PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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ABOVEProtestors

aredemandingmore

sustainable,less

disposableinkjets

BELOWCanyouwork

outwhythisinkjet

wasn’tprinting?

processlater.Thefactthatthey
labelledtheservicemanualforthis
Brotheras“confidential”goessome
waytoexplainhowharditwasto
trackdown.Brotherwouldn’tletme
seeit,butIfoundacopyonScribd
(scribd.com),paidafewquidand
downloadedall 374 pagesofit.
Thesecondpartofthepuzzlewas
sourcingtherequiredpart.The
servicemanualreferencestheInk
AbsorberBoxandtheFlushingBox,
butnotasniffofpartnumbers.Oneof
mytradesuppliershadanother
BrotherPDF(33pages)listingthe
partsforthemachine,which,with
cross-referencing,showedIneeded
anLET433 001 andanLED 46700 .Both
partscostlessthan£40,sonota
fortune,butthequasi-MissMarpleact
requiredtoworkitoutisn’texactlya
hassle-freeshoppingexperience.
I’mgoingtofast-forwardthenext
bittosaveus allsometime.Ittook
nearlytwohourstogetthewaste
tanksoutand,despiteusing clampsto
stanchtheink-flow,itcoveredmein
somuchofitthatmychildren
honestlythoughtI’dbeeninan
accident.Thenthephonerang.
“Iknowwesaidtofixtheprinter,
butwe’vejustbeentothe
supermarketandboughta newone.”
RarelyhaveI beensohappytolose
a sale. NormallythisiswhereI carry
onandrebuildthemachinepurelyfor
gitsandshiggles,butnotthistime.I
releasedtheclamps, drainedtheink
andchuckedtheworld’sworst
Meccanosetintooure-wasteskip.
Remember,thisBrotherprinter
wasn’tbrokenandonlyrequireda
proprietarymaintenanceprocedure
conceived duringthemanufacturer’s
designphase,asisstandardpractice
withallmajorinkjetmanufacturers.
Hidingwastetanksbehindsoftware
locksandunremovableplastic panels
isintendedtoencourageconsumersto
seekthemanufacturer’scommercial
servicingdepartment,andarguments
canbemadeifthisisa safetyfeature
ora blatantcash-grab.Either
perspectiveisrenderedirrelevantby
theartificiallylowpricesofbrand-
newprinters,whichexpedites
non-brokenunitsbeingploughed
intolandfill. Thepooravailabilityof
partsanddocumentationmakesthis
repairdevilishly difficultfor
independentrepairersandallbut
impossibleforhomeusers. Despite
thecomplexitiesofa printer,parts
thataredesignedtorequire attention,
suchaswastetanks,should be a
user-serviceablecomponent.
It’seasyto understandwhythere
arefuriouspeople standingoutside

theEC.I askedChloé

MikolajczakfromRightto

RepairEuropeifshe

thoughttheECcould

forcemanufacturersto

redesigntheirprinters

tobemoreserviceable.

“It’sstillveryunclear

aswedon’tknowyet

whether [theEC]will

rejectthevoluntary

agreementand,ifit

does,whata printer’s

regulationwouldlook

like.We’rehoping

printersarecoveredbya

regulationthatwould

implyrepairable and

serviceableprinters.”

Whatisundeniableis

thatmoreexpensiveinkjets,andmost

laserprinters,already haveremovable

wastecontainers. Cheap printersnow

seemtobefullydisposable,andit’s

costing us alla lotmorethanmoney.

Three-daylife

Howlongshoulda printerlast?

AccordingtosomeWEEEreports,it’s

lessthanthreeyears,but that’s

considerablylongerthanBernard’s

newEpson.Heboughttheunitfrom

usona MondayandbyWednesdayhe

wasbackforanother blackcartridge.

OnThursday,ithadbeen re-boxed

andbroughtbackintotheshop

because it refusedtoprint in black.

WhatBernardhadn’tmentioned

whenhe’dbought thenewcartridge

wasthattheunithadn’tsuccessfully

printedanything.Nozzlechecks

confirmedtheblackheadwasblocked

and,as thiswasanewsale,it’smyjob

toresolvethisforthecustomer.The

thoughtprocessesmaynotbeas

straightforwardasyouimagine.

I couldsimplygivethecustomera

newprinter.Thiswouldmake him

veryhappy,butleavemewithan

unboxedand(potentially)broken

printer.Business-to-businesssales

arecoveredbydifferentlegislationto

businesstoconsumer and, although

mysupplierwillreplacetheduff

unit,I’mnotguaranteed to geta

replacementina boxorwitha full

yearofwarranty.Neitheroptionis

desirableina machinethatI wantto

reselltoa customer.

Thebestoptionistounblockthe

headand givethecustomera

replacementblackcartfor their

troubles. GenuineblackEpsoncart

goesinand,becausetheprimitive

headcleanservicesallthe tanks,it’s

onlyseveral passesbeforewe’re

completely outofink.Determinedto

keeptheclient happy– thisisn’this

fault– I installa fullsetofgenuine

Epsoncartridgesandtheblackisnow

flowingagain,butthecolours are

blocked.I cleanagainandtheblack

blocksupjust beforetheprinter

moansthatit’s,onceagain,outofink.

Withmyaccountantbangingonthe

door,I stopandgivethecustomera

brand-newprinterandsetofink.

Thecustomerpaid£95forthe

printer andcartridge andtoearn it,I

spent£182ontwoprintersandfive

cartridges.Notonlyishindsight 20/ 20

butit’softenconsiderablycheaper.

Outofexpletives

Buyinga printercanbetraumaticif

you’renotintotech.Thesimplest

littlethingcantripup a customer.

“Thisbl**dyprinter’scr*p”wasthe

answer machinemessagegreetingus

onemorning.MrFowleris a manwho

wouldprefertheinternettogoaway

and,despiteagreeingwithhimsome

days,it’smyjobtohelphimface

reality with a smile.

ToMrFowler’s credit,he’dtaken

theprinterhome,pluggeditinand

madeoneminorerrorthatstopped

theinkfromreachingthepage. Havea

lookatthephotoontheleftandseeif

youcangive himsomeadvice...

“Iwascovered

insomuchink

mychildren

thoughtI’d

beeninan

accident”

[email protected]

Ima

ge

:François

Dvorak