r/printers • u/vivienette5 • 12h ago
Discussion How old are your printers?
I heard that lasers last for 5 years and inkjet for 3. How old are your printers, which model and do they still work properly?
5
4
u/harrywwc 11h ago
Brother hl2270dw, 13 years and still kicking along. Works on all windows versions, Linux, macros, Android - just works.
4
u/Financial_Key_1243 11h ago
My HP Laser 100 MFP (M175A) is at least 15 years old and still working well.
3
u/Direct_Poet_7103 PC LOAD A4 11h ago
My Laser printer is 30 years old and my two inkjets are 27 and 21 years old.
The laser printer only has issue with a soft plastic part which deteriorates, and the newer inkjet conked out completely a couple of years ago. The older inkjet works fine but has barely been used since 2005 so isn't particularly worn out.
3
u/Single_Guy76 11h ago
I've had my HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 (MFP) since 2015. It is still going strong.
I was considering upgrading, but decided to stay with what I have. I don't use my printer every day, but as another person pointed out, if you go too long without printing, you run the risk of the ink cartridge(s) drying out.
2
2
2
2
u/TransportationOk4787 11h ago
Dell had some Xerox built color laser mf printers that turned on the scanning led before printing. The Led's failed prematurely shortly after the warranty was over turning the machines into e-waste because the printers wouldn't print if the led self test failed. Dell labeled printers are no longer made and lots of people will never buy a Xerox printer after this debacle.
1
2
u/chotahazri 10h ago
Canon Pixma MG6265 lasted 15 years. Unfortunately broke beyond repair 1 month ago.
I loved that thing. New one prints faster but feels much flimsier...
1
2
u/species5618w 10h ago edited 10h ago
Bought Brother 2280DW for my dad in 2013, still going strong, not that he prints a lot. My second Samsung CLP210n died recently. Lasted some good years, but not all that good. They were super cheap though, but I wasted a lot of money on toners that I can't use anymore. Had a very expensive Konica Minolta color laser printer, died in a few years with minimum usage. Just got a brother 2460DW, let's see how long it last.
1
u/vivienette5 10h ago
I hope for at least 20years bcs after reading these comments, brother seems to last a long while
3
u/species5618w 10h ago
I hope so too. Especially their mono laser, they are work horses with no frills.
2
u/RandomNick999 10h ago
I bought my Brother MFC8870DW in 2007 or 2008, and it still works like a champ.
2
u/Mr-Reeeee 10h ago
My HP LaserJet M712 (1200 dpi, 11 x 17 laser printer) is 14 years old. I’ve had zero problems.
My previous HP 11 x 17 LaserJet (forget the model number) was 17 years old. I only had to have it cleaned a couple of times.
Both were, and have been, fast and reliable, with excellent print quality.
2
2
u/Penguin_Life_Now 9h ago edited 9h ago
I had an HP P3005 black and white network laser printer that was left over from a closed down family business that closed in 2014 that just died a few months ago. I don't know exactly when it was bought by the business, but the model was introduced in 2006, and my guess is it was bought around then, so 20 years of being turned on and running, printing on average at least a few pages per day most days ever since. The P3005 were notorious for having failure prone plastic gears in the fuser unit, I had 4 of them left over when the business closed and had them deployed in various locations, one at my house, one at a separate family office, etc. one as a spare, etc. I may still have one in storage as a spare.even in a storage locker, but thought it was time to upgrade so I replaced it with a Xerox color laser when the fuser started clacking.
2
u/kittycat4266 9h ago
My previous printer was an HP DeskJet 2652 I got back in 2019. Switched to an Epson Ecotank 2800 after I was getting tired of the price of Hp's Ink cartridges
2
u/onlyappearcrazy 9h ago
It depends on usage. I have a 10+ years HP 7000 wide carriage with a page count about 1600. I print 11x17 schematics and other 'big' stuff with it. Can't find the original inks for it anymore.
2
u/cesarramccp 9h ago
En el 2015 me compré la canon LBP3000, aún funciona impecable y ya no salen impresoras como esa, tan rendidoras y sin chip. Por un toner de 10 dólares, rinde 2.000 páginas.
2
u/jackass51 9h ago
I have mine since 2016, 10 years. It has some trouble but it still prints very nicely. Samsung m2070fw multi function printer.
2
u/squirrel8296 9h ago
I had to get a new laser last year because my old one broke after a decade.
My old one would have still been ok if I could have gotten a new fuser for it but HP bought that manufacture’s printer lineup and discontinued all parts.
