Inkjet Printer blocking

[DaveH23]

I have recently purchased a HP Office Jet Pro 7720 for use in my home office.

I wont be using it a great deal but I am aware of Inkjets becoming blocked due to inactivity or certainly they used too. How often would you say this printer needs to be used before it starts to become problematic?

Thanks.

[Mr Pointy]

At least once a week. I have an Epson & I wish I'd bought a laser printer.

[Kent Border Kenny]

I gave up on inkjets recently, and bought a colour jaser jet. I think it’s absolutely brilliant.

[sparkyhx]

I have an inktank model - that doesnt seem to suffer with the low use problem.

I also have a B/W laser printer for the bulk of printing and only use the colour every few months for bulk colour.

Edited by sparkyhx on Tuesday 10th November 10:52

[Derek Smith]

A perennial problem. I've been switching my printer on at least once a week, this with non-OEM inks, for about three years and experienced no problems. It does drain the inks though, so it's yet another expense.

[The_Jackal]

For black and white go laser.
No one can guarantee a laserjet wont block. Treat them as disposable items.

[wong]

sparkyhx said:

I have an inktank model - that doesn't seem to suffer with the low use problem.

I also have a B/W laser printer for the bulk of printing and only us the colour every few months for bulk colour.

I've got two ink tanks models from Epson and Brother. Both are on standby permanently and will periodically self clean. No need to worry about ink usage as it's so cheap.

[Drawweight]

I can only second using a laser printer.

Get the biggest cartridge you can and if you say you’re not using it often it will literally last you years.

I’ve got a cartridge in my machine at present and a spare which between them will probably outlast me.

[CubanPete]

I bought an A3 HP colour laser printer.

With cashback... It cost £30

Cracking bit of kit, haven't had to put any toner in it yet (gulp).

Keep your eye out for the deals.

[sparkyhx]

wong said:

sparkyhx said:

I have an inktank model - that doesn't seem to suffer with the low use problem.

I also have a B/W laser printer for the bulk of printing and only us the colour every few months for bulk colour.

I've got two ink tanks models from Epson and Brother. Both are on standby permanently and will periodically self clean. No need to worry about ink usage as it's so cheap.

mine is switched off for months on end and resurrect it for printing training packs for courses we run 3/4 times a year, even then its only used for the front pages as the Laser is used for the content. Its quicker to run off 20 packs of 30-40 pages on the laser than it is to print 20 front sheets on the ecotank.

I occasionally use it for photos as well. The ecotank has been brilliant.

[sparkyhx]

Drawweight said:

I can only second using a laser printer.

Get the biggest cartridge you can and if you say you’re not using it often it will literally last you years.

I’ve got a cartridge in my machine at present and a spare which between them will probably outlast me.

I've mentioned b4 I use it ours for bulk course content printing. Ours packed up a while ago and I found, Paying nearly double for the printer was cheaper than buying a cheap one, cos the cheap consumables are astonomical. Breakeven was around 10k pages. which for us was doable but not for other people.

[anonymous-user]

Your not going to win the battle but keep it warm and dry and print something in draft mode as often as you can

[alorotom]

I bought a brother B/W laser from Argos at the very start of lockdown for £45 after endless issues with inkjets.

Toner is £12 and does 3.5-4k sheets ... I’m on my third toner since March with all the daughters school work, colouring, etc...

Anything colour I get at my local library for 10p per page (as it’s so infrequent)