Epson | Inkjet News

Inkjet Printhead life

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kflack

One of the most critical components of an inkjet machine is the printhead.

On average, every nozzle is expected to produce 20-50 billion ink drops during its lifetime (WOW) . This is considered to be the case for piezoelectric (piezo) heads; the type commonly used in Epson brand printers.

The other major brands (HP, Lexmark,DELL,and Brother) all use the thermal print head designs and the lifetime for thermal printing heads is substantially lower.

Resolution makes all the difference.

The frequency of ink drop production is directly linked to resolution and speed. For example, to print at a speed of 0.3 meter per second with a resolution of 1,000 dpi (the starting point for a graphic application), the head must fire with a frequency of 12,000 ink drops per second.

Assuming a “best case” average life expectancy of 50 billion total ink drops, the head then should be able to operate for approximately 1,150 total hours before needing to be replaced.

(Earlier for thermal heads)

What does that mean in terms of years of use, or paper use ?

1,150 hours relates to @ 10 pages per minute to about 690,000 pages or 1380 reams of 500 pages.

Or ,if you print for 1 hours every day ( 650 pages/day) your printer head would last you about 3.1 years.

Most people, print under 20 pages/day so that would work out to approx 102 years of life on your print head.

In effect, you more likely to have a power supply failure,break in the carriage motor, or other failure.

So why do so many people complain about head failures ?

Printer heads can and will fail if

a) the printer is operated without ink.

Ink in reality is a lubricant for the head assembly and without it the print head overheats and burns itself out. Just like your car need water in the radiator, you print head needs ink to keep it cool and conduct the heat away.

b) the ink is allowed to dry in the print head.

Ink, although specially formulated not to evaporate, is still prone to evaporate over time, and as a result the remaining (pigment, or dye) becomes concentrated and can eventually clog the heads. If you want to keep you printer running smoothly make sure you use your ink with 6 months of opening, and use the print head cleaning cycle on the printer at least once a month.

You printer needs ongoing maintenance just like your car, and that means the heads need to be flushed at regular intervals. Leaving your printer either out of ink, or with old ink in it is a formula for failure.

Filed under: Inkjet Info | Tagged: Epson, HP, inkjet, lubricant, piezoelectric, pigment | Leave a comment »

Ultra Violet inkjet OLEDs

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kflack

Polymertronics is a technology enabler for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

They were set up in 2006 to develop technology to produce inkjet-printable, ultra-violet (UV) curable organic light-emitting diode fluids. OLEDs that can be printed on standard UV-inkjet equipment have many advantages.

UV-inkjet OLEDs - A new technology

They are much quicker and cheaper to produce than standard OLEDs, they can be designed and manufactured with very short lead times, they can be printed on to a range of exotic surfaces including flexible ones

What are UV-inkjet OLEDs?
OLEDs were first invented by Eastman Kodak in the early 1980s and development since then has been impressive. OLEDs are used routinely in many display screens, such as those for mobile phones and for low-level lighting of dashboards. Recently, substantial investment has been made in research for developing OLEDs to replace incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs as a primary lighting source.

OLEDs are produced by blending chemicals containing a light-emissive component with a UVcurable polymer. When printed, this mixture is then exposed to a UV light source and cured to a flexible solid within four seconds. The purpose they serve is for bespoke product displays such as 7-segment displays and the like.

The benefits of organic technology are numerous.

For both non-UV curable OLEDs and UV curable OLEDs, there are common benefits:

1. Printing on flexible and rigid media such as plastics, vinyl, glass and metal
2. Immediate product demand – zero lead time
3. Flexible media
4. Fast response to applied voltage for rapid changing graphics
5. Wide viewing angle of OLED devices
6. Very high definition for display

Beyond the common advantages, UV-inkjet OLEDs have further advantages:

1. Simple, fast manufacture
2. Low product waste results in a ‘green’ technology
3. Instant curing following printing
4. Print-on-demand technology
5. Zero product-volume loss during process

Where Can UV-Inkjet OLEDs Be Used?

OLEDs will add new and unparalleled layers of safety to consumer products. For example, it will reassure consumers that products and brands are genuine, that they have not been tampered with, and that they are within their use-by date.

According to the UK’s National Health Service, unclear packaging and labelling contributes to 25% of medication errors. The University of London has studied people reading packaging and found that 25% of fullsighted people have difficulty reading packets and other instructions.

Difficulty with reading information on packaging arises for a number of reasons. The label design or legal requirements may necessitate a smaller font to fit all of the information on the label. Integrating OLEDs into the packaging could highlight the most important details of a drug through an interactive display.