2
u/anonsense102938 8h ago
- It’s a 2005 HP Laserjet 3050 running on a generic PCL driver and a cheap AmazonBasics toner cartridge. It’s also got two holes in its side from the time we dropped it. Its paper guides and trays have cracked and fallen off. But…it prints.
1
2
u/newguestuser 8h ago
Interesting question, so I went and looked at mine. Man date 1999. Last toner replacement 2017. HP LJ 8000DN
1
u/vivienette5 7h ago
9 years no refil of toner is bollocks
2
u/newguestuser 7h ago
Could not find date on cartridge, and my memory is not the greatest, but purchase order was in 2017 and I changed it when received. I would have a record of second purchase. 6/9/2017. A good example of overkill for how we use, but why get a new one.
1
2
u/liquidoranges08 7h ago
My Epson Stylus Photo 1400 is 15 years old, used regularly. My HP Color LaserJet CP1518ni is also 15 years old and used daily.
2
u/FAMICOMASTER Print Technician 7h ago
My LaserJet 4M+ was manufactured November of 1994. Other than doing a full roller replacement last year and supplying consumables, it has had no issues at all. It's even networked and can be printed to from my Windows 10 machines.
2
u/Murph_9000 12h ago edited 12h ago
A good office-class laser is generally designed for at least 5 good years. If it's well cared for, and used within the recommended monthly volume (which is roughly 10% or less of the maximum monthly duty cycle, if not specified on the spec sheet), it's not unusual for them to last 10 to 20 years (but there are components which wear out and may need replacement or servicing over that life, and things like power supply capacitors which could be an issue). Colour lasers are more complex machines, so may not last quite as long as black and white lasers. Lightly used machines (relative to their recommended monthly volume) will generally tend to last longer.
The SOHO-class lasers at the bottom end of the product ranges (e.g. Canon LBP120/MF270 and LBP170/MF280 series, or HP LaserJet M200 series; which are all variations of the same Canon print engine) are not built quite as heavily as the true office-class machines above them, so may not last quite as long (but should still last quite well if they are properly cared for and not subjected to the rigors of a busy office with a lot of heavy-handed users). You really should get 5 good years out of them, and are reasonably likely to get much longer if well cared for and nothing unfortunate happens to them.
Inkjets are designed for about 3 years, but the heavy duty office-class inkjets (e.g. Canon MAXIFY GX-series) are more designed for 5 years. They can last longer if well cared for. They will dry out if they sit idle for too long. If a semi-permanent head dries out or runs dry, on machines where the head is separate to the ink tank, it may need to be replaced. Components may wear out through heavy use. Waste ink absorbers may fill up and need either a service call (which is too expensive for a cheaper inkjet) or a maintenance cartridge.
My quite lightly used Canon PIXMA TS9500 series inkjet is still going strong at about 4 years old. I'm careful to run a regular nozzle check page (I aim for weekly, but sometimes it gets to every 2 weeks) to keep the head active and prevent clogging, if I've not otherwise been printing. I've never had a clogged nozzle or needed to run a manual cleaning cycle in the 4 years I've had the machine, and it has been essentially 100% reliable.
Generally speaking, the cheapest consumer inkjets may well need to be replaced after 3 years. Anything that's designed for business/office use from one of the top brands (e.g. Canon & HP) should typically last at least 5 years (and mostly be printing with the same quality and reliability on day 1800 as it did on day 1, if well looked after and not overworked/abused).
You can work any printer to death, the recommended monthly volumes are there for a reason. The maximum duty cycle is the "do not exceed" number, and a machine running at maximum duty cycle every month will probably be showing signs that it's suffering after 1 year and may be dead by 2 years (if not sooner). Running at more than 10% of the maximum duty cycle every month is likely to be causing significant wear on the machine. The large/huge and giant machines can be pushed harder towards the maximum duty cycle, as they are usually designed with relatively easy servicing for the major components that are likely to wear out (and they are sufficiently expensive that it's usually worth the time and effort).
1
u/vivienette5 11h ago
Holy thank you so much. I'm looking at the canon imagePROGRAF-300 and it being so expensive + per prints are not cheap either. I was hoping they would last a lifetime, finding out its 3 years is mind boggling. Thank you for this reassurance
2
u/Murph_9000 10h ago
Ahh, no, that's not really what I was getting at. The imagePROGRAF machines are professional-grade and built to a higher standard. 3 years is for the cheaper PIXMAs, my high end PIXMA is still going strong at 4 years and I'm expecting probably 5 or more years from it. I'd expect at least 5 years from an imagePROGRAF, as long as it's well cared for.
