Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (
More info?)
Arthur Entlich wrote:
> All inkjet printers have to clean and purge the heads to keep them
> from clogging and to maintain the printing quality.
>
> That ink has to go somewhere, and all the printers of all brands have a
> waste ink storage system of some type. Some use a container or area
> within the printer body, most use "diapers" which absorb it, all can
> leak if the printer is positioned incorrectly or they overflow.
>
> In my opinion, the designs used are flawed. Laser printers either
> have a bottle or hopper of some type that stores the waste toner which
> is removed from the drum after each page is printed. This can be
> either emptied, replaced, or comes out with the toner cartridge (it's
> a space within the cartridge which is filled).
>
> In one Epson printer (the PictureMate), the waste ink is pumped into a
> special chamber in the ink cartridge, but to my knowledge, that's the
> only inkjet doing that. Most inkjet companies seem to think that
> people will toss the printer before the waste ink area gets filled, or
> they can pay for a service call when it does do so.
>
> I think this is totally the wrong approach. The cost of a new design
> may add slightly to the cost the printer, but it could be designed so
> the ink was stored in a bottle with a no spill top, which was
> accessible to the user and could be replaced or emptied. I am now
> encouraging people to retrofit their printers to bring the waste ink
> outside of the printer and into some type of container. In general,
> the process isn't that complex, but every printer is different and it
> may involve taking the printer apart so I can't provide instructions,
> but people may wish to pursue it with their model and see if someone
> has come up with the fix for it on the web somewhere.
>
> I am not naive enough not to recognize one of the reasons the
> manufacturer don't redesign, besides wishing to reduce the life span
> of their printers, so you have to buy a new one, is because no
> manufacturer wants the end user to realize how much of that $1,000 a
> liter (not a documented number, so please don't ask me for references)
> ink is ending up in the diapers of the printer and ultimately into the
> garbage.
>
> To me, this is one of those situations that is truly without ANY
> ethical base.
>
> 1) The manufacturer's charge a fortune for the ink
> 2) The design of the heads make it necessary to waste a lot of that
> ink to keep the printer working
> 3) The waste ink can limit the life of the printer, as the printer may
> stop working once a certain amount of ink is dumped into the waste
> system, and the cost of renewing these is often too high to justify
> having it done
> 4) There is no safe method of disposing of the ink because it becomes
> integral to the printer, so if you dump the printer, the waste ink
> goes with it. Also, since there is no way to store the waste ink as a
> separate entity, no system has been implemented to allow for proper
> disposal of the inks. Some of the inks have components (especially
> the pigments) which can be considered environmentally hazardous.
> Currently when the whole printer can end up in the landfill, filled
> with waste ink which leaks out of it.
Sounds like they are pretty smart.
>
> Now, as to your actual issue. Yes, chances are you can clean your
> printer up, but it will tend to be a messy process and you will
> certainly need to at least remove the case to do it and maybe also
> dismantle other assemblies. I would say you would be safer to have a
> service manual available to determine how to do it.
>
> Lastly, I would suggest that if the instruction manual makes no
> mention of the fact that the printer must be moved in a certain
> position once it has been in use or damage will occur, that the
> manufacturer has been negligent, and you may have a valid ethical, if
> not legal case.
>
> Art
Yeh. And try to collect.
>
>
> Andie Z wrote:
>
>> I have an HP 1220c that is almost 5 years old. When I moved, I
>> tipped it in
>> my vehicle and ink poured out of the printer. I contacted HP and was
>> told
>> that the ink came from a collection well and tipping it was not the
>> thing to
>> do. Now I have a good printer that has ink all through out it and
>> can't use
>> it. HP wants almost the cost of a new one to clean it. Can I clean
>> it? I
>> have had experience with printers in the past. HP will not send me a
>> servce
>> manual or instructions. Is it normal to have ink leak out of a
>> printer when
>> tipped? Where can I get disassembly and assembly/internal cleaning
>> instructions? Or is it hopeless?
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>>
>> Andie Z
>>
>>
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