Summary: Inexpensive printers are great, but when it comes time to repair, your choices are somewhat limited.
I haven't used my nice little Canon BJC 2100 printer for more than a year so it won't print now. I've pressed all the cleaning & nozzle cleaning buttons, printed test pages all to no avail. The ink pad on the cartridge is still wet with ink so it must be the print head that's dried out. Canon tried to help but suggested a new print head but at a price that would buy me 2 new printers! I'd like to use that printer again so is there any way to refurbish & clean that print head?
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I'll throw this one to my readers, buy my off-the-cuff answer is no.
I mean, yes - but no.
Let me explain...
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Of course I'm sure that there's a way to refurbish the print head. The problem is the cost. As with replacement, getting something refurbished is going to cost you and probably cost more than the value of the printer.
In insurance terms, your printer's been "totaled". The cost to repair exceeds the cost to replace.
It's a frustrating side effect of inexpensive electronics. I mean, it's great that there are very good quality printers and other electronics as exceptionally reasonable prices, but that means that when they break or wear out they're effectively disposable.
It doesn't take a lot of parts and labor to quickly cost more than the original $120.00 purchase price of an inexpensive printer. Not to mention the value of your own time and hassle arranging for repair/refurbishing.
The net result is kind of frightening. Without getting into a lot of the social/political ramifications, all those disposable electronics end up somewhere. Landfills, or perhaps recycling facilities often of questionable impact themselves.
It seems like there would be a big market for inexpensive ways to extend the life of inexpensive electronics. Of course, if it's not inexpensive, then it's not going to happen.
Personally, I would expect that there might be "do it yourself" print head cleaning kits, though I I've not had any experience with them myself. This is where I'll ask readers: any thoughts?
Related:
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Ask Leo! - Are cheap inkjet cartridges a good deal?
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Ask Leo! - How do I use a printer that's on another machine on my network?
Article C3100 - July 29, 2007
It's a shame that so many printers are destined for landfill because minor faults are 'uneconomic' to repair, although the new European legislation that forces manufacturers to take back old electronic equipment for disposal at their cost, plus the rising charges for landfill dumping, may persuade manufacturers to make their kit more repairable.
Posted by: John E at August 6, 2007 4:18 AMIf you're thinking of buying a colour laser printer, check out the cost of new toner and other parts first as they can make inkjet cartridges seem really cheap in comparison - a full set of 4 toner cartridges for our office HP A3 colour laser costs around £700 ($1400)!!!!
Just a follow-up to John's comment. Yes, the upfront costs of colour laserjet consumables can make your eyes bleed, but you need to look at the duty cycle of the refills and try to work out the cost per copy of the competing equipment. When you break it down, make sure you include the cost of a new drum every once in a while, which lasers have but inkjets don't. Still, the cost per copy of lasers is almost guaranteed to be cheaper than inkjet. Also I have a good toner refilling company which refills my toner cartridges at a huge discount over new ones & the quality is "as new". They even do it as an exchange, I take in the old cart & trade it for a remanufactured one. Cost effective *and* eco-ethical: win-win!
Posted by: DG Cox at August 6, 2007 2:25 PMI just picked up an Hp 2300 business jet and the print heads were pretty bad. I have heard of the wet paper towel but that did not work. I even tried the water in a cup and let it soak. That sorta worked. But what really did the trick was taking a cup of really hot almost boiling water and letting the heads soak for a minute or two. Now my printer works just like new.
Posted by: Handy at October 27, 2009 3:45 PMmy HP psc2210all-in-one wouldnt print after not using it for 6-8mths so I dropped the head of the cartridge in very hot water for 1min & it works like a dream..It must be the hole gets blocked with dry ink...11.20am..23/11/09
Posted by: ronsolostar at November 23, 2009 2:28 AMis it possible to refurbish a drum kit for a canon mfc8180c and how do you do this
Posted by: RON at February 1, 2010 7:02 PMthanks