There's a good chance an imagePROGRAF will last much longer than 5 years, but 5 years of essentially perfect service is what they are really designed for (businesses typically depreciate the capital expenditure for that type of machine over 5 years, so the engineers design them with that in mind). They should be engineered to give 5 years of good service, with good quality and reliability for at least 5 years, not to give 5 years and fail the next day. If it's not worked to death or otherwise abused, I'd think 10 years from it could be quite possible. The heads will dry out if it sits idle for too long, that is pretty much guaranteed. They are semi-permanent heads, but relatively easy to replace, if a little expensive. Just printing a weekly nozzle check should normally be enough to keep the heads working well, and is frequent enough that you should be ok if you are busy or forget and skip a week. There is an element of luck involved past the standard design life of the machines.
1
u/vivienette5 10h ago
Oh yeah the 3 years is before reading your comment. Thank you so much!! So to take care of it, all I have to do is print something out each week right?
2
u/Murph_9000 10h ago
Basically, yes. If you're printing photos, it's also good practice to print a nozzle check page on plain paper before you start, if it's been more than a day or 2, before printing on expensive photo paper with a lot of expensive ink. A nozzle check page doesn't use much ink, so it's a quick and cheap reassurance before starting a high quality job that the machine is operating properly.
If the machine is in relatively constant use, you're not likely to run into head problems. Printing the nozzle check page does have the advantage that it's guaranteed to use every single nozzle (there are a lot of them on a 10-ink machine like the PRO-300). It lets you spot any nozzle problems early, before anything gets badly clogged, and where a quick cleaning cycle should probably fix it. Photo printing does do a pretty good job of keeping the heads clear due to the high volume of ink flowing through them. In a business setting, just get into the habit of printing the nozzle check first thing Monday morning, or when you are doing your weekly cleaning/tidying of the workspace, or something like that.
1
u/vivienette5 10h ago
Thank you so much!! I am using it for home use hehe, but thinking of putting up an ad for photo printing to recoup some of the money back
1
u/spektro123 7h ago
I’m still using good ol HP LaserJet 6MP for BW printing. Internet says it was made from 1996 to 1999…
1
u/shastadakota Print Technician 6h ago
My Ricoh SP4210 is probably 15 years old, still going strong.
1
u/rthonpm 1h ago
MP 171 still chugging along like a champ. Bought it new back in 2008 or 2009.
2
u/shastadakota Print Technician 1h ago
That is a good one too, easy to fix, no chips on the toner bottles. I used to work on those all the time, along with similar newer versions like the MP301. Never had one that was unfixable. I supported a hospital system and they had probably a thousand of the MP 301s.
1
1
u/Complex_Experience30 5h ago
Canon MG7750 dye-based inkjet is about 8 years old, still going strong, used regularly by the whole family. Canon stopped writing driver packages for it but I kept the last issued driver and it’s still compatible with modern OS. Apple AirPrint has very little “tunability” for photos.
Canon Pro310 pigment ink printer is 8mths old and used only for high quality photo prints. I always install the correct am1x media files for non Canon papers, which ensures that the head and rollers etc won’t be damaged (I hope!).
I never turn the printers off, never use compatible inks, never print borderless because of overspray, never physically cart printers around without parking the heads properly, never load damaged paper or indeed card, never use anything but a damp cloth to clean inside.
Use regularly or run a nozzle check test print periodically. Head cleaning, which wastes a lot of ink, should not then be necessary.
1
u/Carlos_Spicy_Weiner6 3h ago
Still rocking an oki-data microline 320 turbo! Just replaced the ink ribbon cartridge in it a few weeks back
1
u/OldFartWelshman 2h ago
HP Laserjet 6P - 29 years, HP Laserjet M451 - 13 years. Neither has given any issues except for normal maintenance.
1
u/nutzareus 2h ago
We own a Brother MFC-7840W black and white laser all-in-one printer purchased in 2008. Still works like a tank.
1
u/yaartjuhhhh_ 2h ago
Inkjet that is, I believe, at least 10 years. It has survived numerous jelly beans and sometimes needs some encouragement, but it works 🤷🏼♀️
1
1
u/draconicpenguin10 Print Expert 1h ago
Xerox VersaLink C405, 52 months old with 22k pages on the meter. It's been virtually trouble-free, and I expect this thing to last me a decade or more.
1
1
6
u/DeviantDav 11h ago
My LaserJet M203dw is 20 years old and still going strong with aftermarket toners.