PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

“Ifyouwantaprizeexhibitforthe

MuseumofUnrepairability,the

humbleinkjetisacontender”

Howdoyourepairabrokenprinter?Anink-drenchedLeeexplainsthat

oftenyoucan’t,butheoffersonesoftwarecheatthatmightjustwork

“Atourshop,

theanswerto

thequestion,

‘doyoufix

printers?’is

‘rarely’”

L

astMay,RightToRepairEurope

(righttorepair.eu),asustainability

campaigngroupformedof

activistsandGreenMEPs,stageda

demonstrationoutsidetheEuropean

Commission(EC)inBrussels.Itwasa

remindertopolicymakersabouta

pledgethey’dmadeaboutprinters.

Twelvemonthsearlier,theEChad

promisedtoaddressthe life cycleand

prematureobsolescence of electrical

productsbypromotinginitiatives

suchas righttorepair.Ithadsingled

outprintersasparticularlywasteful

products, so theECthreatened

specificregulation “unless thesector

reachesanambitiousvoluntary

agreement”.Thedeadlineforthiswas

September2020.

SPOILERWARNING!Angry

protestersnexttoa stackofknackered

printersmayhavegiventhegame

away.Thoseprotestersarerighttobe

furious.Ifyou’researchingforthe

prizeexhibittoshoveintothe

MuseumofUnrepairability,thenthe

humblehomeinkjetisa contender.

Atourshop,theanswerto the

question,“doyoufixprinters?”is

“rarely”.Thecommoninkjetisa

modernmarvelofelectromechanical

engineering,andbeneaththevarious

layersofcheapplasticliesa labyrinth

ofsprings,pulleys,airpumpsand

electronics.Somehow(magic,one

assumes),afterthesemachineshave

twanged,scratchedandsquirtedinto

life,allthewordswewantedonpaper,

butcouldn’t be botheredtowrite,

appearincrisp,legibletype. Usually.

A Brother MFC-J4410DWarrivedat

theshop.It’sa standardcopier/

scannerwithafaxfacilityasa retro

touch.Theprinterwasrefusingtolive

uptoitsbillingbecause thewastetank

wasfull.Ifyou’veeverownedan

inkjet,thismay havea ringof

familiarity,asyourprinterhas

probablydisplayed a similar message.

Everytimeaninkjetprinterfiresup,

themachinepushessomeinkaround

thesystemandoutthroughtheprint

headtoensurethatblockages are

cleared.Thiswasteinkgoesstraight

fromyourbankbalance,outoftheink

tanks,throughtheheadandintothe

wastetank.Insidethetankisa pad,

which is absorbent likea nappy,and

soaksupallyourcash– sorry,ink–

andonceit’sfull, theprinterstops.

Toenforcethefull madnessofthis

situation,whichwe’veallacceptedfor

years,I suggest we go fora drink.

WelcometotheInkjetCoffeeShop.

Everytimeyouorder,ourpoorly

trainedbaristatakesyourmoney,

makesthebeverageofyourchoice,

butpoursa bitintoa bucket (viaa long

tube)beforehanding over thecup.

Thisridiculous ritualcarriesonfor

monthsuntiloneday,asthebarista

grindsthebeans,a signpopsup on the

Foam-a-matic 300 0 explainingthat

thebucketisnowfull andtherecan’t

beany more coffeeuntilit’sbeen

emptied.Youaskthebaristatoempty

thebucket,butunfortunately,it’snot

intheirtrainingmanual.

Becauseofthis error, theBrother

refusedtoprint and, to be clear,this

alsohappenson 99%ofotherdomestic

inkjets.Nowhereinthemanufacturer’s

documentationdoesit telltheuser

howtocleartheerrorfromeither a

softwareorhardwareperspective.

Thankfully,Dr Googlecanrevealthe

secretresetcodesandprocedures,but

someCanonandmostEpsonprinters

arenotsoeasilyfooled,soa third-

partybitofsoftware(wic.support)

willdothe jobforaround£7.50.

Dependingonthe manufacturer,

wastewarningsaretriggeredin

differentways.Usuallythere’sa

wastetanksensor to detecttheactual

levelsofinktrappedinthepad.

Cheapermachinesusea software

guesstimatecounterlinkedto ink

throughput or,moresimply,page

count.Inmanycases, theabsorbent

padisn’tevenclosetofull,soa

softwareunlockwillsolvetheissue.

Resetandmatch

Aftera fewfalsestarts, I findthe

correctinformationfortheBrother

andinstigatea completelyunofficial

reset.Thesheerthrillgeneratedbya

restartedprinterwasshort-lived, as

theerrorreturned.Itwouldappear

thatthewastepadwasindeedfull.

Incoffee-shopparlance,I neededto

emptythebucket.Wastherea handy

flapformetoremove thewastetank?

Whatdoyouthink?

Ourbarista(we’reback!) points

tothe very long tubethey’vebeen

siphoningyourcoffeeinto.They

explainthattoemptythebucketat

theotherend,theentireshopneedsto

bedismantled.Canyouguesswho’s

goingto be payingforthat?

Toswapthepartrequireda partial

dismantlingofthedevice, andas

experiencedasI am at tinkering,I

neededsomeform ofdocumentation

tohelpmegetthethingapartwitha

sportingchanceofreversingthe

RIGHTDismantling

andreassemblingan

inkjetisnotforthe

faint-hearted

LEEGRANT

LeeGrantandhiswife

AlisonrunInspiration

Computers,arepair

shopinKirkheaton

@userfriendlypc