Can they do this...?

Dave Swinnard · Jun 20, 2008

I've was asked a questions I could not respond adequately to the other day by a fellow in a situation where a single printer (Epson R2400) is available to be shared by a group of students but the cost of the ink has the administration quaking at the idea of having to keep track of each student's usage.

The question was: Is it feasible for students to supply their own full set of cartridges (Epson originals) and simply "swap" them into the printer for the duration of their printing session then removing and storing them (and replacing them with the "school" set) until their next printing session?

This puts the burden of cost on the student and not the institution (and there are issues that preclude simply charging a "lab fee" this year...).

Points to ponder:

- Students would be trained/supervised when changing cartridges (or possibly lab assistant would do actual swap)

- How are partially used cartridges best kept when out of the printer? (I've read Epson's and others recommendations - anybody have experiences to the contrary?)

- I know swapping between the two black wastes inks, does simply swapping one colour for the same waste any ink (my first thought is that it doesn't, but then I'm not overly experienced in this realm)?

Thanks in advance, Dave

clay · Jun 20, 2008

Epson has so-called 'chipped' cartridges that are electronically marked as 'empty' if they are removed from the printer, no matter how much ink is left in them. The way around this is to make sure the printer is turned off before removing any partially full cartridge.

If you think the students can follow this procedure each time, then it might work. But in my experience in teaching college kids, I would be willing to bet that you will have several teary-eyed students the first day coming to tell you that they have 8 color cartridges with ink in them that can no longer be used. And expect you to make it all better.

Dave Swinnard said:
I've was asked a questions I could not respond adequately to the other day by a fellow in a situation where a single printer (Epson R2400) is available to be shared by a group of students but the cost of the ink has the administration quaking at the idea of having to keep track of each student's usage.

The question was: Is it feasible for students to supply their own full set of cartridges (Epson originals) and simply "swap" them into the printer for the duration of their printing session then removing and storing them (and replacing them with the "school" set) until their next printing session?

This puts the burden of cost on the student and not the institution (and there are issues that preclude simply charging a "lab fee" this year...).

Points to ponder:

- Students would be trained/supervised when changing cartridges (or possibly lab assistant would do actual swap)

- How are partially used cartridges best kept when out of the printer? (I've read Epson's and others recommendations - anybody have experiences to the contrary?)

- I know swapping between the two black wastes inks, does simply swapping one colour for the same waste any ink (my first thought is that it doesn't, but then I'm not overly experienced in this realm)?

Thanks in advance, Dave

donbga · Jun 20, 2008

Dave Swinnard said:
I've was asked a questions I could not respond adequately to the other day by a fellow in a situation where a single printer (Epson R2400) is available to be shared by a group of students but the cost of the ink has the administration quaking at the idea of having to keep track of each student's usage.

The question was: Is it feasible for students to supply their own full set of cartridges (Epson originals) and simply "swap" them into the printer for the duration of their printing session then removing and storing them (and replacing them with the "school" set) until their next printing session?

This puts the burden of cost on the student and not the institution (and there are issues that preclude simply charging a "lab fee" this year...).

Points to ponder:

- Students would be trained/supervised when changing cartridges (or possibly lab assistant would do actual swap)

- How are partially used cartridges best kept when out of the printer? (I've read Epson's and others recommendations - anybody have experiences to the contrary?)

- I know swapping between the two black wastes inks, does simply swapping one colour for the same waste any ink (my first thought is that it doesn't, but then I'm not overly experienced in this realm)?

Thanks in advance, Dave

Is each student going to swap out an entire set when they print?

Carts can be swapped like that but it will waste a lot of ink, not a good deal for the students and cause the waste ink container to fill prematurely. The easiest solution would be to charge each student a lab fee to cover the cost of ink. Atlex.com has the best ink prices for Epson ink.

Don Bryant

Dave Swinnard · Jun 20, 2008

Clay, please bear with me if this is an uninformed question... If Epson marks a cartridge as "empty" when it's removed, how does the whole "swap the blacks" thing work? Are black cartridges "special" in some way or are they only removed when the power is off?

...and I need another thing for students to get fussed up over...

Dave

clay said:
Epson has so-called 'chipped' cartridges that are electronically marked as 'empty' if they are removed from the printer, no matter how much ink is left in them. The way around this is to make sure the printer is turned off before removing any partially full cartridge.

If you think the students can follow this procedure each time, then it might work. But in my experience in teaching college kids, I would be willing to bet that you will have several teary-eyed students the first day coming to tell you that they have 8 color cartridges with ink in them that can no longer be used. And expect you to make it all better.

Dave Swinnard · Jun 20, 2008

Don, yes, each the concept as formulated calls for each student (or group of them) to have and swap out a complete set of cartridges each time the want to print.

I can't quite visualize where the ink waste occurs... (not overly familiar with the whole digital printing thing yet).

Your warning about the waste ink container filling sounds ominous. Is this a costly issue to deal with?

