OT: printer cartridge replacement reality

Didn't you know that the wave must go clockwise north of the equator, and counter-clockwise south of the equator?

....and, one of the refill companies *sells* cartridge reset software for about $20!

Like i mentioned elsewhere, one of the ink replacement kit companies

The consumer models have this garbage built in.

Xerox does it to some of their office copiers. A plug in serial EEROM counts to 50,000 copies and shuts the copier down until the chip is replaced for $120 or more. The Xerox part is marked M67985 and is a C.O.B. assembly mounted on a HiRose connector that I can't identify. I have one removed from the copier at my church when it had to be serviced. They refer to it as a "Code Plug"

Many inkjet printers keep track of head cleaning operations - including automated cleans - so that the waste ink tank (actually a sponge in most models) doesn't fill up. This is not rare.

For example, read this thread:

There's a small peristaltic pump under the parked location of the print head, which pulls air (and ink) through the head to clean it.

I should clarify... an hp1320 is a LaserJet, NOT an InkJet.

For Spehro, my current cartridge (11/30/2004) stats are:

Pages Printed = 1973 Pages Jammed in Printer = 1 Pages Mispicked in Printer = 6

Not quite sure what that last one means, unless it's manual feed pick-up ??

...Jim Thompson

Me, I have experience only with hp printers. (Bought a Brother from Price Club a gezillion years ago and took it right back :)

I've only had 3 printers, a 2P physically worn out, a 6P refurbished once but then worn out, and now a 1320.

Until this thread I've not heard of a printer with a cycle limit. I really doubt such could be true unless clearly specified on the box and in the warranty, etc.

...Jim Thompson

I use none... I have an hp1320 Laserjet ;-)

Actually, my wife has an hp 1120C which prints tabloid (B) size.

I use it occasionally to print out the illegible schematics from Cadence users ;-)

My design philosophy is, "If it takes more than an A-size per cell, it's poorly designed". (Except if it's sonar... for Mark/qrk :-)

...Jim Thompson

I didn't say that, now :)

I am aware, through "back channels", that a few models of inkjet with fixed print elements did keep track of pages and shut down after a certain number. The rationale here was that the print head is really a consumable item and it will inevitably become unreliable. It was considered better to have it stop functioning than to let it function intermittently or with poor results (streaks, large droplet size, etc). Not sure how much I believe that argument, but I AM sure I believe that this kind of justification could be put forward seriously by marketing.

It's a devious plot to sell *unnecessarily expensive* ink cartridges.

I can confirm that Canon cartridges are the easiest to refill, and HP are among the most difficult. It's not easy to figure out where to drill the refill hole on the HP cartridges, but it's very easy on the translucent Canon cartridges.

One of the refill kits I bought at Costco contains little rubber plugs to put in the hole drilled in the cartridge. These plugs get damaged after a few insertions and removals, and you get very few in the refill kit. But, then I figured out what to do to plug the hole without wear and tear. Rather than drill a hole big enough for one of the rubber plugs, just drill a hole big enough for the hypodermic sized needle on the ink refill bottle. Then after refilling, put a dab of RTV type silicone rubber over the hole. You get a perfect seal, and the next time you refill, the silicone rubber peels off cleanly. I have some cartridges that have been refilled about 7 times with no problems so far. After having done it a few times, I can now refill a cartridge in about 2 minutes without even getting ink all over my fingers any more.

One big advantage of the translucent Canon cartridges is that you can see when the cartridge is full; with the HPs, you have to squirt in the ink until it overfills and runs out. Also, the Canon printers (so far) have separate cartridges for each color of ink. The HPs and some others have them all in one cartridge so that you have to buy a new one when just one color runs out. Big disadvantage.

IME, the Epson printers I've seen/used have the print- head built into the printer and just swap out the ink cartridges.

But the HP printers have the print head right in the replacable ink cartridges.

I bought a continuous ink supply for my Epson R300 printer (mostly used to print on CD/DVD discs). I got it from a guy in Hong Kong on Ebay and it works great. It has special chips that reset to "90%" when they reach "15%" (that avoids the ink-wasting purge cycle when the printer thinks it has a new cartridge).

I'm only averaging 10 *printed* pages per work day.

Most of my "printing" is PDF.

...Jim Thompson

There was agreement about Craig Shergold too.

All my Orcad schematics are B-size, except simple things (e.g. adapter cables) which are A-size. Occasionally I increase a page size to C to work some things in, then split the page into 2 Bs.

To re-initialize an individual cartridge, or to re-initialize the printer after it has supposedly reached its age limit?

I don't think there's any dispute that individual cartridges are digitally coded and not reusable, with various printers. What I'm talking about is the claim quoted above -- that there is an arbitrary limit on the total use of the printer.

I find that hard to believe because (1) it would probably violate laws of many countries, and (2) there are high-volume photo studios using Epson printers and I've heard no complaints about them from the photo industry.

That's why I continue to point out that we have no confirmation of any such thing, only rumors. The FTC would object very strongly (and the EC even more strongly) if the printer had a built-in life limit that was not disclosed to the customer.

The printer *does* have parts that wear out. And it may have a counter that says when they need replacing. Automobiles have similar things. But that is not the same as simply rigging it to stop working at a particular age.

Before you get angry at Epson, try to find out whether they are really guilty as charged. We have, at the moment, NO SOURCE for the allegation.

A method pioneered by Kodak: loss-leader cameras, profitable film (and processing) sales for years.

I don't mean the cartridge protection. I mean the allegation that the printer itself becomes inoperative after a certain amount of printing, due to a digital limit, even though there's nothing wrong with it.