Re: Color solid ink printer eating up ink!

Thank you, this is a very interesting discussion. I was trying to
keep my experience short and to the point. In fact, the UC campuses
have a giant blanket agreement with Xerox and a rep that serves our
campus. It's been 2 months and I have never heard one word from this
person. When an institution as large as UC sends millions of dollars
in business to a particular company, you think they would make some
effort to resolve bad situations.

--Carolyn

At 12:40 PM -0700 4/21/06, Gary Hsueh wrote:
>P.S. For what it's worth, the 8500/8550 series is advertised as
>being best for small, frequent print jobs for workgroups of 5-20
>users. I think that sounds like us...
>
>http://www.office.xerox.com/color-printers/enus.html
>
>I have a technical support ticket open (seems there are firmware
>updates for the 8500/8550 as well as the 8400s), and I have left a
>(nice) message with Claudia, the account rep suggested by David.
>
>
>On Friday, April 21, 2006, at 12:34PM, Gary Hsueh <ghsueh@mac.com> wrote:
>>Thank you all for your responses.
>>
>>The minimum threshold explanation makes a lot of sense to me, and I
>>suspect this is the case more than any particular technical
>>problem. Our office has a very low color print volume and a modest
>>b/w volume. However, first-page-out time was very important for
>>our group, as the graphics or photos that we do print, though few,
>>can be very complex. In that regard, this printer is fantastic.
>>
>>So...if we determine that we chose the wrong printer (considering I
>>am partly to blame for not researching this enough)...what options
>>do we have?
>>
>>Marilyn mentioned trading in, which I will pursue, but are there
>>also instructions for transferring assets to other departments on
>>campus? Presumably there are departments that DO have enough users
>>to make this printer an appropriate choice.
>>
>>Gary
>>
>>
>>On Friday, April 21, 2006, at 11:45AM, Marilyn Saarni
>><saarni@eps.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>>>Carolyn and Gary -
>>>
>>>This is something that you should have been warned about in Xerox's
>>>guidelines for appropriate printer choice. The solid ink color
>>>printers are designed for workgroups with a certain minimum threshold
>>>of printing. I remember the literature giving the range of copies
>>>per month. It's the technology, not the brand.
>>>
>>>My recollection is that the solid ink is continually being heated,
>>>and if it isn't used in printing, the system is prompted to do a
>>>cleaning cycle to clear the ink feeding paths and waste ink recycles
>>>into a bin. Printing a certain number of copies every day keeps
>>>those paths clear, and so you don't have a cleaning cycle that dumps
>>>way too much waste--and the waste ink does cost a lot. Also the
>>>printers break down because they are not being used enough. Again
>>>those repair charges were an onerous cost burden.
>>>
>>>I too abandoned solid ink color printers (two Tektronix Phasers)
>>>because our research center simply does not print color very often
>>>after our 1998-2002 transition from overheads to digital
>>>presentations (cheaper and much more eco-friendly).
>>>
>>...
>>
>>>If there is any way that you could expand your user group for the
>>>color printers, and thereby spread the costs, you might want to
>>>consider that. Also, I don't know which rep sold you the Xerox 8400
>>>(that person should have asked what your monthly print requirements
>>>were), but you might check into whether you can trade them into Xerox
>>>for another technology. They DO have trade-in programs, and I
>>>suspect your distress might motivate them to work with you to find a
>>>better color printing solution.
>>>
>>>- Marilyn
>>>
>>>At 8:17 AM -0700 4/21/06, Carolyn Sell wrote:
>>>>Don't get me going. I have two Xerox 8400 Phasers and have never
>>>>been able to get the service people to tell me how to bypass the
>>>>cleaning cycle. In addition, the printers spit out probably 25-30
>>>>sheets of blank paper randomly all day long and that hasn't been
> >>>fixed either. I recently had service done and was presented with a
>>>>bill for over $1500, far more than the printer cost. I am disputing
>>>>the charges since we were not given even a verbal estimate in
>>>>advance. I will never buy another Xerox product for my department.
>>>>
>>>>--Carolyn (Physics)
>>>>
>>>>At 8:40 PM -0700 4/20/06, Gary Hsueh wrote:
>>>>>Dear Magnetters,
>>>>>
>>>>>About two months ago, my office bought a Xerox 8550DT solid ink
>>>>>printer thinking that the solid ink would cost less in the long run
>>>>>because it had less consumables - no toner cartidges and drums to
>>>>>replace. However, it has consistently eaten up more ink by running
>>>>>cleaning cycles on a daily basis, than it has used ink to print on
>>>>>paper! Each ink block is supposed to run more than 1,000 pages but
>>>>>we've already run through 4 blocks of each color - $200+ worth -
>>>>>with a total print count of less than 1,000.
>>>>>
>>>>>Has anyone experienced this kind of problem before?
>>>>>
>>>>>Gary
>>>>>for ATDP at the School of Education
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>>>>see the MAGNet Web site at <http://magnet.berkeley.edu/>.
>
>
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Received on Fri Apr 21 19:56:50 2006