Posts by rustysurfer79

ruggedraven10 said:So basically, I need a printer/scanner combo by $333.

Nothing professional here. Just scanning a doc maybe five times a year, or printing something out if I really have to.

Doesn't need to cost more than $150—actually, the cheaper the better. Honestly, even if it’s just a $100, as long as it's reliable and doesn't fall apart on me in a couple of years.

Ideally, something from the Best Buy selection.

There are so many options that any recommendation I give is gonna be pretty subjective. Your best bet is to pick a model you actually like and then ask what its downsides are.

Just go with whichever one seems most tolerable to you based on that.

shadowlynx16 said:Hey there.

We’ve got a Canon Color LaserJet 2605 dn at my office. When we first picked it up, the color quality was killer. But ever since we swapped out the toner for the first time, the colors have gone downhill fast. The red, specifically, looks terrible. We always stick strictly to original cartridges—nothing else, ever. This thing has clocked about 14,000 color pages (20,000 total). Just a heads up, the quality dropped immediately after that first toner swap.

What do you think is going on?

It’s an internal calibration issue.

And calibration is tied directly to those chips.

If the system decides you’ve popped in a non-genuine cartridge, HP says NO NO and won't run a proper calibration.

Here's the kicker: if you pull an original toner from one printer and toss it into the machine next to it, the HP Firmware flags it as NP NO Replacement toner. Then, when you try to put that same toner back into the original printer—after testing it in the other one—you're stuck.

Now you've got two printers both dealing with NO NO HP replacement toners.

HP no no == no no calibration

The fix: Swap all four toners for ones with HP Yes Yes calibration. If even one is flagged as NO NO, they all basically become NO NO. Since you'll never catch all of them at once, you'll just be stuck with NO NO calibration forever.
Makes sense?

brightnomad12 said:So, will that actually fix the issue? My real question is why isn't it even pulling paper in the first place? Is that whole process just hardwired together or what?
And what’s the deal with the "forget color" part? Does that mean it won't be able to handle color printing at all?
I know these might sound like pretty stupid questions, but I've had a few people tell me, "That printer is ancient, and if the ink is dried up, you should just toss it and buy a new one."
Why on earth would I do that when this is a perfectly good machine that I can just refill myself?😕

Alright, one more dumb question: how often am I supposed to actually use the printer to prevent this whole dried-up ink mess from happening again?
Because right now, I really need it, and I'll probably be printing quite a bit for a few months before I go back to not using it for a year. I need to show my folks how to print something once a month or whatever.🙂

Thanks

The printer itself is pretty much indestructible. Think of it like a bike frame. If you have issues with a bike, it’s usually the tires, not the frame. Here, the problem is the cartridges. Buying new ones costs as much as a whole new printer sometimes. And refilling isn't exactly Plug and Play.

Especially not when you're using unverified ink like you are.
Take refillable cartridges, for example.

It's true, there are third-party refills available, but you never really know which ones are going to work and which ones are junk.

brightnomad12 said:Hey everyone, I really need some help here😉

So, here’s the deal: I’ve got this Canon PIXMA printer that’s been sitting there gathering dust, disconnected from any computer for at least five years now.
I finally hooked it up to my laptop running macOS today and managed to get the drivers installed without any issues. But once I power it on, the second and third buttons flash orange for a split second before turning off, leaving only the first yellow light active. It won't actually print anything, though; every single file I try to send just sits in the queue with an error message next to it. When I tried running the troubleshooter for the first time, it told me "A print job in the print queue is preventing other print jobs from printing." Even though the troubleshooter claimed it fixed the issue, absolutely nothing changed. I even went into the command prompt as an administrator and ran a net stop spooler followed by a restart, thinking the service was just stuck, but that was a total waste of time. 🙂...now when I run the troubleshooter again, it doesn't even show an error anymore.

What am I supposed to do? Did the ink dry up inside or something? Honestly, I don't even know what these lights are trying to tell me. 🙂
It’s driving me insane that the thing won't even pull a blank sheet of paper. Will buying new ink refills actually fix this, or am I just throwing money down the drain if the hardware itself refuses to respond?!
Oh, and one more thing; since this printer is ancient and definitely out of production, does anyone even know if you can still find replacement cartridges or refills for it? If you do, do you have any idea what they cost? I need to know if it’s even worth trying to save this thing. 🤷
Thanks in advance🙂

If you aren't worried about the ink situation, it might be worth it.

Just take it to a local repair shop and they'll probably have it sorted in five minutes.

For maybe around $33, you'll end up getting way more prints out of it than any cheap new inkjet you'd buy today.

