Inkjet Printer Use Over Time

I have read that inkjet printers should be used at least about once per week for proper maintenance of the printer's ink cartridges.

If an inkjet printer is not to be used for a "long period" (not exactly sure what to use as a definition of "long period"), should the printer's inkjet cartridges be removed? If so, how should the cartridges be stored?

Other Related comments and questions are welcome.

It greatly varies on the model, as some inkjet printers are built more poorly than others. It also depends on your environment; if it's very dry, your ink will harden and clog the jets and you'll probably run into other issues sooner. Typically, you want to avoid removing the cartridges. When you remove them, you expose things to the environment that are better off remaining insulated. Other printers should be left powered on with the ink installed, because they automatically run cleaning routines every so often.

I haven't used a printer at home in over 5 years. I carry a USB stick. If what I have can't be sent electronically, and I have to print it out, I either take it to a copy shop or maybe Walgreens for pictures. Every Inkjet I ever owned got clogged up or was constantly running out of ink.

My current Girlfriend was telling me I should buy a printer, so I went looking. The only printer these days I would consider buying is a laser jet, and if I had to have color, I would spring for a color laser jet. Paying 50 dollars for a printer where the ink cartridges cost 30 dollars is just outrageous.

zzzzzzzzzz said:

I have read that inkjet printers should be used at least about once per week for proper maintenance of the printer's ink cartridges.

If an inkjet printer is not to be used for a "long period" (not exactly sure what to use as a definition of "long period"), should the printer's inkjet cartridges be removed? If so, how should the cartridges be stored?

Other Related comments and questions are welcome.

Click to expand...

I've had an HP deskjet 5550... pretty much FOREVER.

I'd say it's the best printer I ever owned, but the HP I had before it was pretty good too (I want to say it was a 1220? One of those large format HPs.)

Only thing is the one before it (I hear) is dead and this one is still going.

I didn't use it for "a long time" and the cartridges dried on me. So I just bought a new one. It still had trouble printing the first three pages. After that it's been golden. That was three years ago.

So I've had it a total of 8 years now.

Really my inkjet printers are the very LAST THING I worry about in terms of hardware. I don't think I've actually had a printer die on me since the 80s.

I HATE spending that much on ink that I only use a few times a year.

I went out and bought a Laserjet that has wired, wireless and USB connections instead. I would rather be able to print whenever I want vs having to hope the cartridges havent died on me when I want to print.

The last laserjet I had, literally lasted me until the rollers fell off (the plastic got so brittle, they cracked up) and I only had to change the toner 1 time in all those years.

Adragontattoo said:

I HATE spending that much on ink that I only use a few times a year.

I went out and bought a Laserjet that has wired, wireless and USB connections instead. I would rather be able to print whenever I want vs having to hope the cartridges havent died on me when I want to print.

The last laserjet I had, literally lasted me until the rollers fell off (the plastic got so brittle, they cracked up) and I only had to change the toner 1 time in all those years.

Click to expand...

90% of homes would be doing themselves a service if they got a laser printer. Toner usually lasts a minimum 5000 pages. Funny enough, I bought my first ream of paper for home in probably 10 years. I'm not kidding. I probably printed 500 pages in 10 years. We got a bonus pack that had 600 sheets in it, so I guess I'm good on paper for 12 more years.

Laser printers have a crisper finish to them, are quicker and you don't have to worry about using them weekly. About 10 years ago I had a printer that I bought a new cartridge for and only used it a couple times before it was clogged. I think I tried rubbing alcohol on the head but it was seized pretty good.

There are generally two kinds of cartridges which matter in your situation. Cartridges with just the ink tanks, and cartridges that include both the ink tanks and print heads.

When you let the ink sit for a long time (2 months +) it will start to harden and clog the print heads. There is not much you can do about this.

If your cartridges do not contain print heads you should leave them in. This will prevent foreign matter from entering the print head(s). If the print head(s) does get clogged you can try to remove it and clean it with rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip. Or even soaking it in rubbing alcohol because if you can't clean it you have no choice but to buy a new print head (it's often cheaper to buy a new printer). Or live with streaky printing.

