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clogged ink after vacation

Z

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
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Owning an inkjet printer becomes a nightmare every time you leave the printer unused for a long period of time. The ink gets clogged up in the print heads bla bla bla.
Are there any solutions (i dont mean liquids 😄) to preventing this issue?
 
zoran said:
Owning an inkjet printer becomes a nightmare every time you leave the printer unused for a long period of time. The ink gets clogged up in the print heads bla bla bla.
Are there any solutions (i dont mean liquids 😄) to preventing this issue?
Click to expand...

I've had moderate success pulling the cartridges and storing them in multiple zip-lock bags... like putting the individual cartridges in a zip-lock bag (burped), then placing that in another zip-lock bag (burped) and then in a third zip-lock bag. A single zip-lock bag doesn't seem to keep the cartridge from drying out, but multiple bags work pretty well... and they are reusable when I am done printing... just pull the cartridges and reuse the old bags.
 
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I suppose you are talking about cartridges that have the print head on them. What about ink tank technology?
 
I tend to stay away from the really cheap/disposable end of the inkjet printers, but depending on work patterns mine can be sat unused for up to 3 months. However, it's never failed to deliver a clean first print. That first page does take a long time to start printing after a long period of inactivity - maybe it knows this and is doing head/line cleaning maintenance?

It's an Epson XP-860 from 2015 and cost about £200 back then.

I only use genuine inks too!
 
zoran said:
What exactly do u mean?
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I mean that I don’t buy the 29.99 printers you see from HP/Epson/Canon as I find relatives with these complain that they’re not printing properly after about 6 months - and it’s cheaper/simpler to throw them away than try to fix it with cleaning programs or new inks.

And at that price point you’d have to expect less quality/performance in print heads.
zoran said:
what do u mean by "sat unused"?
Click to expand...
It simply means “sat on the desk unused”...or just “sat unused” for short.

The other variable to consider is the environment they’re kept in...I.e. is it very hot & dry, wet & humid, etc.
 
I have an HP Envy printer. I’ve had it for 6+ years. I also subscribe to HP Instant Ink so I pay for a set number of pages per month (I can always pay for more) and I get a new cartridge in the mail when I’m runnng low. I’ve saved a TON on ink and I’ve never had a problem with the ink cartridges no matter how long they’ve sat idle.
 
What was the longest time that you had the printer idling and not being used for?
 
OP's problem is why I would never buy an inkjet printer again... (sigh)
They're just too much trouble if not used quite frequently.
 
"what would one choose for not frequent use?"

Monochrome laser printer. I've been using Brother for years, excellent printers.

For color... well, not much choice other than an inkjet if you want photo quality.
Some color lasers offer pretty decent output (but again, not up to the level of the inkjets).
 
Its not just photos that a colour printer can manage... there are graphics in layouts too.
 
Fishrrman said:
Monochrome laser printer. I've been using Brother for years, excellent printers.

For color... well, not much choice other than an inkjet if you want photo quality.
Some color lasers offer pretty decent output (but again, not up to the level of the inkjets).
Click to expand...

Had a monochrome Brother laser for years. Solid as a rock. Gave it away when I replaced with a printer/scanner combo. After replacing multiple previous inexpensive scanners/printers which kept failing I upgraded to a low end office HP Laserject Pro MFP. Have had it for years now with no problems. Inexpensive printers are priced low, but you pay for it in the printer cartridges.
 
zoran said:
Its not just photos that a colour printer can manage... there are graphics in layouts too.
Click to expand...

Colour laser printers can handle that. If you are predominantly printing documents that have some colour in them, e.g. for charts or (simpler) graphics, a colour laser printer will produce good results. If you are looking for a photographic level of quality however, an inkjet printer is better.

Truthfully, I have never been impressed with consumer-level inkjet printers for photo prints anyway. I leave that to professional-level printers and have them printed when needed.
 
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