Anyone exceeding thier printers monthly duty cycle?

[sugarengine]

Hi, I am curious if anyone here is exceeding the printers monthly duty cycle.

I saw a post by a guy in another forum who was printing tens of thousands of prints a month on a relatively inexpensive inkjet with a CFS.

Seems... like a lot.

I was wondering what people are doing.

Thanks,
JM

 

[DomtheMon]

No idea what the 'monthly duty cycle' is for an ip4500 (and now a ip4600) but I print 500 full colour sides a month, 3500 full colours photos in total.

I don't understand the 'monthly' thing..... I have always assumed a printer head has a semi-defined life based on use and not time, ie. I don't see that (assuming ink is kept topped up and printer is not left for very long period switched off) it is going to make a huge difference printing 14-17000 photos (my rough expected life for the printer head is 4-5 months based on past experience with ip4200/5200/4500 and my usage) over 4-5 months or whether I do it over 12-18 months?

Put simply, I imagine if I did 15000 photos in a month the printhead would be kaput, the same as it would be doing 3500 a month for 4-5 months, or 1000 a month for 12-15 months..... so I don't see the relevence of any time factor in the shortish term?

 

[sugarengine]

Yeah, my understanding from things I have read is that it is pretty much linear. The monthly thing is basicly the total MTBF divided by the length of the warranty.

I can't really find how many prints the inkjets are rated for.

HP has numbers but Epson seems harder to find.

 

[Simon R.]

So, if 2 identical printers have different warranty, (depending on the reseller), does it mean each printer has different monthly duty cycle?

 

[sugarengine]

So, if 2 identical printers have different warranty, (depending on the reseller), does it mean each printer has different monthly duty cycle?

Well that could work either way.

The duty cycle is the estimated MTBF / months of warranty.

So if two printers have 1 year warranties and one has 1000 / month duty cycle and the other has 20 000 / month... well one should be more robust than the other.

 

[squeezee]

As a measure of "duty cycle" the numbers are basically useless, they don't actually indicate the 'proper' duty cycle of the printer in any case (maximum continuous operation/cooldown time). At best they're a rough indication of printer (or at least printhead) lifetime.

So, if 2 identical printers have different warranty, (depending on the reseller), does it mean each printer has different monthly duty cycle?

Not necessarially, remember that there is a cost associated with warranting the product. Reducing the length and/or coverage of a warranty is one way to cut cost/price, it doesn't necessarially indicate anything about the quality of parts used.

 

[mikling]

With regards to duty cycle and print heads, one aspect is not just the number of pages but rather the saturation level and coverage of the page.
Printing 20,000 pages of black text with spot color in low res will not have the same wear results as printing 20,000 pages of high quality photo prints at the maximum resolution with deep dark saturated colors. Furthermore, whether the printer works continuously or whether it has a period of cool down between pages is another significant factor.

Great claims can be made but question the basis or conditions before drawing a conclusion. In all things mechanical and electrical heat and its buildup works against durability.

 

[mikling]

Leo8088

Who's referring to Epson here?

What beef do you have with Epson? sounds like you have an axe to grind with them. Please take it up with them and not me.

Also keep in mind a sample size of one or two can generate some pretty large standard deviations.

It is also important to also understand exactly what a MTBF means. It varies by industry and item tested and is actually very different from what the layman thinks it is.

Here's some good reading for readers to begin to appreciate what it all means;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_time_between_failures


I'm outta here.

 

[mikling]

leo8088

I don't want to incite heated discussions but in 1975, Honda was selling Civics that rusted out like terribly and then they introduced an engine that was a lemon . I am not so sure that if I keep citing that situation it would be a fair assessment of the current state of Honda's products. In 2000, one of my friends bought a Toyota minivan wholse transmission had to be replaced within three months. Lousy product one might say. Stay away from Toyota, and yes, I'm sure hundreds more transmissions from Toyota failed as well but let's look at the total that have operated properly.

If I cite those instances and conclude that both Honda and Toyota made lousy products today, I'm sure I would be laughed at. Time moves on, products change and new and better ones are sometimes introduced and sometimes less capable ones are released as well..

I am not running away but I am also not prepared to create a situation that could explode with strong opinions. I am not an expert on MTBF but I do know that it often is misunderstood and misused. I know my limits.