Printer ink going waaaaay up

[Marks481]

By october the ink had dried up (new cartridges put in around June/July) and the machine wont work unless it has ink..

I had a really nice HP all-in-one printer; really liked it. But there is a couple nasty HP tricks: if the color ink cartridge (any color) runs out, it will not print at all (even in B&W). And when you buy a ink cartridge, it has a built in expiration date. The printer will refuse to print with the cratridge once the expiration date is passed, regardless of how much ink is in the cartridge. When they say "Best if used by DATE", they really mean it. They claim it is to protect the ink jets from old ink, but the real reason is to force you to buy new cartridges every year and to prevent you from refilling cartridges.

I had problems with some of the nozzles clogging up because it went so long without using it. $120 latter to replace all the ink cartrdiges and all of the ink nozzles, and it still printed sloppily.

That is why I bought a color laserjet. I have an HP 2605dn, and love it. You never have to worry about ink drying up or nozzles clogging. If you don't use it for a couple months, it still prnts perfectly. Duplexing, network printing, it is a great machine. And (so far) no toner expiration date...

 

[Tig]

I think the only concern with toner life is humidity. Damp toner will clump. Some (all?) printers protect against this with a small heater. The area around the great lakes has humidty equal to an armpit in August and I have not seen any chronic problems.

 

[Bird]

I had a really nice HP all-in-one printer; really liked it. But there is a couple nasty HP tricks: if the color ink cartridge (any color) runs out, it will not print at all (even in B&W). And when you buy a ink cartridge, it has a built in expiration date. The printer will refuse to print with the cratridge once the expiration date is passed, regardless of how much ink is in the cartridge. When they say "Best if used by DATE", they really mean it. They claim it is to protect the ink jets from old ink, but the real reason is to force you to buy new cartridges every year and to prevent you from refilling cartridges.

I had problems with some of the nozzles clogging up because it went so long without using it. $120 latter to replace all the ink cartrdiges and all of the ink nozzles, and it still printed sloppily.

I don't know what model HP you had, but that's news to me. I can't remember how old my last HP all-in-one printer was when I gave it to my grandson, simply because it was not a "flat bed" scanner. But I replaced it with an HP Office Jet G55 that I'm now using and it's just a little over 6 years old and I've never encountered the kind of problems you described. It uses the HP-45 black cartridge and the HP 78 tri-color cartridge; approximately $30 and $35 respectively.

 

[NewToy]

I saw an ad on TV from Walgreen's, I think. They just put in ink cartridge refilling stations in some of their stores. Do the refilled cartridges work OK? The printer companies sure stick you for the ink. What really torqued me was the new all in one printer I bought had these "demo" cartridges in it when new. They've only got a little dab of ink in them from the git-go. That's pretty shady in my opinion.

John

 

[Unclebuck257]

Until about 8 months ago, I had the same HP printer that Bird now has and it worked great. I made the mistake of buying a Dell Printer, to go with the new Dell computer I had put together, and I gave that HP to my wife for her computer. With Dell printers, you MUST get the ink cartridges from Dell and they are expensive in my book. They don't last that long either!

 

[Bird]

Do the refilled cartridges work OK?

I've often wondered the same thing, but for no more than I use now, I just haven't been willing to take the chance.

I had the same HP printer that Bird now has and it worked great. I made the mistake of buying a Dell Printer

Jim, I actually got this HP printer from Dell to go with the new Dell computer I bought at that time.

Another thing I've heard conflicting stories about is whether to leave everything turned on all the time, or whether to turn off everything when it's not in use. I don't know what's best, but I leave everything on all the time. The one thing I'm in a habit of turning off when not in use is the external CD/DVD writer. I usually just turn it on once a week to make a backup DVD of some of my data and leave it off the rest of the time.

 

[Marks481]

It uses the HP-45 black cartridge and the HP 78 tri-color cartridge; approximately $30 and $35 respectively.

My HP C7100 all-in-one used those same cartridges. Your printer might not have this feature. Here is what HP says:

Each ink cartridge has an expiration date. The purpose of expiration is to protect the printing system and to ensure ink quality. When you receive an ink cartridge(s) are expired message, remove and replace the expired ink cartridge, and then close the message. You can also continue printing without replacing the ink cartridge, by following the instructions on the HP All-in-One or the ink cartridge expiration message on your computer screen. HP recommends replacing the expired ink cartridges. HP cannot guarantee the quality or reliability of expired ink cartridges. Device service or repairs required as a result of using expired ink will not be covered under warranty.

Of course, my all-in-one DID NOT give me the option of using the expired ink. This was on a cartridge that was less then 8 months old (since I bought it), which kind of made me a little mad.

 

[Bird]

Tim, that's interesting. Up until this year, every time I put a new ink cartridge in my printer, I promptly bought another spare to have on hand. However, when I put the new ones in early this year, I decided to wait to buy new ones until I needed them, since even our 24 hour a day Wal-mart has them. So I don't have any new ones to look at the packaging, but I just pulled out the color cartridge and can't find any expiration date on it. And I pulled the printer file from file cabinet and looked through the manual and the "poster" type set-up sheet and didn't find a thing about the ink cartridges except the illustrated instructions for installing them.

 

[streamin]

I bought ink in bulk and refill my own cartridges, I've had 3 printers since I started that and been saving money all the while.Only thing to watch for is not to let the cartridge go completely empty or it will dry out and not work.

 

[RoyJackson]

I think the only concern with toner life is humidity. Damp toner will clump. Some (all?) printers protect against this with a small heater. The area around the great lakes has humidty equal to an armpit in August and I have not seen any chronic problems.

If you notice any print problems, pull the toner cartridge(s) out and give 'em a few shakes.