Thanks, Dave

Don Bryant said:
Is each student going to swap out an entire set when they print?

Carts can be swapped like that but it will waste a lot of ink, not a good deal for the students and cause the waste ink container to fill prematurely. The easiest solution would be to charge each student a lab fee to cover the cost of ink. Atlex.com has the best ink prices for Epson ink.

Don Bryant

donbga · Jun 20, 2008

Dave Swinnard said:
Don, yes, each the concept as formulated calls for each student (or group of them) to have and swap out a complete set of cartridges each time the want to print.

I can't quite visualize where the ink waste occurs... (not overly familiar with the whole digital printing thing yet).

Your warning about the waste ink container filling sounds ominous. Is this a costly issue to deal with?

Thanks, Dave

Each time a cartridge is swapped the printer performs a cleaning cycle which means ink is ejected into a foam pad. The ink dribbles into a larger tray with pad inside the printer. When the printer electronics senses that the waste ink tray/tank is full the printer will not operate until the printer is electronically reset by a service tech.

The 2400 does copious amounts of ink cleaning cycles and wastes a lot of ink ($$$) normally without cart swapping.

After reading Clay's post I'm unsure if the cartridge swapping strategy will work. I swap black carts on my 2200 with no problems but I've not done that with any color carts. So I dunno - sounds like to me a cart swapping strategy could be etremely problematic.

Don

keithwms · Jun 20, 2008

I don't think you want to get into swapping cartridges for high volume shared stuff. Too many opportunities for someone to screw up and take the system out of commission for everyone. Thereare many systems that allow you to connect the printer to larger reservoirs, e.g.

Dead Link Removed

And you can easily setup logging software that will count how many times a particular student prints and then charge them by the print.

donbga · Jun 20, 2008

keithwms said:
Dead Link Removed

Nothing listed for the 2400.

Don Bryant

Dave Swinnard · Jun 20, 2008

Speaking of bulk inking systems... has anybody had experience with the ConeColor replacement K3 inks and CIS?

Keith, do you have any specific software in mind when you mention logging the amount of printing students do? (Windows XP environment)

keithwms · Jun 20, 2008

Don Bryant said:
Nothing listed for the 2400.

Don Bryant

Hmm, odd, they seem to make a system for just about everything else....

Dead Link Removed

Maybe it's worth a call or a bit more googling.

Dave Swinnard said:
Keith, do you have any specific software in mind when you mention logging the amount of printing students do? (Windows XP environment)

http://www.papercut.com/products/free_software/print_logger/

keithwms · Jun 20, 2008

Okay here you go...

http://www.specialistinks.com/free-r2400cis.php

clay · Jun 20, 2008

This information came to my attention when I got some quadtone inks for an old 1280. I ruined a bunch of the color cartridges by not turning off the printer before I took them out. So, I know this is true for the 1280.

There used to be these little gizmos called chip resetters that would turn the chip back to 'full' for those people who refilled cartridges, but I think these are now illegal with that court case about a year ago. I may be wrong about this applying to the Epson 2400, but I suspect that Epson does this to make refilling cartridges something that is difficult to do, and would not be surprised if the same thing was true with the 2400 and the other printers.

Don Bryant said:
Each time a cartridge is swapped the printer performs a cleaning cycle which means ink is ejected into a foam pad. The ink dribbles into a larger tray with pad inside the printer. When the printer electronics senses that the waste ink tray/tank is full the printer will not operate until the printer is electronically reset by a service tech.

The 2400 does copious amounts of ink cleaning cycles and wastes a lot of ink ($$$) normally without cart swapping.

After reading Clay's post I'm unsure if the cartridge swapping strategy will work. I swap black carts on my 2200 with no problems but I've not done that with any color carts. So I dunno - sounds like to me a cart swapping strategy could be etremely problematic.

Don

donbga · Jun 20, 2008

keithwms said:
Okay here you go...

http://www.specialistinks.com/free-r2400cis.php

I have a lot mor econfidence in this product:

http://www.inkrepublic.com/ProductDetail.asp?item=R2400

InkRepublic products are reported as being very reliable.

Don Bryant

keithwms · Jun 20, 2008

Hmm, can I spit Pt/Pd and cyano solutions through one of these....

David A. Goldfarb · Jun 21, 2008

keithwms said:
Okay here you go...

http://www.specialistinks.com/free-r2400cis.php

I'm sure they're a fine establishment, but it's definitely a bad idea to have a URL with the word "stinks" in it.

P C Headland · Jul 5, 2008

clay said:
... but I think these are now illegal with that court case about a year ago. ....

Don't forget that that ruling only applies to the US. So, you may be able to get round that, even in the US, by purchasing from overseas.

As to the original question, some sort of bulk or CISS system would be best, rather than swapping cartridges. If the printer is hooked up via a decent print server (and maybe with some additional software), you should be able to log who has printed what, and institute some form of charge-back to the students.

Can they do this...?

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency