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Solid ink
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Solid ink is a technology used in computer printers and multifunction devices originally created by Tektronix in 1986. After Xerox acquired the Tektronix Color Printing and Imaging Division in 2000, the solid ink technology became part of the Xerox line of office printing and imaging products. Early offerings focused on the graphic arts industry. The Phaser III product introduced in 1991 cost $10,000 US. As the technology improved and costs were reduced, the focus shifted to office printing environments where quality and cost efficiency are important.
Solid ink technology utilizes solid ink sticks in lieu of the fluid ink or toner powder usually used in printers.
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Solid ink is a technology used in computer printers and multifunction devices originally created by Tektronix in 1986. After Xerox acquired the Tektronix Color Printing and Imaging Division in 2000, the solid ink technology became part of the Xerox line of office printing and imaging products. Early offerings focused on the graphic arts industry. The Phaser III product introduced in 1991 cost $10,000 US. As the technology improved and costs were reduced, the focus shifted to office printing environments where quality and cost efficiency are important.
Solid ink technology utilizes solid ink sticks in lieu of the fluid ink or toner powder usually used in printers. After the ink stick is loaded into the printing device, it is melted and used to produce images on paper in a process similar to offset printing. Xerox claims that solid ink printing produces more vibrant colors than other methods, is easier to use, can print on a wide range of media, and is more environmentally friendly due to reduced waste output. The sticks are non-toxic and safe to handle. In the mid 1990s, the president of Tektronix actually ate part of a stick of solid ink, demonstrating that they are safe to handle and presumably, eat. The medium of the ink was (at least at the time) made from food-grade processed vegetable oils.
Current solid ink products are the Xerox Phaser 8560 and 8860 color printers and the Xerox Phaser 8560MFP and 8860MFP color multifunction printers.
Advantages
Print Quality: Due to the way solid ink printers put the ink onto the page, print quality is considered to be excellent with lively colors. Excellent results can be achieved with low-quality stock, as the wax covers the stock with a glossy surface.
First print time: When warmed up, solid ink printers have one of the fastest first page out time of any printing technology.
Ease of Use: Xerox intentionally produces solid ink blocks in different shapes, in part to prevent insertion of the wrong color into the wrong supply slot. Some of the issues that existed a few generations ago have disappeared (for instance: abrasion resistance of the image on the finished page)
Waste: Because loose blocks of ink are used, one would assume that there would be less waste generated compared to laser printers or inkjet printers, which produce empty ink cartridges or empty toners. A loose ink block does not leave any residual carrier after it is consumed, however its packaging does. The standard box for Xerox Part# 204075544 (Three yellow solid ink sticks) Measures 16 cm x 8 cm x 4 cm = 512 cm^3 while the actual ink cubes within the plastic carriers inside it occupy almost 81 cm^3 total. That works out to 81% packaging and 19% ink. Fortunately, most of the packaging material is recyclable.
Ozone: Solid ink printers do not produce ozone, making them more friendly to the environment and better for office workers than laser technology.
Recycled Paper: Solid ink printers are able to print on many different types and thicknesses of media. They are much less sensitive to changes in media type than are color laser printers.
Compatible supplies: Compatible solid ink blocks are available and are considerably cheaper than official Xerox supplies - within reason. Always check your application first.
Excellent Service Manual: Available for free on the Xerox site www.xerox.com and featuring over 700 pages of detailed service procedures, someone with the technical skill necessary to fix the the brakes on a car, could probably fix almost anything likely to go wrong with this printer. To further speed-up troubleshooting, the printer includes extensive inboard diagnostics capabilities -accessed from a hidden menu. Between the service manual and the built-in diagnostics, service techs have a fearsome arsenal at their hands.
Disadvantages
Warm-up time : When the device is cold the first page may take up to 5 minutes.
Power consumption: The ink must be heated and a large portion of the printing mechanism must be kept at or near the ink's melting point during use. When the printer is in "sleep mode", most units keep a small pool of each color wax within the printhead heated to temperature just above the ink's "gel point" when the printer is not in one of its low-power modes. According to the Xerox service manual, this consumes about 50 watts.
Excessive Ink Usage : Every time the printer loses power it will dump the ink from the print head's holding tanks into the waste tray. (Xerox printers have a "waste ink" tray for this. The print-head holds about 1/8 stick of ink in each of the four print-head tanks. Since all four inks are dumped into a unified "waste ink" tray, it is impossible to recover the lost ink.
Printer damage from moving: The printer contains melted wax when at operating temperature, and owners manuals warn it cannot be moved until it has completed a special cool-down cycle selected from the machine's control panel. The manuals warn that substantial damage is possible, requiring servicing by a trained technician if not properly cooled down before moving the printer. Make sure you use the "prepare system for moving" option on the service menu. It releases two pins that lock the print head in place; preventing it from hitting the platen during shipping.
Odor: As the printer must melt wax blocks as part of its warm-up and printing process, the printer will give off a distinctive smell that continues throughout the life of the printer. It smells similar to a mix hot wax, pine trees, and cedar. This problem has been eliminated in more recent printers.
Annotations: Given that the printing process creates a layer of wax on the sheet of paper, it is difficult to write on, or highlight printed text or graphics. Printed pages using older formulations of Solid ink prints were also notoriously bad for feeding through the automatic feeder of a copier, though newer formulations of Solid ink have solved this problem.
High-speed Moving Parts: In order to transfer the ink to the sheet of paper, the printer includes a large internal drum, which is rotated at a high speed. Over time, the gears that move the drum may shift out of alignment, or other mechanical problems occur (such as misaligned ball bearings). The printers do though contain a fraction of the moving parts that a conventional laser printer does.
Clogged Print Heads: Unlike some inkjet printers where the cartridge includes the print head, the print head in these printers is fixed. Cleaning the printhead wastes significant quantities of ink. Over time, parts of the print head become permanently clogged, resulting in unsightly streaks, though printheads have been known to last one million prints or more. Printer test page shown above was printed using a Phaser where only 60,000 pages had been printed.
Incompatible with laser printers: Not appropriate for letterhead printing or uses where the document will later be fed through a black/white laser printer. The heat from the laser fuser will cause the wax ink to discolor and fade.
Ultraviolet resistance : Using organic colourants, solid ink prints are sensitive to the sun's ultraviolet light, and color fades with sunlight exposure over time. This problem is the same with inkjet printers dyes, but laser printers are immune to that, using mineral pigment toner.
Solid ink block and maintenance roller compatibility : Ink blocks are not compatible between Phaser models, due to Xerox changing each CMYK molded shape with each new model release. By using micro switches within the block loading runs, previous models' blocks are rejected. Users may be left with a supply of unused and/or redundant blocks. Maintenance rollers are chipped and cannot be interchanged between models, though they are essentially the same.
Noise : Models can be particularly noisy, especially during the warm up cycle.
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