If your cartridges do contain the print heads you should remove them and place them in seperate Zip-Lok bags, trying to get as much air out of the bags as possible. Store them somewhere cool and dark (but don't freeze them), and keep them upright (print head facing down). Again, if it doesn't print correctly you can try cleaning it with rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip. Worst case you buy new cartridges.

Obviously manufacturers/models that use cartridges which contain the print heads are better off in this situation, but the cartridges do cost more because you're buying new print heads as well as ink every time.

Some manufacturers/models have two sizes of cartridges - buy the small ones if you're not going to be printing often.

As others have already pointed out:
- Printing a test page or cleaning page every month or two will keep the ink flowing - most printers don't need a computer attached to do this.
- Laser printers don't have this problem.

I have a LaserJet I do most of my day-to-day printing on, and a wide-format inkjet for the occasional job.

rainless said:

I've had an HP deskjet 5550... pretty much FOREVER.

I'd say it's the best printer I ever owned, but the HP I had before it was pretty good too (I want to say it was a 1220? One of those large format HPs.)

Click to expand...

The older HP printers do seem well made; unlike the more current ones today that implement a planned obsolescence...

My 10 year old HP DeskJet 930c still works well for Letter media (not so good with envelopes though).

rainless said:

It still had trouble printing the first three pages. After that it's been golden. That was three years ago.

Click to expand...

I find that manually cleaning the printer and print cartridges fixes this problem.

Quigsby said:

90% of homes would be doing themselves a service if they got a laser printer. Toner usually lasts a minimum 5000 pages. Funny enough, I bought my first ream of paper for home in probably 10 years. I'm not kidding. I probably printed 500 pages in 10 years. We got a bonus pack that had 600 sheets in it, so I guess I'm good on paper for 12 more years.

Laser printers have a crisper finish to them, are quicker and you don't have to worry about using them weekly. About 10 years ago I had a printer that I bought a new cartridge for and only used it a couple times before it was clogged. I think I tried rubbing alcohol on the head but it was seized pretty good.

Click to expand...

I would agree only for causal, low resolution (600 dpi or less) use. For users that want high resolution prints, the inkjet is best.

This is why i got a bitchin black n white laser printer off cl for 30 bucks. Smaller and compact, yet will do 24ppm and works every time... 20k pages left on the drum 4k on the toner cartridge which i can refill for 10 bucks for 6k more pages. The best thing i have ever bought for my computing usage as 99% of my printing is in black n white.

Its nice to have the laser as it allows me n my mom to to massive printing. My mom being a teacher would take stuff to school to print it out, now she can just print at home how ever much she needs... we probably go through a ream of paper per month.

Oh and also note, i have yet to see an inkjet produce anywhere close to the crispness and sharpness as far as black and white text and smaller BW graphics that this laser does.

JCLW said:

There are generally two kinds of cartridges which matter in your situation. Cartridges with just the ink tanks, and cartridges that include both the ink tanks and print heads.

Click to expand...

How can one tell whether or not print heads are integrated into the ink cartridge?

Without looking at the cartridge itself? You can't really, unless the printer data-sheet tells you. If the printer ships with a separate print head then the cartridges definitely don't.

By looking at the cartridge? If it is just an ink tank it will just have a hole where the ink flows out. If it includes a print head it will have a... print head on the bottom. Usually copper coloured, rectangular (or square)... It's too early to think - I'll try and find a picture later.

Here is an HP cartridge with print head (the bottom part of the cartridge in the second picture is the print head): http://spritesmods.com/?art=inker&page=2

JCLW said:

Here is an HP cartridge with print head (the bottom part of the cartridge in the second picture is the print head): http://spritesmods.com/?art=inker&page=2

Click to expand...

Thanks.

HP cleaning documentation seems to refer to the print heads as "nozzle"s.

IMHO the nozzles are the actual holes in the print head, but I won't argue with HP.

JCLW said:

IMHO the nozzles are the actual holes in the print head, but I won't argue with HP.

Click to expand...

The HP documentation I viewed is referenced by the followig links:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00042511
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00058182

Thanks to those who replied in this thread other than myself.

This thread has been informative.