My Printer Died - An EpitaphWritten by Barry Shultz
My printer just died. My Epson C60 that I've had for almost 2 years was my buddy. I loved that printer. It was there for me through thick and thin. Sure it had it's quirks and idiosyncrasies like not printing when my office temperature dropped to 17 degrees because I forgot to turn thermostat up one bitterly cold morning. I had to open lid and point a ceramic space heater inside to thaw it out. There were times that it drove me crazy. Sometimes when I asked it to print something for me it would sit there and clean itself for what seemed like an eternity. Whirr - click- pop - pop - whirr - click etc, etc, etc. I could pull my hair out sometimes. Why does it always do that when I'm in a hurry? My old Epson and me became pretty good friends though. It always treated me good with sharp, detailed prints. I never had to worry about going broke with ink cartridges because generics I used in her were really cheap and since I bought them from myself I got VIP discount. :-) But that's way it goes with inkjet printers. They are kinda like dogs. You know they have a short life span and you know that once you get one you'll fall in love with it. And when time comes to have to part your ways it's a difficult and emotional experience. Yes, it's painful and I'm sure I'll get through it somehow but I can't stop thinking of all fond memories that I have collected throughout years. It's like loosing a part of me.
| | Can You Refill A Rock?Written by Barry Shultz
Before you begin refilling your inkjet cartridges bear in mind one thing, most inkjet cartridges have sponges in them. When sponges dry out they can become rock hard. After removing a spent cartridge from your printer don't just throw it in a drawer and expect to be able to refill it in a month or even a year, judging by some of email I get. The main reason why sponges dry out is because of a special drying agent that is added to inks. This drying agent is used to prevent smearing when you print out a page. When ink is inside cartridge, especially an unsealed cartridge, it will react with air and harden sponge. When ink in cartridge is used up it is displaced by air which is trapped in cartridge. In a few weeks or even days ink left in sponge will harden to a rock like consistency. So, can you inject ink into a rock? If you get to it in time you can, possibly. However, you would have a much better chance if you put cartridge in a zip lock baggie with a damp paper towel before throwing it in your drawer. Be careful with color cartridges. Don't cap print head with anything except an approved cartridge clip or you risk cross-chamber contamination. Squeeze as much air out of baggie as you can before sealing it.
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