# Why Do My Inkjet Printers ALWAYS Fail? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 1, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222 "2019-12-01T01:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/21 "2019-12-02T20:54:34Z")
If you just print black, a laser printer is HIGHLY recommended. They will work for decades. The only laser printers I’ve gotten rid of are simply ones that became obsolete; no power saving, no USB, etc. They still worked. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/22 "2019-12-02T20:56:08Z")
We have an HP inkjet that we bought before 2002. We haven’t used it in years, but it was still serving us well at 10ish years old. The ink really added up, as others have said. Last time I tried it was a few years ago and it was getting wonky, finally, though we were able to coax it to work. I need to find a place to recycle it. I bought an HP multifunction (copy/fax/scan) in early 2010, which was crap from the beginning. It rarely connected to the wireless, and quit working altogether within 2 years or so. Clearly the products have gone downhill. So I bought a multifunction laser printer in 2012 and it’s still working. My current laptop refuses to talk to it but the other computers in the house work with it. I think I’ve replaced the toner cartridge twice - in 7+ years - and I may have had to replace the drum once. Yes, it’s black and white; I didn’t feel like spending the extra for color, though if I were to replace it now I probably would do so. If you do stick with inkjets, look at reliability ratings and whether there are any tricks to improve the lifespan. But yeah, they’re following the “razor” model of profitability: make the handle super cheap and nail the users with the refill blades. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/23 "2019-12-02T21:27:16Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > It MUST be me. I buy one and within a few months to a year it refuses to feed the paper saying “Add Paper” or some such when there is clearly paper in the damn thing – it just won’t feed. I have literally bought 3 printers in the last 4 years, all different makes and models, and just like the one I have now they have all had the exact same problem. > > I use good quality paper. I change the ink when needed. What gives?! Mine are the same. I’ve gone through like three of them. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/24 "2019-12-03T01:21:17Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Supposedly there are Epson and Brother inkjets with refillable tanks which claim they won’t bend you over on ink costs. I had an Epson printer that used ink tanks and what they will not warn you about is that the printhead will clog up if you don’t print something with all four colors (CMYK) at least every three days, and more often is better. At least I was able to get $50 for it as a trade-in on a Canon color laser that has handled my needs abundantly well. Toner won’t cake up or dry out even if you only print one page a month, and a laser printer doesn’t suck out five dollars of ink on a “cleaning” cycle. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/25 "2019-12-03T01:33:00Z")
I’ve had very good luck with a Brother multi function ink jet going on 4 or 5 years. I rarely print but I never recall ever having to do a head cleaning, however it does do a automatic cleaning cycle every so often. It just works when I need it. I buy aftermarket ink cartridges for about $2 a cartridge. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/26 "2019-12-04T05:46:01Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I had an Epson printer that used ink tanks and what they will not warn you about is that the printhead will clog up if you don’t print something with all four colors (CMYK) at least every three days, and more often is better. At least I was able to get $50 for it as a trade-in on a Canon color laser that has handled my needs abundantly well. I just took an Epson multifunction inkjet / scanner to the recycler for this reason. We only print a couple a pages a month (if that), so every printing event involved 4 or 5 rounds of “clean the print heads” and “align the print heads”, using up half the ink in those little cartridges and 2 sheets of paper. The local electronics reseller was not interested in it when I brought it in for a trade - they said inkjets have no resell value for them and no valuable parts for them to recycle, either. Our previous inkjet was much more reliable, but back then we needed to print things more often (everyone accepts tickets and stuff on the phone these days). We only replaced it because as it got older the type of cartridge it was using got phased out and getting new ink was getting tough. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/27 "2019-12-04T10:25:08Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I’ve always used inkjet printers. You’re having a string of bad luck. > > I’ve gotten 3+ years and thousands of pages out of every single one. (I generally buy paper in either 5- or 10-ream cases. It’s cheaper that way, and it doesn’t go bad.) > > Mind you, I’ve always used HP printers, which may be a factor. HP uses self-contained ink cartridges–if one clogs up or dries out, it doesn’t affect the actual printer at all; you simply throw away the cartridge and buy another. AND the print heads can be cleaned in multiple ways, which rescues a lot of potentially bad situations. Inkjets are OK if you use them frequently - if you are printing on a multiple-times-daily basis, they are still typically expensive to run, but generally trouble-free - because the action of printing is functionally the same as the action of head cleaning. If you only use them infrequently, you will be very lucky to get trouble-free operation - ink dries up inside the print head and often requires aggressive cleaning cycles to unblock it. Printers with fixed heads (Epson) are worse for this problem than those where the print head is integrated with the cartridge; and as a result of this, fixed-head printers typically waste more ink on preventive cleaning (which happens automatically without the user initiating it). But putting the print head in the cartridge makes for more expensive cartridges, and lower-quality printing - because head alignment needs to be done every time a new cartridge is installed - sometimes, manufacturers of non-fixed-head printers just spec their printers to produce lower resolution output to mask this. If you’re having trouble-free inkjet use, you’re the one having a string of exceptional luck, not us. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/28 "2019-12-05T14:56:00Z")
It isn’t just you. I have a laser for printing most of my stuff that’s been a workhorse for 15 years and we moved out of my husband’s office when I went through three deskjets over 18 months. The deskjet has some advantages that I like - it will scan and copy, it will print two sided, so I have both…and my current HP is six months old - so either its a decent printer, or less printing is good, or it will break this week. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222/29 "2019-12-05T16:36:46Z")
A cheap monochrome laser printer like this will print, scan, and copy. I’ve had one for several years now and it’s been great: [https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Monochrome-Multifunction-MFCL2710DW-Replenishment/dp/B0763ZCH7K](https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Monochrome-Multifunction-MFCL2710DW-Replenishment/dp/B0763ZCH7K) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-my-inkjet-printers-always-fail/844222.md?page=1)