[rescue] Phaser ink

[Curious George]

--- On Wed, 8/20/08, Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus at yahoo.com> wrote:

> --- On Wed, 8/20/08, Curious George <jorge234q at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > But what about, for example, a 3x4" photo on one page...
> > would it transfer to the "back" of the page above in the
> > same circumstances?
> 
> I doubt it, but I don't know. I just remember having a
> mapquest page folded up and wedged somewhere, and the folded
> map image stuck to itself. I don't remember what the

So, the problem is "ink-to-ink" more than anything?
<frown>  That could still be an issue for me as I use lots
of photos and color illustrations in these documents (so, it
is likely that two images could find themselves facing each
other)  

> image looked like. I woulnd't worry too much about it.

<frown>  I'd just *not* like to have to go to the trouble of
reprinting these things because I was foolish in how I
*stored* them!  :<

> But, a soldering iron will melt the ink off. Play with it -
> it's fun!

I imagine it smells like burning *crayons*?  :>
  
> > > On the 850, you can simply add a bunch of ram (PC100). If
> > > you install 128mb or more, I think, and it will believe it's
> > > the DX, which can duplex.
> > 
> > Excellent! Worth remembering!  So, if I stumble across an
> > 850, I should swap out the 840 (and/or 860??) in favor of
> > it?
> 
> The 860 is a better machine overall - faster processing and
> better features.

OK.  So stick with that, in general (and, presumably, the 8200
as well?)

> The 850 is better than the 840 in terms of speed, but it
> has it's weaknesses. The top flip-up cover (the one that
> says "Tektronix Phaser 850" was made too thin on
> the edges at the pivot on the 850, leading to a lot of these
> covers breaking. The 840 did not have this problem. The 840

I've come across several 840's with the *ink* covers broken
off at the "hinge" (plastic is *such* a double-edged sword
when it comes to pros-cons)

> print heads seem longer lived, wheras the 850 heads seem to
> fail from jet stack heater failure. The Y axis assembly was

Oooo!  When a head fails, I assume an element just doesn't
heat up (so you lose that strip of the page)?  Or, do I
have to worry about magic smoke and things catching fire??

> improved slightly on the 850. The 840 power supplies are
> better than the 850, 860 and 8200 supplies - and they're
> compatible with all these machines. While the heads are

OK, so steal the power supplies!

> electrically compatible between the 840 and 850, the 840
> head must be gapped and aligned, where the 850 head is
> factory aligned and only needs to be bolted in. The 850
> logic board processes print jobs faster, and the clean cycle
> at poweron seems to use less ink (and it doesn't print
> that solid ink-filled cleaning page).

So, the fact that it uses less ink suggests it was just a
firmware issue?  I.e., there is nothing about the 840 head
(or mechanism) that required it to be more wasteful?

> When replacing the maintenance tray guides, try to get the
> green colored ones, the ones made of the blue plastic are
> more brittle and tend to break from the heat.
> 
> I use an 840 chassis with it's original head, power
> supply, covers and such, with an 850 logic board, newer
> style rapid release guides and newer tray guides. The 850
> parts that I have came from 850's with failed print
> heads.
>  
> > > If you find a junked 850, save it, the logic board can be
> > > swapped into your printer, and it will run a bit faster,
> > > render faster, and it won't waste as much ink at
> > > startup. Also, it's easy to upgrade an 850 to duplex.
> > 
> > Presumably, if I find a *working* 850, it would be
> > preferable to keep in lieu of the 840?
> 
> Probably - but keep your 840 around for parts - or upgrade
> the 840 with 850 parts.

<frown>  These things are *big*!  We don't have basements here.
And, it's way too hot in the garage to store this sort of stuff
(I'd wager the ink itself would melt if left in the printer!
Let alone the accelerated component mortality).  Since they are
so *heavy*, you can't even STACK them someplace out of the way...

> > I use the LJ4M+ for that -- it seems more economical (getting
> > a spare toner cartridge is relatively easy) and *feels*
> > faster...  But, that's only B&W stuff.
> 
> While I love my Phasers, I have a 5si that I use for a lot
> of large print jobs. The 5si is faster, and I have the

Yes, but 5si toner is more expensive!  :>  (I can "rescue"
toner cartridges from 4's quite often which keeps the cost
of ownership really low  :>  )

> duplexer and 2000 sheet tray. The 5si is great for
> schematics because it also has an 11x17" paper tray.

Yeah, that would be nice!  I've retired my plotters despite the
fact that reducing C & D prints to A/B is really hard on the eyes!
But, I have an Epson SP2000 and an SC3000 which are both capable
of wide (e.g., 17") printing -- though being color means they
tend to be slower than monochrome printers and, being ink jets,
tend to be FAR slower than lasers!

<shrug>  Thankfully, printing schematics (and PCB artwork)
is something that isn't done in the same volumes as manuals, etc.

[As an aside:  Adobe Acrobat/Reader/whatevertheyarecallingitnow
will not let you import a document wider than ~16",IIRC.  Since
B size drawings are 17" wide, you're screwed!  (I have been
scanning all my drawings and storing them as PDF's)  *But*,
if you import the drawing as 11" wide (by 17" *long* -- i.e.,
rotated!), it will not complain.  Once you have imported it,
you can then rotate it to the "correct" orientation.  <grin> ]

> The 5si is another wonderful machine. I upgraded it with the
> Postscript SIMM and more memory. It runs great. I have a
> little LaserJet 4M+ (no duplexer though) that have in the
> workshop for printing "stuff".
> 
> Printers are fun.

They are almost as much fun to watch as plotters.  Since I
work with "mechanisms" a lot, I enjoy seeing more than just
"blinkenlights".  And, of course, wondering how and why they
are doing each of the little things they do in the process
of performing their overall task...  (e.g., the little
dance that inkjet printers do to clear the heads)