can even use all of it. I mean, it gets
*real* old when you have to clean/dissolve the printheads before every
print, especially when it eventually becomes unsalvageable and you have to
plop down another $40 for a half-cartridge of ink.

So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership:
do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly? If not I just may go out and buy a damn laser printer
since
I'm not getting my money's worth with the stupid inkjets. Thanks for any
info.
Click to expand...

No they do not as they use a dry toner vs a liquid based ink. While the cost
per page is still up there for color laser prints, it is dropping. If all
you do is black and white however (and infrequently at that) then a laser
would be an excellent choice.

As for your clogging cartridge issue, you do not say what make/model
printer, but it is possible you have A) a bad printhead, or B) a printer
issue where the head is not parking/capping properly after the print job
completes which will lead to premature clogging.
 
After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges, I'm
really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the cost. I
can't say I enjoy the prospect of having to go to a print shop every time I
want a hard copy of some file, but on the rare occassions where I do need
one it's hard to beat a maintenance-free, $0.10/page charge over a $40 ink
cartridge that clogs up before I can even use all of it. I mean, it gets
*real* old when you have to clean/dissolve the printheads before every
print, especially when it eventually becomes unsalvageable and you have to
plop down another $40 for a half-cartridge of ink.

So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership: do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly? If not I just may go out and buy a damn laser printer since
I'm not getting my money's worth with the stupid inkjets. Thanks for any
info.
Click to expand...

No, not really, but the toner *might* clump up if left awhile, giving
you the same results. That usually takes a very long time though,
anywhere from 6 months to a year or longer.

The only truly sit and forget about it technology is dot matrix
impact, but their time has really passed except for a few commercial
uses. Even they will require some help if you leave it sitting for a
year or more (the lubricant in the ribbon dries out, requiring a few
squirts of WD40 or something similar).

I don't think there is a printer technology (or any technology for
that matter) that you can just neglect or abuse and expect it to work.
 
PC Medic said:
As for your clogging cartridge issue, you do not say what make/model
printer, but it is possible you have A) a bad printhead, or B) a printer
issue where the head is not parking/capping properly after the print job
completes which will lead to premature clogging.
Click to expand...

Well, my first printer was an HP Deskjet 600C until the power box up and
died. I went to Fry's and got the cheapest printer I could find to replace
it -- a Deskjet 3520. It's pretty junky, I know, but the whole printer cost
the same as an ink cartridge! So I said, what the hell, and got the $40
printer w/ ink included. Actually, I'm still on that cartridge. It's the one
that is now clogged and set me off. I was hoping that after all this time
(the 600C is pretty old, I think it's been 8 years now), they would have
found some way to address the clogging. But apparently that has gone
nowhere, hence I am giving up on inkjets. From what I can tell on the web,
the other mfrs aren't any better.
 
Quadrajet1 said:
How often do you go without printing?
Click to expand...

Well, for my color cartridges I would often go for months without
printing... I think I lost one after only one use. That was the first time I
went to the web to look up methods for unclogging. Unfortunately they didn't
work. So that was $40 down the toilet.

When I was in school (hs/college) I would have to print at least once every
couple of
weeks for papers and such and that kept my black cartridge in shape most of
the time, but over summer/winter break I'd have to unclog them, with mixed
results. Now after I graduated I have much less use for the printer, mostly
for printing rebates and receipts and stuff. In particular I think the last
stint was 6-8 weeks without using the printer.
 
After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges, I'm
really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the cost. I
can't say I enjoy the prospect of having to go to a print shop every time I
want a hard copy of some file, but on the rare occassions where I do need
one it's hard to beat a maintenance-free, $0.10/page charge over a $40 ink
cartridge that clogs up before I can even use all of it. I mean, it gets
*real* old when you have to clean/dissolve the printheads before every
print, especially when it eventually becomes unsalvageable and you have to
plop down another $40 for a half-cartridge of ink.

So here's a question that may salvage the status of my printer ownership: do
laser toner cartridges have a similar issue with "clogging" if they're not
used regularly? If not I just may go out and buy a damn laser printer since
I'm not getting my money's worth with the stupid inkjets. Thanks for any
info.
Click to expand...

Kevin,

Toner cartridges never clog, as laser printers use a high-voltage and
positive/negative charges to deposit the toner onto the imaging drum.
It is not a liquid ink, and hence can't dry and clog as either a bubble-
jet (HP or Canon) or piezo-effect (Epson) print head. Plus, the cost-
per-page is very, very small compared to any inkjet.

One note: perhaps you should change your post from "Home Printers" to
"Inkjet Printers." Thousands of home PC users have used B&W laser
printers for over a decade.

The primary reason why inkjets have become the standard for consumers is
their color capability. Color laser printers were always quite
expensive. Now that color lasers are becoming more and more affordable,
inkjets will decline in use over time.

Don
 
So why don't you simply print a color page every few days? Go to
Start/Settings/Printers, right-click on your printer and select
Properties. Click on Print Test Page. A small color flag will print; it
uses little ink and exercises the head.

Do you ever run the Cleaning or Deep Cleaning cycle?
 
Kevin said:
After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges, I'm
really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the cost.
Click to expand...

I think they are, simply because photos lack quality on colour laser
printers.

