GX 7000 Ricoh

[Martin Boekers]

Printer companies don't make there money on the printers they make in on the inks.
I don't find it so hard to believe that when they sell you a printer they count on money
being made from the sale of inks. When you don't the profit level goes down. Today the
ink cartridges are linked to the computer in the printer telling all about the cartridge and
inks. Gel printers are still relatively new, so I can see how Sawgrass and others haven't
got it straightened out yet. Conspirecy theorists may come up with the thought that if the
printer reads a non-proprietary cartridge it shuts down. Far fetched?

[Mike Null]

Marty


What conspiracy? That's the way my Epson 1280 worked. I purchased a cheap little gadget to reset it when I put in a new but not Epson cartridge.

[Martin Boekers]

Maybe the device reset the cartridge to show it was now full again. Maybe through the years
they thought about that these "aftermarket resetters" would only reset the ink levels. That way
they could add a part to the cartidge that looked for something else when being reset. If the resetter
didn't address that to it could create and error. Many like the bulk system I had on my 1400's
used a Sawgrass system. Sometimes it failed and was a real pain to get it to print. They actually
sent new empty cartridges to have as spares if one quit working. Maybe just quality control on their part?

I could never get straight answers from them or Epson. Some how I managed to find a corporate number
for Epson and after some "heated" discussions the sent me another printer and finally admitted to a flaw
in the CD tray design for shutting down the printer. The systems for Epson printers never worked well for me.
as soon as a jet started to clog just a bit color started shifting. If I did 20 mugs they all didn't match.

Like I said I could have been lucky with the Ricoh I got, after my experience with Epson if I had issues
with the Ricoh I would have quit Dye Sub completely.

These printers seem cheaply built, but I imagine that they are designed for a specific purpose and when we
start varying that problems can and do occur. For what they are designed to do I think it's amazing how
consistantly they run.

[Dan Hintz]

The newer devices do indeed transmit more info than just ink level... they include a coded ID that's similar to an RSA arrangement, making sure not just that the cartridge is full but that it's also a "legal" cartridge (i.e., manufactured by them). It's a complete load when the company claims it's for warranty purposes on printer styles using cartridges that contain their own print heads... you simply can not screw up the printer itself with a bad cartridge, but they don't get their ink tax. Unfortunately, you cannot sue them for unfair practices because you have the option of purchasing another brand.

Of course, if I really got a wild hair I'd watch the traffic to/from the chip and solve the problem permanently.

[Larry Bratton]

The problem lies that Sawgrass has a patent on inks. They don't manufacture a printer for them so they work around existing printers.
All printer manufactures will not guarentee their printers if they find you don't use their brand of ink be it dye sub or regular inks.

I guess I may have been lucky as I am on my 4th ink set and not one problem. Sometimes I know it's the luck of the draw.

Me personally I would stay away from Epson. They too have issues with the printer rejecting modified cartridges. Worse unless you are
running almost continious expect clogged heads and much frustration in that end. I have had 3 Epsons C82 (I went through a handfull of 1400's)
I almost gave up with dye sub until I got the Ricoh. The Epson 1400 had too much junk built into it. I talked with corporate a few times and they sent me
refurbs back and within a week same trouble. Get this.... the trouble was they had a slide out tray that you could print special CD's on (has anyone really done that?)
It read the tray was open and would just send the sheet through, no printing.
I said that ought to cut out this stuff and just make a basic production printer with no frills and they would sell great. The problem is everyone views printers
as disposable and just get a new one when it fails.

There is too much money selling inks for one of the dye sub companies to come up with a printer on their own. No profits in the printer. I wouldn't be surprized if the printer manufactures are
putting in software that if you don't use their inks it shuts you down.

I wonder if it's just the dye sub inks that are causing a problem, I haven't searched to see if it's a Ricoh problem and they have it with their ink sets too.

dye sub has this really great upside you think that Sawgrass would get together with Ricoh or Epson and manufacture one that is designed for these ink sets.

There is a lot written on both fronts. However, and not in defense mind you, but Epson has been the delivery method for dye sub inks for a long time. Again, it's not the printer that causes the problem. In my opinion it is caused by inactivity of the printer not being used frequently enough to keep the piezo delivery head cleared of dried ink. I have a Canon wide format printer that employs piezo technology. We messed up and did not use the printer for a good while after we moved. When we did get back to it, we found we were faced with buying a $500.00 print head. So, lesson learned. Those microscopic holes that the ink comes through are awful easy to foul. So, I don't think it matters what brand of printer it is, if it is not used regularly and maintained, your going to have problems.

The other issue is the cost of ink. Sawgrass ink for the Ricoh is just absolutely ridiculous. I mean..$60 bucks for the small cartridge of 1 color for my printer is awful. If I were doing a volume printing business it would be very painful. Cobra Ink Systems modifies Epson printers to use Continuous Ink Systems, is highly thought of and sells inks for sublimation that are a fraction of the cost of the Sawgrass stuff. Even if the printer goes out, you can afford to buy another one for the savings you accumulate on the ink. The Epson 1100 printer, loaded with sub ink and a delivery system is less than $400.00. You can buy just the printer for $200 bucks and they have a reputation for working fine with this system.

I must say though, David Gross at Conde seems to be trying to help with this problem. There was a guy on there that had a 3300 go out and it was 3 months out of warranty. They gave the guy a new printer and I'm not sure if they didn't make the ink good too. Not sure if the 3300 problem was related to ink, non use or what, but they took care of him. I liked that.

[Bill W. White]

This has probably been covered before but I'll ask anyway, would a added power supply be a good thing to add to the Ricoh 7000 printer in case of power out's, Also I added Harvey's head cleaner software that prints a small test every day or so, is this worthwhile or a waste of time, Bill W.

[Bill Overturf]

Cant speak on the Richo but with an Epson Harvey head cleaner is almost a must have!

[Amy Shelton]

I had received an email from Sawgrass *not* to return the old printer. Then several days later, got a phone call to disregard the email, that yes, I *do* need to return it. I was trying to decide whether to buy two more new ink cartridges to go with the two new ones they sent me, when I got a call from them, saying they were sending me two additional cartridges. Wow! So I got 4 new ones, and installed them. I will print a nozzle check twice a week with it. Hopefully the new inks will solve the problem. I will purchase the extended warranty from my dye sub supplier in Nov. (I bought it last Dec)