Inkjet ink

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dilwyn
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Inkjet ink

Post by dilwyn »

Well, the printer said the cartridge had no black ink left. Take the cartridge out and what must have been almost the full content of the cartridge spilled out in a lake over my desk and hands. It cleaned up off the desk OK (soaked into cloths from hard shiny surface), but not my hands.

1. Anyone know how to get it off the skin or will it wear off with washing over the next few days?

2. Why do printers report a cartridge as empty when there's so much ink left in them, seems extremely wasteful. The lake on my desk was several inches wide, must have been a good 5 to 10ml at least going to waste.

Not having the best of days to put it mildly and being hassled by junk callers asking to speak to my late wife's first husband by name (who died nearly 2 decades ago) on top of everything else.
ink.jpg


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Pr0f
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by Pr0f »

some chemicals will probably remove it - the problem is they will take your skin too...


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Pr0f
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by Pr0f »

Pr0f wrote:some chemicals will probably remove it - the problem is they will take your skin too...
I have found a mixture of sugar (or salt, but sugar doesn't hurt so much) and washing up liquid and a nail brush works pretty well.


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NormanDunbar
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by NormanDunbar »

dilwyn wrote:Why do printers report a cartridge as empty when there's so much ink left in them,
Because they make money from ink not from printers!

My HP all in one got a new magenta and cyan cartridges recently and complained about them not being genuine HP, and refused to recognise them. I was not amused as at no time did the manual or T&Cs mention that I had to use HP ink. Given that the black cartridge had been replaced with a non-HP one, and was working, was also annoying.

Turned out a software update caused the problem. I reverted back to a previous release and suddenly, the cartridges were working, funny that!

To get stuff off my hands when dealing with engines, inks etc, I use Swarfega with bits in. (I used to use the green slime with Flash powder!) Or Fairy liquid and salt. Anything gritty should work.

IPA might do also, it's rubbing alcohol (not India Pale Ale), so should be safe for skin.


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dilwyn
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by dilwyn »

Thanks Norman and prof, will try those suggestions.

The printer concerned is my son's old Brother A3 printer. I mentioned the "incident" to him and he laughed - he said he'd had it happen many times to him with that particular printer. Turns out the little blue stain on the corner of the desk by the printer is from one of his several accidents with it when he lived at home, he said the cartridges were prone to dripping lots of ink as you changed them.


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dilwyn
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by dilwyn »

NormanDunbar wrote: To get stuff off my hands when dealing with engines, inks etc, I use Swarfega with bits in. (I used to use the green slime with Flash powder!) Or Fairy liquid and salt. Anything gritty should work.
IPA might do also, it's rubbing alcohol (not India Pale Ale), so should be safe for skin.
Cheers,
Norm.
Just for information, I did contact NHS Direct to ask about this - their initial reply was pretty much the same as you both suggested.

A little while later they called me back and advised against using anything abrasive, especially if you have cuts or scratches on your hand. There are some ink brands apparently with ingredients which can cause short term irritation (forgot to ask what they were) if it finds its way into the blood stream or deep into the skin. Especially if you have skin conditions or certain allergies. They said it was much safer to just wait for normal handwashing to remove it over several days.

Have long since forgotten who I bought the compatible cartridges from to ask them.

Quite amazing, get a printed document only slightly damp, the ink runs immediately. Try getting an ink stain off, impossible!


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NormanDunbar
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by NormanDunbar »

I get my compatibles, and (once) HP originals from Cartridge People.

Good quality inks in their compatibles, no problems using them -- other than HP trying to prevent me using them of course!


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dilwyn
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by dilwyn »

To clarify something I said on here, "empty" ink cartridges have to have a little ink left in them, to keep the print head from drying out and getting damaged before you change the cartridge of course. So an empty cartridge is not going to be truly empty, just that I was surprised at just how much ink was left in this one.

I've bought most of my compatibles from Choice Stationery. Used to get them from their sister company IJT Direct but too many of theirs failed to work at all. The boxes would sometimes have a layer of dust on them, implying they'd been standing in a warehouse for a long time, maybe. It often involved spending ages with the printer cleaning routines, or even occasionally having to stand the cartridges in warm water to unclog and get the ink to flow (not my idea, it was their suggestion, I wasn't comfortable with it but strangely, it usually worked, albeit a little messy).

My hands are a slightly lighter shade of black ink today!

(As per the old Covid joke, "Is it OK to have a shower yet or shall I just keep washing my hands?")


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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by pjw »

I recently dumped my two year old Canon printer. So fed up with that
piece of crap. One week without printing and the head dries out and
you waste dog knows how much expensive ink on multiple nozzle cleaning
cycles. Before that it was an HP printer, which I got on with somewhat
better, but the the greedy bastards had hiked the price of ink beyond
the pain threshold, so I got me a different printer - to give them
one on the nose, the only way I can.

But now, for the first time in 35 or so years, Im without a printer.
Its just about bearable, as my printing needs are not what they once
were, and the local library will suffice for the odd job, for a
pittance.

Some friends were feeling the same, so they too trashed their deskjet
and bought a laser printer instead. Hardly bigger than a deskjet, B&W
only and no scanner or anything fancy. AFAICS, the economics are
better, the quality acceptable, and the hassle far less.

I had a rather intense scanning job to do, so had to get a better than
my AIO scanner last year. With that and such a mini laser printer
perhaps my troubles are over?


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NormanDunbar
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Re: Inkjet ink

Post by NormanDunbar »

Before the HP, I bought an Epson. Can't remember the name but it had separate tanks to fill with ink. Big mistake. If it wasn't used continually, the heads dried up. I took it back to Currys, the swapped it for the HP. No problems with dried heads at all.

Agree about ink prices though, diabolical.

Cheers,
Norm.


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