When your printer dies

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I'm so irritated by this, but have not found a good solution. Our Canon MP360 multifunction print head failed, rendering the printer unable to print black or magenta. I satisfied myself it wasn't just clogged or dirty or something, and priced a new print head. $117!! The whole printer cost $120 originally. It's been a great unit until now, churning out photos, copies etc.

Once I Googled it, this turns out to be a very common rant, and some Euro countries have actually legislated to try to reduce the number of printers going to the tip. I tried hard to find a generic printhead, or a cheaper one on eBay. No luck.

So why get a $117 printhead when I can easily get a new MF printer for $69? I like green, but not that much. Argh.

Our local Council had an electronic goods drop-off day recently, with all cast-offs being sent on to a mob called PGM Refiners, but no reply from them to my query.

So here is an otherwise good MF printer going to the tip for want of an overpriced printhead. Anyone grappled with this and found an eco-friendly way out?

Cheers

[Karls48]

Take it apart. You will find two stepper motors or just DC motors, nylon gears, maybe toothed belt and precisely ground silver steel shafts. And heaps other useful parts.

[Dooghan]

Yep. Went and got a new printer and took the old one to the recycle area of the dump. It's hardly worth getting refills now days with them so cheap.

[JethroB76]

Grappled with it, yes. Found an eco-friendly way around it, no.

I bought a cheap Canon, and chucked the old beast away.

[Marko of Oz]

Any non fuctional computer/office equipment ends up in the backyard toss competition. My record from the top step is fax machine, 18m. This is the stress relief solution, not green. :D

[GeoffW1]

Oh you eco-vandals you. I'll report you to Peter Garrett, and he will come around and sing to you, sufficient punishment that.

I'm developing a few leads on this problem around Sydney, and will report back for interested greenies here.

What do you get when you cross a greenie with an astronomer?

Cheers

[ballaratdragons]

I got fed up with my printer running out of ink too fast, and at $26 for Black and $39 for colour, that's $65 to refill every few weeks!!!!!!
I went to JB HiFi and bought the latest model fangle-dangled does-everything-in-one Canon Pixma MP210 Printer.

It does photocopying, Scanning, camera printing, Mobile Phone picture printing and even normal printing! It has PictBridge software etc.
This thing has soooo many features it's scarey!!!!!!!

And all for the grand total of $79 with $20 Cashback. That's $59 for a fantastic printer/scanner/copier/camera & phone dock with larger ink cartridges, for less than the cost of the dinky little cartridges to make my other printer work again.

Oh, and the larger replacement cartridges for this Canon Pixma are cheaper than the smaller ones for the other printer.

Geoff, ditch your old workhorse and get a Canon Pixma for less than the cost of some cartridges :thumbsup:
http://www.canon.com.au/products/all_in_one_printers/all_in_one_printers/mp210.aspx

[wasyoungonce]

Geoff are you sure of that price.

A quick Google finds them for $47 (USD). Obviously there is exchange rate and postage to factor in.

http://www.printheadxpress.com/catalog/us/canon/qy6-0054-000.htm

I have the MP760 and similar heads. It's a good printer. I tossed my HP for the canon because I can get cheap cartridges. The newer Canon's has chipped ink cartridges like the Epson's.

I also got a cheap Laser ($80) for B&W prints and keep the Canon for colour prints. I refill the Laser with Toner....I am a cheapskate!:rofl:

Anyway you can remove the head and soak it in a cleaning solution. I had some problems like yours, this fixed it all up.

[CoombellKid]

I have an MP160 replacement cartridges vary in Casino. We have a computer
shop that sell colour cartridges in 2 sizes. Thay are exactly the same cartridge
except one is half fill $36 and there other completely filled $54. We
also have one of those refill shop that sell the larger in a generic for $75.00.
Try telling them you can buy the real thing for $21 cheaper 100m up the
street and they scoff at you, I wonder how much business they get but they
have been in business most of the year.

I found across the road a little office supply shop where I can get a kit that
refills my colour cartridge twice for $12.00. I can buy black in Lismore for $14
for 100m bottle. You get a lot of star charts from a 100m bottle of black ink.

I think in most cases we really get ripped off on ink for the printer. Especially
in some cases as stated above you can buy another printer complete with ink
for under the price of replacement cartridges.

regards,CS

[acropolite]

You hit the nail right on the head. I suspect that the printers are sold at or below the cost of manufacture, why, because the initial outlay is easily affordable, but once they have you it's a lifetime of expensive consumables. (a bit like wedding rings....)

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

Yes, that is the AU$ price. We pay too much for most things here compared with the US. I did see the US suppliers and figured it would come to about AU$80 by the time it got here surface mail, more by express, so...same conclusion.

I did do all the cleaning things, with alcohol first, then very hot water, and several deep cleaning cycles. It is definitely a dead print head!

Actually my rant was more about the general situation here, which encourages people to put these otherwise good printers in the tip. I once tried to repair a current model HP printer with a broken drive belt to the print heads. HP told me they carry no spares even for their current models, as with callout fee for a technician, it would cost more than a new one. So in part it is all due to the very cheap prices of these things.

We have no nationwide program for recycling this sort of stuff in Oz, and nothing organised in NSW. However Vic. has programs for that, which is good to see.

Cheers

[wasyoungonce]

No worries.

I reckon OEM printer ink costs more than Bollinger Champagne.....way to much.

As for recycling. There was this doco on TV not long ago about recycling used computers in India. Apparently during the recycling process the poor workers are being exposed to dangerous materials...cadmium, other heavy metals, blah blah.

So they get our waste computers which provides a low paying job for them "recycling said computers", but, it's killing them.

Wonderful world isn't it.

[tornado33]

Thats exactly what I did when my Canon s750 printer died. Pretty much only the chassis and plastic case made it to the bin. It was amazing the number of little (and big) stepper motors in it.
Scott

[StarLane]

We live in a throw away society now days. Once it's done it's cheaper to buy a new one rather than fix the old one, in my case it wasn't even old.

I bought an Epson multi function centre CX3900 and within a month it would not start up. I didn't even use it much, scanned a couple of A4's, printed probably 15 or so prints and it was dead. Of course it was still under warranty and they had to replace the main circuit board (more than the cost of the thing). Just goes to show they don't make em like they used to.

My previous printer lasted one year and two days, two days after the warranty had run out. It would have cost more than a newy to repair it. Do they program these things to expire just after the warranty runs out????????

You will feel much better if you take your old expired printer out into the backyard and smash it up with a large hammer.:)