But if you have no need of photo printing, then a colour laser is a
viable option, especially with the recent price drops on the new models.
I know that if I had no need for photo printing, I'd pop for a colour
laser.
cartridge that clogs up before I can even use all of it. I mean, it gets
*real* old when you have to clean/dissolve the printheads before every
print, especially when it eventually becomes unsalvageable and you have to
plop down another $40 for a half-cartridge of ink.
Click to expand...

I know how you feel.

But here's a story for you...a friend recently upgraded her printer
because it was old and didn't print photos very well. But about a year
ago, she was out of the country working for 8 months. She came home and
wanted to print off a few funny emails. She turned on her HP 600 and it
printed perfectly, no banding, streaks, or other issues.

Last I saw, it was still working fine.

And my own Canon i850 was like that too. Until recently, printhead
cleaning was never done, at least not in the first 12+ months. It even
sat idle for over two weeks when I was on vacation, and it printed just
fine when I came home.
 
Don Allen said:
Toner cartridges never clog, as laser printers use a high-voltage and
positive/negative charges to deposit the toner onto the imaging drum.
It is not a liquid ink, and hence can't dry and clog as either a bubble-
Click to expand...

Toner carts don't clog from drying out, but if you're in a humid
climate after a few months of inactivity the print quality goes down,
getting faded and streaky typically. I think if you know you're not
going to use it for a while and took the cart out and stored it in a
sealed container or bag with some dessicant it'd probably be good
indefinitely.
 
After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges,
I'm really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the
cost.
Click to expand...

Many people, including myself, manage to run inkjets without clogging
problems. Have you considered addressing the clogging problem, rather than
just giving up?

Whether or not inkjet heads clog seems to depend on the printer's
environment. If the room it's kept in has a very dry atmosphere, and/or
the printer sits in direct sunlight for much of the day, then there's a
good chance it will suffer clogging problems. Try raising the humidity in
the room* and make sure the printer isn't spending a lot of its time sun
bathing. A dusty atmosphere will also cause problems, as will using paper
that produces a lot of dust.

*A humidifier is a good idea if you can afford it but putting a large open
pan/bucket of water near the printer will do the job just as well. Using a
cloth as a wick will increase the area of water exposed to the atmosphere
and increase the humidity level.

Jon.
 
Kevin C. said:
After losing anywhere from 25-50% of my ink due to clogged cartridges, I'm
really questioning whether having a home printer is really worth the cost.
Click to expand...

I think you have been very unlucky. I've had an HP895cxi for at least 6
years used daily and sometimes left unused for two weeks or more. Clogs are
extreemly rare. I think I've only ever had to discard one cart.

Is it possible that there is a problem with the head cleaning wiper on your
printer? On my HP this looks like a set of small rubber windscreen wiper
blades - but it can be hard to see with all the ink in the cleaning tray. If
you had one damaged or missing that would cause all sorts of grief.
 
I think you have been very unlucky. I've had an HP895cxi for at least 6
years used daily and sometimes left unused for two weeks or more. Clogs are
extreemly rare. I think I've only ever had to discard one cart.
Click to expand...

Depends on the type of inkjet. Picture quality printers are much more prone
to clogging due to their almost-instant drying ink. None picture-quality
inkjets use a slower drying ink. With printQ inkjets, it's use 'em or lose
'em. I didn't use my Epson Color for 2 months. Instant door stop.

My decision to dump my Epson was more economic than anything else. A single
black cartridge for an 800 Color is still an astonishing $35! **** that!
My new b/w Brother laser will go 3000 sheets on one toner cartridge. If one
doesn't do that many color prints, inkjets are a waste of money.

nb
 
From what I have read, a color laser does
produce the print quality (color) of an ink-jet.
Click to expand...

Not quite. Basic situation is:
1. Colour print from a $250 inkjet will be much
better than that from a $250 laser printer;
2. At some high price (($1000? $2000?) laser
colour printing will be superior in quality.
 
MCheu said:
The only truly sit and forget about it technology is dot matrix
impact, but their time has really passed except for a few commercial
uses. Even they will require some help if you leave it sitting for a
year or more (the lubricant in the ribbon dries out, requiring a few
squirts of WD40 or something similar).
Click to expand...

This is quite true. I had a DMP hanging around with a half used ribbon, that
hadn't been used for 6 years, and the ribbon is 9 years old. It printed just
as good(?) as ever.

I took another DMP out of deep storage, about 8 years since I last used it.
It had a spool type ribbon, no idea how old the ribbon is(second hand
printer). The ink was dried up on the exposed part, but the ink on the
ribbon in the spool is almost new. I just blew some dust out of the way and
away it printed.
 
Don said:
Not quite. Basic situation is:
1. Colour print from a $250 inkjet will be much
better than that from a $250 laser printer;
2. At some high price (($1000? $2000?) laser
colour printing will be superior in quality.
Click to expand...

You haven't been keeping up with the latest technology.

The print quality of a colour laser is generally fantastic. I've looked
at the output from the HP 2550 laser ($600 CDN), and it has excellent
output. I considered getting one but I need photo output, and for glossy
photos inkjet is the obvious way to go.

For an office that doesn't need glossy photos, a colour laser is the
smart choice.
 
My wife and I have 2 HP 990cse's and we were away from them for 7 months
while having a problem in our house and then moving. They are ink jet and
worked fine. Paul
Click to expand...
 
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