Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET (Z4648252) (05/04/89)
That the ST and the DeskJet take to each other like ducks to water is
no small understatement. Both the Atari ST and the Hewlett Packard DeskJet
are excellent values for the money, and, as improvements and prices cuts
continue, their cost:performance ratio increases.
The Hewlett Packard gives rock-solid performance with laser-qualtiy
resolution at a low cost when the output is judged. There is one problem,
though, the cost of the ink cartridge. Even while using the printer in
rough draft mode, the cartridge just doesn't last that long especially
when compared against a ribbon. This is a sore point for me and I discussed
the "possibility" of extending the life of the cartridge by refilling it,
via a syringe, with fountain pen ink. I stated that the results were
great and the value of the cartridge improved. So far, my one cartridge
has netted a value of six cartridges.
A letter from a Hewlett Packard representative appeared on the net
stating that the cartridge was not meant to be a permanent instrument due
to the potential of clogging jets and eventual breakdown. Using the
cartridge in rough draft mode would greatly extend the cartridge's life, he
claimed.
I agreed basically with everything he said but stated that the cost of
the cartridges were too high. The market will probably keep the cartridge
price high since businesses can afford the cost and probably buy several
of the cartridges at a time. As long as these cartridges are selling with
no problem of price, then the price will remain high. In the meantime, us
home computerists who need the quality of the DeskJet output suffer by paying
the price that is affordable for businesses.
Anyway, I just wanted to mention all of this to help ease the mail
traffic coming my way regarding clarification about the cartridges. The
cartridge is NOT meant to be permanent and what I am doing is merely an
attempt to extend the life of the little jewel and I have had great
success. If the cartridge's consumer cost was $5.00, then I would not be
engaged in all of this.
Ok, regarding permanent ink and the DeskJet....
For the past two weeks, I thought that I was on to something. I began
experimenting with Parker's Permanent Ink and found that the cartridge ran
fine with it. In fact, Parker's Permanent Ink yields a blacker black than
the standard ink installed into the cartridge by Hewlett Packard! That's
hard to believe until you see test print-outs side-by-side.
Elation set in but alas! When I ran water on the paper, the ink ran.
Using a regular fountain pen and the alleged Permanent Ink, I scribbled
a few lines and ran the same water test. The ink ran!!!
So and sigh...... this is almost as bad as discovering Santa Claus's
red suit in my grandmother's chest. The let-down in both counts was
tremendous. So, when is Permanent PERMANENT?
Finally, for those wanting to experiment, make sure that you have a
spare and UNTOUCHED Hewlett Packard DeskJet ink cartridge just in case you
muck things around too much. Use a syringe and no more than two CC's of
ink. Refill the cartridge when it is still able to print. If you let it
dry it out, then it may take some coaxing. Refill when the cartridge fills
especially light when compared to a new cartridge.
And, if anyone can tell me what PERMANENT ink means, I would be most
grateful. GRIN
Again, the Hewlett Packard DeskJet and the ST belong to each other.
What a team!
Larry Rymal <Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>neff@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Dave Neff) (05/06/89)
My posting about refilling DeskJet ink cartridges was not intended to discourage the practice. Rather it was intended to make sure people knew that a single cartridge could not be refilled indefinately. I have not heard if we have a official HP policy "against" refilling DeskJet ink cartridges but it wouldn't surprise me if we actually might use this as grounds to void a warantee. Now I'm just an R&D engineer and we have refilled pens in the past (initially due to pen unavailability when both the DeskJet and the pen were being developed). But it is possible for some inks to mess up your service station. I just want people to know the risks and limitations of refills. Let me explain two problems with some inks. 1) "Crusting" occurs when ink slowly seeps out of the cartridge and dries forming a sort of crystaline buildup. These particles can fall in the priming tube and clog it up, resulting in pen prime having no effect. There are other negative side effects of crusting such as clogged up ink jet orafices. 2). "Drooling" occurs when ink slowly seeps out of the cartridge but does not dry, rather it drips. These drips can fall in the priming tube and clog it up, resulting in the same effect on pen priming. There are other problems with "drooling" messing up your service station area (the wiper, cap, and other stuff on the right of the print carriage). An ink can both drool and leave a residue which will subsequently crust. There are other problems with some inks such as dry time and print quality variability with paper type, but these problems are more or less self evident when you try various inks. The ink in the DeskJet cartridge is designed to overcome the drool and crust problems. Ink that you refill will likely have one or both of these problems. It is possible to take apart the service station, clean it, and unclog the tube using a water filled syringe. If you suspect your DeskJet is not priming (when the tube is clogged a prime will run but no ink will be sucked out of the cartridge so no prime will occur) it might be necessary to clean your service station and unclog the tube. Normal DeskJet users should NEVER have to do this, the service station is usually a no-maintanance device. But if you play with various refilled inks you could run into this problem. As for pricing of DeskJet cartridges our goal is to make the cost of DeskJet cartridges comparable to the cost of laser printer toner cartridges on a cost per page basis. Comparing prices with ribbons is not totally unreasonable, but ribbon print quality degrades with time and it is difficult to say when the ribbon really is unacceptable. Hence true cost per page numbers with ribons is not "fair". With a DeskJet each page will be as black as the previous until the cartridge is empty. This is not the case with ribbons. Now some people refill toner cartridges to save money and that will invalidate the price per page comparison between toner and ink cartridges. Of course if you also compare with refilled ink cartridges the numbers once again are different. I hope this helps. Personally, I'm just an engineer that did much of the DeskJet+ firmware (especially relating to performance improvements) and also worked on the Epson and Landscape cartridges. I really don't care if you refill pens or not. I'm just trying to let people know the risks involved. To the best of my knowledge we have no official statement saying "rifilling ink cartridges will void your waranttee" but I am sure if we found out someone was doing this and when they brought their printer in for some service station related repair we would say this repair is not covered. I am not turning you guys in of course :-). Its up to you to trade off the risks and benefits of refilling cartridges. I am just suggesting you take into consideration the risk of voiding waranttee repairs and clogging your service station. If your printer is out of waranttee this risk/benefit analysis might be easier. I am also warning you that you will likely to run into problems related to priming pens (a prime will have no effect). Do with your printers and ink cartridges as you like. After all, you paid for them :-). Happy printing ... Dave Neff hpvcfs1!neff