OT: How to stop Epson ink primer waste?

johnmeyer wrote on 3/3/2007, 3:21 PM

A client gave me a new Epson r260 ink-jet. It's my first Epson ink-jet (I've always used HP). Makes gorgeous DVDs, but when the tray feed malfunctions, I get two blinking red lights (paper and ink lights) and must turn off printer, and then turn it back on.

Unfortunately, this causes the printer to go into its two-minute prime/charge cycle, and the ink levels in all six cartridges goes down by at least 10%, maybe more. At $80 for a set of cartridges, this means that each jam costs me close to ten bucks!!

I manged to print about 50 discs, and I'm now out of ink. I watched the ink levels while printing, and saw very little decline. Therefore, probably 60-70% of my "usage" was due to this stupid prime cycle.

So, here's my question: For those that are experts, is there a way to clear those lights when the CD/DVD tray gets ejected due to a misfeed, but without turning off the printer and causing the printer to waste ink? Also, is there a way to reduce or eliminate misfeeds? I am very careful about aligning the little arrows on the tray and the printer in-feed.

Also, has anyone used Meritline's generic ink with this newer r260 model? I've read past posts about people's generally positive experience with generics on the older ink formulation used in the r200, but I think this ink is different.

Thanks in advance ...

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Comments

Paul Mead wrote on 3/7/2007, 5:57 PM

But HP does sell DVD/CD printers in the US. I guess nobody saw my earlier post: So how is it that HP sells disk printers in the US? Are they licensing from Epson or did they find a way around it? Anybody know the scoop on that?

riredale wrote on 3/7/2007, 6:42 PM

Here you go. Something about a Philips patent.

blink3times wrote on 3/7/2007, 7:16 PM

Well that was quite educational to say the least.

Please allow me to take back my "climb in bed" comment and swallow it along with a nice chunk of humble pie..... GULP!

Paul Mead wrote on 3/7/2007, 8:20 PM

This is puzzling to me. If HP and Epson can sell printers that print disks for less than $100 USD then the royalty must not be too onerous. Is Canon just refusing to pay just to spite Philips? This whole thing seems silly to me.

Oh, and if I was shopping for a new printer I would gladly pay the sub $100 price for a basic but usable Epson or HP printer just so that I wouldn't have to go thru the gyrations that people are going thru to get their Canons to print disks. It isn't worth the time and aggravation, IMO, unless messing with printers is your hobby.

riredale wrote on 3/7/2007, 10:07 PM

Perhaps so, but really the gyrations are pretty small ones. Maybe Canon figured that anyone as avant-guard as burning disks and wanting to print them would be able to figure it out. Sort of a "wink wink nod nod" thing. Really, it takes maybe 5 minutes, except for buying the CD tray, which is sold by many on eBay. Oh, and the rollers, too, if you really want to make it just like the real thing. Or maybe their research told Canon there wasn't much of a market for CD printers.

GenJerDan wrote on 3/8/2007, 4:58 AM

"Um...pretty much by definition, a patent creates a monopoly. Unless someone else licenses the design."

Yep. A monopoly on the design, often. The implementation of a concept, quite often.

And, if the writers of the application are really really good (i.e. evil), the concept itself, no matter the implementation.

And, if you own the patent on the whatever, only you (or licensees) are legally allowed to produce it. How is that not a monoploy?