In the interests of sterility, many medical devices are used only once. For this to be viable, such devices must be cheap to produce. Inkjet printing enables a component of a medical device to be manufactured quickly and with significantly less tooling than is presently required. Further, medical devices are often sealed until they are used.
Advertisements can already be backlit, but with printed OLEDs the illumination can be incorporated into the advertisement itself relatively cheaply. There is no tooling required and print designs can be executed quickly. For a fast-paced industry such as advertising, this reduction in lead-time offers a substantial advantage.

Printed OLEDs could be extremely valuable in aiding anti-counterfeiting measures and in tracking goods in transit. Embedded customised data presents fraudsters with a new hurdle. Furthermore, tampering can be quickly and easily detected and data can be changed often to keep ahead of criminals.

What’s Next?
Inkjet testing of the OLED fluid has shown that further refinement of the OLED chemistry is required to enable fluid to be inkjet printed by Epson, or HP printer-heads, for when the formulation is for thin (bright) devices.

Filed under: Blogroll | Tagged: Epson, HP, inkjet.kodak, oled, organic light emitting diodes, Polymertronics, UV | Leave a comment »

Finally Low Cost Inkjet Supplies available across Canada

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kflack

Published on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Pointe-Fortune, May 21, 2008- Metawatch , a supplier specializing in third party (Epson, Canon and HP compatible and Remanufactured cartridges) Inkjet supplies continues to expand its customer base across Canada.

Metawatch, initially founded in response to high inkjet cartridge pricing, has now evolved into a fully independent, self supporting operational infrastructure with distribution capability across Canada.

Metawatch prides itself on supplying high quality, reliable products across Canada at some of the lowest prices available in the inkjet market backed by a 100% SATISFACTION guarantee makes them a safe choice for your investment in inkjet supplies.

To offset the high cost of shipping product across Canada they offer several price points to their customers.

Orders over $50.00 have free shipping while orders under $20.00 will cost you $10.99. Orders of $20-$30 are $8.50 and orders between $30-$50 will cost you $7.50 for delivery.

As products typically have a 2 year expiry date, clients are encouraged to purchase a 1 years supply (or more than $50.00) to maximize their savings.

Operating as an E-Commerce Mail order company, Metawatch has been able to keep operational costs at a minimum, and bring those savings directly back to their internet based clientele.

To protect its clients against industry product quality and supply issues Metawatch maintains strict quality standards and redundant supplier capabilities. This ensures the capability to provide product to its clients without interruption regardless of industry product availability or quality issues.

Marketing Contact Ken Flack – Metawatch
T: 450-612-1212
E: kflack@metawatch.ca
http://www.metwatch.ca

Filed under: Metawatch News Release | Tagged: 3rd party compatible inkjet cartridges, 3rd party inkjet.Lexmark Remanufactured cartridges, Canon, cartridges canada, compatible, Epson, HP Incentives, low cost, Metawatch | Leave a comment »

T069 2 Chip Cartridge

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kflack

Why do you ask that we recommend you purchase our Epson T069 compatible inkjet cartridge rather than refilling the cartridge ?

Full details of refilling can be found here.

Thats right, now it is not only required to refill your cartridge and reset the chip on the front of the inkjet cartridge, but it is also required that you fill it before ink has run out.

Why ! Simply put epson has gotten really tricky now and they have an internal sensor in the cartridge that senses when the ink used is more than 75% used.

It then trips a Electronic fuse that disables the future resetting of the cartridge preventing its re-use.

To counter act this second device you now need to refill 2 chambers inside the cartridge and to ensure it is done prior to the 75% use timeframe.

Overall we still think the prudent advice for our clients is to purchase new compatible T069 Series cartridge products from Metawatch Inkjet supplies.

Filed under: FAQ, Inkjet Info | Tagged: 2 chip, Epson, refill, reset, T069 | Leave a comment »

Epson strikes back as Ink Sales suffer

Posted on February 24, 2010 by kflack

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Epson strikes back at Calidad inks as Ink Sales suffer

“Tests show Calidad inks not suitable for printing photographs” screamed the headline from an Epson press release.Third party ink suppliers are estimated to be at approximately 30% of after market ink cartridge sales, printer manufacturers like Epson are waging a PR war against cut price competitors.

Razor Blade Model

As most consumers of inkjet printers probably know, printing manufacturers like Epson, Lexmark, HP, Canon that most inkjets now sold are more or less disposable products retailing at ridiculously low prices where they recoup their costs woth overpriced inkjet cartridges. Similar things are happening in the emerging color laser printer space.

3rd Part Inks Thrive

There is a healthy and growing market for third party ink suppliers which sell replacement ink cartridges significantly below the prices of OEM cartridges. This has the effect of eating into the after market ink sales of printing manufacturers and it also lengthens the printer replacement cycle as consumers will tend to keep printers longer if they can source reasonably priced ink refills.

Political Wars

Faced with a challenge to their business models by third party after market ink sales, OEM suppliers are becoming more aggressive in their anti-third party rhetoric.Epson warned against the use of third party inks in its printers with the release of “independent test results” which purport to show that one of Australia and New Zealand’s best known third-party ink brands, Calidad, has one of the poorest results for print life ever measured.

Epson Claims

“The Calidad ink cartridges appear to contain low-stability dye-based substitutes for Epson high-stability DURABrite pigment inks. The Calidad inks have poor resistance to atmospheric ozone that may be present in homes and offices, and the Calidad inks also give up waterfastness when printed on plain paper,” Mr Wilhelm said.

“When Epson users see these results they should be in no doubt that using third party inks in their Epson printers will lead to rapid fading and loss of their precious photographs,” Epson’s Marketing Communications Director, Mike Pleasants said.

“I am sure that no parents would want to give or receive as a gift a framed photograph of treasured children, friends or relatives, or that special occasion, that can suffer significant fading in less than a year,” Pleasants said.

3rd Party Manufacturers fight back

Despite the claims from Epson, however, the third party market has hit back with its own report which refutes any suggestions that third party ink products are inferior to the more expensive OEM products.

A new survey by Lyra Research and published in Recharger Magazine revealed that

48% of respondents who had used non-OEM supplies said that they have never had a problem with a non-printer-brand cartridge.
6% have had many problems, defined as more than 10 percent of the time, and
44% have had “just a few problems,” defined as less than 10% of the time.

Overall, 93% of color laser printer users and 92% of color inkjet users said they either have had no problems with aftermarket cartridges or have had “just a few” problems, according to the survey.

Filed under: Industry News | Tagged: 3rd party inkjet, Australia, Calidad, Calidad ink cartridges, Canon, Dell uses Lexmark, DURABrite, Epson, HP, Lyra Research, New Zealand, Razor Blade Model | 2 Comments »

An insiders peek at the inkjet market

Posted on February 24, 2010 by kflack

Manufacturers

The top manufacturers of inkjet printers are

Epson, Canon, HP, Dell, Lexmark, and Brother

The inkjet market can be further divided into the cartridge technologies utilized.

Fixed Head with Removable Cartridge.

The print head is a permanent fixture of the printer and is not removable. Cartridges are simply plastic repositories with (electronic registers) for remaining ink measurement.
(Canon and Epson printers fall into this category)

Disposable Head/Cartridge assemblies

The print head is part of the ink cartridge assembly, and is replaced as part of a new cartridge. (Dell, HP, and Lexmark Printers fall into this category.)
Note: HP is transitioning to a fixed head philosophy in many of its newer printer model lines.

Advantages / Disadvantages

(Print Head Replacement)
Although many have said that there is an advantage to replacing the print head assembly with each cartridge change, we, as ink distributors have never seen any degradation in print quality of printers from Canon or Epson printers even after many years of operation

(Third Party Generic Cartridges)
Third party generic Cartridges are only available for printers using a fixed print head. All third party cartridges are simply plastic repositories with (electronic registers) for remaining ink measurement. As this is the area where most cost savings can be identified, we recommend that your selection of printer manufacturer be limited to Canon or Epson.

(Remanufactured Cartridges)
There is a significant third party market that exists for the purposes of Re-cycling integrated Print Head/Cartridge assemblies. They clean and electronically test each re-manufactured cartridge for re-sale. Unfortunately these cartridges suffer from a higher overall reject/failure rate versus that of a new cartridge, and offer little savings versus that of a new original cartridge. These cartridges can be found for the HP, Lexmark, and Dell printers.

Our Recommendations

As we are all aware that the printer manufacturers all follow a Business Strategy first adoptedby Gillette. Offer a product (Razor Handles) at little or no cost and charging a higher rate of return for replacement parts (Razor Blades).

The printer manufactures do the same, offer their printers at cost or below, and then maximize profits via the sale of inkjet replacement cartridges.

You can beat the manufactures at their own game by ensuring that you select a printer/model that offers 3rd party replacement cartridges where you can purchase replacement cartridges at approximately 60%-75% less than New OEM cartridges.

I.E. A full set of replacement cartridges for Canon or Epson Printers are in the order of $22-$32 cdn.

A replacement set of OEM cartridges for an HP printer are in the Order of $80.00.

What if you already have an HP or Lexmark Printer?

Believe it or not we recommend that you purchase a NEW replacement printer (Canon, or Epson) that offer 3rd party cartridge capability.

Yes, that right, you can purchase a New replacement printer, in most cases for less than you can purchase replacement cartridges for an HP, Lexmark, or Dell printer.

Not only do you get a new printer, but the new printer comes with a set of inkjet cartridges (Although normally partially filled).

Typically you can purchase a new Photo or Multifunction printer with Cartridges from Canon or Epson for less than the cost of a set of cartridges from HP, Lexmark or Dell.

I.E. Future Shop has weekly sales for printers such as

Epson All-In-One Multifunction Centre (CX4200)

Curently selling for $69.99 cdn after rebates.

Conclusion

If you have the capability to purchase a new Canon or Epson printer On Sale from a reputable supplier that is supported by 3rd party Inkjet cartridge manufacturers, you will reap the benefits of lower costs cartridges by anywhere from 60-75% savings per purchase.

In effect, you will have saved the cost of the new printer purchase after the first set of cartridges purchased.

Supplementary Information

What are the third party cartridges and models supported for Canon and Epson Printers?

Canon

Epson

Would you like to find more information out about printer designs and function?

Inkjet Printers demystified

Note: All numeric representations of savings were accurate at the time of publication. As prices are subject to change without notice we can not guarantee these statements will hold true forward in time.

All coments in this blog are personal opinions only and should not in any way be representated as fact(s) or as a statement by Metawatch with respect to product and or quality of independant product suppliers.

Filed under: FAQ, Inkjet Info | Tagged: 3rd party replacement cartridges, Brother, Canon, CX4200, Dell, Epson, HP, Inkjet Printers demystified, Lexmark, plastic repositories, Remanufactured Cartridges, Third Party Generic Cartridges | Leave a comment »

Metawatch Support for NX 100 – NX 300 (Here Now !)

Posted on February 24, 2010 by kflack

Support for the latest series chipsets supporting the Epson NX 100-300 Series printers is coming soon.

Our suppliers have informed us that we can expect these cartridges to be delivered any day now so we are anxious to be able to provide them to our current customer base.

Metawatch already has support for Epsons NX 400 series and will be adding this additional support in the forthcoming days.

Thanks for waiting

We have the latest cartridges available Now !

Filed under: Metawatch News Release | Tagged: Epson, NX 100, NX 200, NX 300, NX100, NX200, NX300, NX400 | Leave a comment »

Reseller Claims Seiko Epson Sent a Spy to Its Warehouse

Posted on February 24, 2010 by kflack

Looks like the inkjet business is becoming a cloak and dagger industry with Spies and the like.

Epson Printer cartridges have long been a subject of legal dispute, to clamp down on knock offs.

As reported in the Wall street journal It is rare that such fights include allegations of corporate espionage.

In an Oregon federal court, the Green Project Inc., a small ink-cartridge reseller, claims that Seiko Epson Corp., sent an investigator disguised as a customer to snoop around the company.

The alleged incident began with a lawsuit that Seiko Epson filed in April against Green Project, which refills and resells old ink cartridges, and other cartridge resellers.

In recent years, Seiko Epson has taken legal action against companies that import cartridges to sell in the U.S. In 2007, responding to a complaint by the Japanese company, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that certain imported cartridges violate Seiko Epson patents and ordered vendors to stop importing them. In a followup ruling last year, the ITC said that imports of certain “remanufactured” cartridges also violate Epson patents.

In April, Seiko Epson sued a number of companies that it alleged were violating the import ruling. One was Green Project.

Joseph Wu, Green Project’s founder and president, denied the company sells cartridges that were originally sold overseas. The ITC ruling stipulated that only cartridges originally sold in the U.S. can be refilled for resale in the U.S. Wu said Green Project buys used printer cartridges that were sold in the U.S. from brokers ; that they are then shipped to China, where they are refilled and sent back to the U.S. for sale, he said. The brokers guarantee in writing that the cartridges are collected in the U.S.

Last month, Mr. Wu’s company countersued Seiko Epson, claiming that Mr. Seitz’s (Spy) actions constituted trespassing and theft of trade secrets. The suit seeks to prevent Seiko Epson from using the information collected, as well as restitution. It also seeks a declaration that certain Seiko Epson patents are invalid.

Mr. Seitz’s “misrepresentation and subsequent entry into Green Project’s warehouse constitutes trespass,” the company’s lawyer wrote in a July 27 court filing. Green Project also alleges that Mr. Seitz improperly accessed company trade secrets when he requested a price list.

Mr. Barza said that while Mr. Seitz has “done investigations before” for Epson, he is an independent contractor, not an Epson employee.

“There’s a raging debate” in the legal community over ethical guidelines for information gathering, said Patrick Robbins, a defense lawyer at Shearman & Sterling LLP who sometimes uses private detectives.

Mr. Robbins said courts have offered little clarity on whether it is acceptable to use deception to obtain information.

Lets all keep our eyes and ears open for the next chapter in this espionage thriller.

Filed under: Industry News | Tagged: Epson, Epson Remanufactured Inkjet Cartridges, spy | Leave a comment »

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