Printer carts.

I've found the trick with Epson printers is to never let the cartridge run dry and never leave the printer with a empty (or near empy) cartridge - even for a few hours. In addition never leave the printer without running a single page using all colours for more than 3 weeks.

I use compatible cartridges for my printer and as they are cheap enough (for my usage) I consider changing the complete set when the software starts nagging that the ink levels are getting low.

For most of my black only printing I use my Brother laser printer with compatible toner cartridges for the same supplier as the ink jet cartridges.

I've been using

Yes. I've set an alarm to print something at least every two weeks.

Oddly it was the black which caused the main problem, and it was nowhere near empty.

If it's been through plenty of ink cartridges, especially if it's had lots of cleaning cycles, beware of the "overflow sponge" getting full...

I print something festive from My Canon ip4300 once every year. It's 12 years old, run on original inks and reliable in starting up without me having to waste inks purging it.

Stay well away from compatible inks unless you like the faff of clearing gunge. Consider it a bit like mixing different brands and grades of motor oil, and gumming the engine.

However, the other variable is Epson. Had one of those once, before I saw better sense and bought an office laser.

Another thing to watch is that there are two types of ink-jet printers: bubblejet using heat to make vapour to eject the ink, and piezo that flicks the ink out. The ink is different for these types and may cause blockage if the wrong sort is used.

Moans about Epson are a bit repetitive after a bit, but just to add my pennorth I gave up on Epson as well as getting them to work was turning into a hobby in iteslf, in the end. That's unless you're prepared to pay silly money for original in-date carts

I switched to HP on a deskjet where the heads are on the carts. Buying out of date or refilled carts off of eBay eventually prompted the purchase of an utrasonic cleaner - just a small stainless steel dish which hums which seemed to loosen up the ink. But lately, even that has been failing and the best supplier of refills has disappeared from eBay anyway.

Despite previous disasters I bought some £5 refill kits in Tesco. You get a little drill, grommetts, a syringe and three bottles of ink. I filled a black one uing my own hand dril and a vice, and a grommet and after a bit of ultrasound its working fine. Howver on ebay I found small grubscrews for sale, 3,4,5,and 6mm which I've purchesed which I intend to use in place of the grommets. Using undersize drills and tapping wider holes with the grubscrews. Which should make a neater job than the gommets and be more repeatable.

michael adams

...

You might be happy paying 10 times plus more for genuine carts - I'm not. And have more than saved the cost of a new printer if needed by using compatibles.

And are you stating genuine ones can never ever clog?

Well, mine is 12 years old, and not an Epson.

Buy a better printer. Swings and roundabouts, razor blades and handles etc...

I've had most of the common makes over the years. Not a great deal of difference in the domestic ones, life wise.

I've had no problems with compatibles. Its leaving the printer with empty or near empty ink cartridges that is often the problem and I'll bet any money if you left an empty OEM cartridge in your printer for even a few hours you would see problems.

The inbuilt head is a good idea usually as you don't have to replace the (perhaps unreplaceable) print head if it goes wrong (or just has dried ink in it if the printer is rarely used).

The changeable head variety usually have a lower print resolution so the type you purchase may depend on what you are going to use it for.

If colour or photo realistic printing isn't required a small cheap laser is probably better than a inkjet printer. However check prices of replacement toner cartridges (including after market compatibles) before purchasing as with some ink jets it may be a cheap printer but with expensive consumables. Also be aware that like ink-jets some laser printers don't come cartridges or come with a limited capacity cartridge.

A small mono HP laser approx £70 (with toner cartridge ??) and replacement toner approx £30 to £40 for 1000 text pages.

I've just cleaned the built in heads in my Epson, using a kit from Ebay which only cost a few quid. Worked a treat. And plenty left for a few other times.

I thought a cheap mono laser an answer. It would always print if the inkjet was blocked. A replacement cart cost almost as much as the printer. And that failed before it was used up.

I have replaced it with a middle of the range mono one, though. And that seems to be lasting quite well.

THat's a high price per page. Refill it yourself.

NT