What are the disadvantages of ink-tank printers?

[mechanikerman]

I got this.
I want your opinions. Thanks

 

[mechanikerman]

What are the parts, other than ink, that need to be replaced, and how many pages will they print till replacement?

 

[FeuerFrei]

Well ... there's print heads that apply the ink to paper. The replaceability of which varies by model/brand of printer. Don't know how long they last, but they will need replacement in due time.
(Never had to replace one myself. Mostly because my only inkjet for the past 12 years had the print heads built into the ink cartridges. So for me ... new ink = new print head.)
BTW , that's not specific to ink-tank systems.

I'd say - the cheaper the printer model, the fewer replacement parts exist.
If you opted for a $3800 printer, I bet you could order a good variety of replacement parts. (And purchase a service contract for free service calls and free toner.)

 

[mechanikerman]

Well ... there's print heads that apply the ink to paper. The replaceability of which varies by model/brand of printer. Don't know how long they last, but they will need replacement in due time.

Thanks. It looks like inkjet/ink tank printers are only good for some image prints.

 

[13Gigatons]

At this current time I recommend:
A Black & White Laser Printer for most documents, there affordable and print fast. Just a good workhorse for your home office. Upgrade to a color laser if you need color documents but know that they add size, weight and cost to operate. The Price has really come down on color lasers though.

A decent inkjet for photos and other features that Lasers don't provide. Certain paper types may be easier to do on a inkjet and only inkjets print on CD media. Refill carts are a plenty on Amazon and eBay.

The ecotank and supertank printers may not work out. Reports are that Epson sabotage their line of Eco tank line so that they aren't a good longtime investment. Canon Supertank printers are suppose to have better print quality and no reports of sabotage but both don't have all the features that most other inkjet printers have like touch screens and media printing.

 

[killster1]

wow i had a inkjet with cis.. (continuous ink supply) the lines would clog sometimes the ink wastegate thing would be full and need empty or make huge mess.. just clean up and upkeep really should be fine if you take care of it. But it is more things to go wrong thats for sure. but if you are printing like crazy i guess OK.. I use a 25$ black and white laser and 100$ color laser now with refillable toners.

 

[bononos]

.......
The ecotank and supertank printers may not work out. Reports are that Epson sabotage their line of Eco tank line so that they aren't a good longtime investment. Canon Supertank printers are suppose to have better print quality and no reports of sabotage but both don't have all the features that most other inkjet printers have like touch screens and media printing.

Can you give more info on the ecotank sabotage?

 

[killster1]

Can you give more info on the ecotank sabotage?

Epson doesnt want u to use the continuous ink that why they setup chips that need to be reset etc..

 

[bononos]

Epson doesnt want u to use the continuous ink that why they setup chips that need to be reset etc..

I don't think so, the ecotank line was designed to use continuous ink, its not some ad-hoc modification.

 

[13Gigatons]

I don't think so, the ecotank line was designed to use continuous ink, its not some ad-hoc modification.

No. They purposely make the printer die after a certain amount of time or usage. They put a small waste tank in it and to service it you need to find a Epson tech that can actually do the work. Otherwise it's just a throw away printer.

 

[bononos]

No. They purposely make the printer die after a certain amount of time or usage. They put a small waste tank in it and to service it you need to find a Epson tech that can actually do the work. Otherwise it's just a throw away printer.

The waste ink tank maintenance stoppage is something that occurs on (all?) inkjet printers, not just the ecotank line.
You have to modify your inkjet waste pad to a bottle for easier waste ink disposal and get a waste ink reset utility that works for the particular printer model.

 

[13Gigatons]

The waste ink tank maintenance stoppage is something that occurs on (all?) inkjet printers, not just the ecotank line.
You have to modify your inkjet waste pad to a bottle for easier waste ink disposal and get a waste ink reset utility that works for the particular printer model.

Yes but they purposely put a smaller waste pad in it just to sabotage the printer. Also they have very few techs that are qualified to work on that printer model. Then it cost $250 tech fee...which makes it a throw away printer.

 

[mikeymikec]

@13Gigatons

Please would you supply some evidence for your assertions?

From what I can see, it looks like the cheaper Epson EcoTanks don't have separate maintenance boxes sold, but the ET-3700 does (and probably everything above it). Just like the standard cheaper inkjets don't come with maintenance boxes, but go a bit further up in the range and they do.

 

[13Gigatons]

@13Gigatons

Please would you supply some evidence for your assertions?

From what I can see, it looks like the cheaper Epson EcoTanks don't have separate maintenance boxes sold, but the ET-3700 does (and probably everything above it). Just like the standard cheaper inkjets don't come with maintenance boxes, but go a bit further up in the range and they do.

The complaints were mainly with the early models, 2500, 2550, they had other problems with printing quality as well. The printer forums I landed on were filled with unusable printers. Epson has made many more models since then and maybe they fixed some of the bugs.

Thread:
From Reddit

Also I noticed more fixes have shown up on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Epson+ecotank+waste+pad+&_sacat=0

Epson official statement:
https://epson.com/Support/wa00369

 

[mikeymikec]

The complaints were mainly with the early models, 2500, 2550, they had other problems with printing quality as well. The printer forums I landed on were filled with unusable printers. Epson has made many more models since then and maybe they fixed some of the bugs.

Thread:
From Reddit

Also I noticed more fixes have shown up on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Epson+ecotank+waste+pad+&_sacat=0

Epson official statement:
https://epson.com/Support/wa00369

Come on dude, you're basically citing hearsay from "two guys on the Internet".

Inkjet printers keep track of the number of pages printed for a legitimate reason, being that the waste ink pads will eventually be saturated and the printer would start leaking ink. Furthermore, I first used a reset program at least ten years ago, they're hardly anything new either.

IMO it's a bit dodgy for Epson to produce a printer that's obviously meant for higher yield printing yet it doesn't have a maintenance box. Free market proponents would say to that, "well, you're free to not buy it", whereas I think such a product is not fit for purpose and therefore should not be sold.

 

[13Gigatons]

Come on dude, you're basically citing hearsay from "two guys on the Internet".

IMO it's a bit dodgy for Epson to produce a printer that's obviously meant for higher yield printing yet it doesn't have a maintenance box. Free market proponents would say to that, "well, you're free to not buy it", whereas I think such a product is not fit for purpose and therefore should not be sold.

They want you to use it for 2 or 3 years and then throw it away and buy a new one. This is the Epson business model. It's just the ecotank models will print more during this 2 or 3 years. People thought they were buying a printer that was going to last them 10 years...it's not built to last.

 

[mikeymikec]

They want you to use it for 2 or 3 years and then throw it away and buy a new one. This is the Epson business model. It's just the ecotank models will print more during this 2 or 3 years. People thought they were buying a printer that was going to last them 10 years...it's not built to last.

IMO it's the business model of many companies, but please separate your opinions from assertions.

Furthermore IMO the vast majority of inkjet printers are not designed to weather the storm of a typical 10-year lifespan. If they were, they'd have more serviceable parts inside.

IMO someone knowledgeable needs to do a tear-down of these inktank printers in general and compare them to the designs of typical inkjet printers. The real danger for the end user is that the manufacturer might be charging many times the price for the same parts and simply adding more ink storage capacity.