Basically, just forget about using color.

boldskipper27 said:I'm running into the exact same headache with my Epson SX 125... since I couldn't find a fix, I decided to just patch up my old Canon Pixma IP1500 instead. But now this thing is acting up too. When I try printing from Nero CD Cover, the track names come out fine, but the CD title just disappears entirely—even though the print preview shows it should be right there. On top of that, when I try printing text from Microsoft Word, it skips every third line and cuts off the text mid-sentence. Any ideas? Help me out here.

Can you just scan that over so we can all see exactly what you're seeing?

OK?

hollowcyclist16 said:Can anyone suggest a good printer for printing on canvas, specifically A3 size?

check out

adriatix.hr >> News>> newsletter 5

If you have any other questions, just hit me up here.

darkmarlin16 said:My EPSON sx115 is starting to act up on me. 😠

Basically, every 14th line has this blank white strip running right through the middle of the text. Any idea what's going on?

Probably just some clogged nozzles.

Arthur Thomas said:I'm looking for a new printer by $117. I'm torn between an all-in-one or just a black-and-white laser. I don't print a ton—maybe 50 pages a month. I might occasionally need color, so maybe a laser isn't the move, though I mentioned it because those things can be so cheap. 😁).

EPSON AcuLaser M1400 499 $166 - laser
EPSON SX130 299 $100 - all-in-one
HP DeskJet 1050 $108 - all-in-one

Or if you guys have a better suggestion. Having easy access to cheap third-party ink is pretty important to me.

Also, how does the ink situation work on the Epson SX130? It looks like it uses separate black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. If one color runs out, will it stop printing black and white too?

It won't print unless you swap in some
Colibri refillable T1281 cartridges for the SX 130.

Sandra Hayes85 said:Okay, I said I need to buy ink
But I didn't explain myself very well. Here are some photos.
http://oi44.tinypic.com/2qmzrrr.jpg
http://imageshack.us/f/21/20120223001145.png/
Basically, my black ink is fine, but I don't even need the other three (yellow, blue, and red) because I only ever print in black. But the machine keeps acting like they're empty and demands all of them.
--- Back when I used to buy full sets, I'd run out of color in like six weeks ----
And I was mostly just printing color stuff on cheap paper
Is there some kind of software for an HP OfficeJet or maybe something universal that I can program to bypass this?

Man, it feels like there aren't any free fixes left these days. You could try messing around with SST utility, but honestly, it usually feels like more of a headache than it's worth.

The only real way to go is those Apple continuous ink cartridges for the Inkjet with built-in auto-resetting —but even those aren't free.

Besides, it seems like a waste to use that printer if you're only ever hitting it with black ink.

Sandra Hayes85 said:How do I print in black only on an HP DesignJet? I'm trying to figure out how to shut off those other three colors entirely.☕

Just head into your properties, hit Advanced Settings, and then check the Black ink only STRIKE.

Frank Anderson90 said:Nah, they didn't... I just asked them to swap it out... got home and it was the exact same thing... still showing up empty... the other three colors I grabbed from them are totally fine... it's just this blue one... I don't get it...

But did you actually reach out to >> Support after the sale?

Sounds like you were only dealing with >Support before you bought it.

Look, those are two totally different things.

Frank Anderson90 said:He went back, had them change the color, and still... honestly, I have no clue what his deal is.

Did they at least give you your money back?

Frank Anderson90 said:Printrite

So, now we know exactly where to look for >>after-sales support.

If you've got the printer right there and they're telling you to swap out the cartridge, it's pretty obvious the one they sold you is a dud.

It would be like if the box had a Hummingbird label or some other brand on it. And if the printer is still under warranty, it shouldn't cost you a dime.

Or just ask for your money back.

Frank Anderson90 said:Help!! I just picked up some third-party ink cartridges for my printer, and everything seems fine except for the cyan... it keeps telling me it's empty. Anyone know what might be causing this?

What brand is on the label of those generics, if you don't mind me asking?

Emily Ramos35 said:Thanks for the detailed breakdown.🙂
I’ll try to dig deeper into the ink itself, though I feel like the printer model plays a huge part too.

Just remember, there are no guarantees. It all comes down to the ink formula.

Right now, we've got a Brother j 135 in the shop for a "survival test." It came in looking like its nozzles were basically in a coma. It had three OEM cartridges inside, all pretty much bone dry. One slot was totally empty—who knows how long it sat abandoned like that. After about 3 or 4 hours of work, we actually managed to get it back to 100% functionality. If you think about what the repair bill would have been for the end user, it's no wonder they just tossed it. But today? It's perfect. And based on the serial number, it's not even that old.

We ran a nozzle check yesterday and it still looks flawless. This thing has been sitting on our shelf since September. Every time we get a new shipment of ink for a specific series, we run this exact kind of test on the batch. If we find that the nozzles clog up after sitting for a while, that ink doesn't meet our standards, and we don't order it again. Even if it works fine during daily use, we won't touch it. So, when you're buying ink or cartridges elsewhere, definitely make sure you check what kind of quality control procedures your supplier actually follows.

A low price tag or a fancy label doesn't always mean you're finding the best way to save money.

Emily Ramos35 said:Hey there.
I’ve got a Brother printer/scanner, the DCP-585 CW model.
It died on me, even though I barely use it. Apparently, the "print head" isn't working anymore, and I usually kept it powered off anyway.
Here's what I'm wondering... I heard this thing needs to stay plugged in all the time just to run its cleaning cycles and stuff.
Do I actually need to print something regularly, or can I just leave it plugged in and not touch it for a year or two?😁
I know it sounds like a silly question, but I've heard conflicting things—some people say you have to print at least one page every week so the ink doesn't dry up, while others say that's total nonsense.

Honestly, it all comes down to the ink formula and how much is left in the cartridge.

When gear sits idle, two things happen. First, just like when you open a jar of preserves, once air hits the ink, it starts to go bad. Second, if there are enough preservatives in that "mix," the liquid can eventually evaporate.

Try running a little experiment with a jar of fruit preserves and an inkjet cartridge, then see what that preserves looks like after six months.

So, if you aren't planning on using an inkjet with an integrated print head for a while, you really should either fill it up with fresh, 100% full ink or flush out the whole system with some print head cleaning solution.

Your third option is to track down a high-quality ink that's known to sit in your specific printer for 6 to 12 months without issues.

For a real-world example of how this works, check out our >Newsletter 2011 6

adriatix.hr >> news 5

brightmoose6 said:Look, I get it, but even if I wanted to swap out the ink for yours, the originals, or any other brand, I can't. It won't let me pull them out. I'm stuck with this first set of cartridges.

There isn't a single Epson service center in Indianapolis. My only real option is to send it back to Best Buy where I bought it.😢

I'm pretty sure there's an option in the driver under >> Properties > Maintenance >> to replace the cartridges.

brightmoose6 said:Guys, I really need some help here.
I've got an Epson Stylus SX125 that I picked up about six months ago. I started using third-party ink cartridges and everything was running smooth. Then, the black one ran out, so I grabbed a new compatible one. Suddenly, the printer starts acting up—it claims the blue cartridge is empty, even though my computer shows the black one is totally full and fine. So, I went out and bought a brand new blue cartridge, but it's the exact same headache. It won't recognize the blue, and when I try to cycle through the cartridges using the button, it just gets stuck on the blue one and won't move to the others. What do I do?? http://i40.tinypic.com/55ier.jpg

Look, I don't want to keep repeating myself like a broken record, so just check out this link.

adriatix.com > news > newsletter 2

That should clear things up for you.

If that doesn't fix it, honestly, just take it into an Epson service center. They'll definitely be able to sort you out.

They usually offer free diagnostics if you go with them for a Colibri cartridge install, unlike most other shops or when you buy off-brand stuff.

Samuel Rivera7 said:Quick question: I haven't used this printer in a while, and there's been ink sitting in it for a few months—maybe even half a year. What are the odds the ink dried up and totally killed the print head? It's an Epson sx 100.

It really comes down to the ink formula. Not every cartridge uses the exact same mix or volume.

To be specific, we have a huge stock of Epson printers here, and they're all running Colibri cartridges filled with Colibri ink. We haven't run into any issues with them sitting idle. Sometimes you might get a leak if a cartridge is faulty, but as far as dried-up ink, we haven't had any trouble yet. Still, you never truly know what you're gonna get with a new shipment.

See more

Kyle Martin67 said:That’s a solid plan, but there’s a catch—I’ve already ordered a ton of these cardboard "cards" (registration forms and membership IDs).
So now I’ve gotta find a way to print directly onto them.
Since I can pull it off on my old printer, I know it's doable; I just need to find a setup my client can actually use themselves.

I thought about maybe using an A4 sheet as a carrier, taping my card to it, but the issue is the printer checks the paper size right when it "grabs" it, just before the ink hits.
Basically, if I taped my "card" to the top right corner of an A4 sheet and fed the whole thing in, I might be able to trick the machine into printing it just fine.
But when you're dealing with 50 IDs a day, that's just not a sustainable workflow...

Thanks!

Look, you could grab a Canon IP 4950 + Ecoo refill set and a resetter. Or even an HP Photosmart 4 ???. You could cut out a custom template from a standard CD/DVD tray. It gets you the same result, except the print won't last and it definitely isn't waterproof. Printing on actual PVC cards is way higher quality.

Your other move is to go with a Canon IP 1800 or 1600 plus a CISS. You could cut a window into some heavy cardstock to slide the paper Driver's license inside. Then, on the back, use some masking tape as a backing to make sure the card doesn't shift around.

And that's pretty much it.