Ink Low—This message displays when your ink stick gets to the halfway mark.

Ink Sticks Jammed—If you see this message, open your top cover to make sure the ink sticks are in the right spots. If a stick has broken, clean the bottom of your printer and any remaining ink sticks to ensure that broken pieces are gone.

Out of ink—If this message appears, you need to install at least one ink stick.

Waste Liner Full—Your waste liner need to be replaced or changed.

Install Tray—A maintenance tray needs to be installed inside the printer.

Jam: Open Exit Cover—Open the output tray, and remove the paper jam.

Jam: Open Front Cover—Open the input tray, and remove the paper jam.

Jam: Retry Manual Feed—If this message appears, take out any paper in the automatic document feeder. After you have cleared the paper jam or taken any loose paper out, add the paper back to the printer.

Replace Media Tray—When you see this message, one or more of your media trays must be reinserted.

Fault Service Required—Write down the error message, and turn your printer off. Wait about 15 seconds, and then turn your printer back on. If the message still displays, call your manufacturer.

Though there are a few more error messages that occur with Xerox Phaser printers, these are the most popular. For a comprehensive list, consult your manufacturer.

The first step is to select the “Troubleshooting” option on the front panel of your printer. Next, choose the “Print Quality Problems” option. Then click “Eliminate Light Stripes”, followed by the “Ok” button. A test page will print out, examine this document, and check it for missing color bars. This step will clearly indicate which color you are having trouble with. If there are missing bars, repeat the troubleshooting process once more.

The second time this process is requested, it will be a more extensive cleaning. Usually this will take a much longer amount of time than the first cleaning, but in most cases, the second cleaning will do the trick. This step can be repeated up to three times if the stripes are still appearing. 

After the initial step and cleaning have finishes, scroll to the “Exit” option and press “Select”. This will get your computer back to normal operation. The indicator that your printer is ready to go is a “Ready to Print” message.

Try printing normally, and if your prints still have the color stripe, turn your printer off and unplug it for up to four hours. When you turn it back on, it should perform a self-cleaning routine that could fix the problem. After this, up to two more troubleshooting cleaning procedures can be operated. For almost all cases, one of these cleaning procedures will fix your printer’s problem. However, in the off-chance that it is not fixed, you may need to call your manufacturer.

ChromaLife, or ChromaLife 100, is a combination of specialized inks and specialized papers designed to resist color fading over many years, unlike traditional ink and paper.  The system uses special ink in CMYK format and special paper, both of which are more resistant to fading and other problems that can affect inkjet prints in the long term. 

Canon claims that their inks and paper can provide up to 100 years in a photo album away from light sources and other harmful conditions.  They also claim that prints can resist fading for up to 30 years under normal lighting conditions.  They claim up to 10 years of gas fastness, which is resistance to fading that is caused by mixed gases that can often be harmful to photos and prints.  Lastly, they claim that ChromaLife prints are more resistant to heat and humidity than traditional inks and paper.

The long term results of ChromaLife technologies are generally unproven, though Canon has performed simulated tests that are designed to accelerate results.  They believe that these tests show an improvement in fade resistance.  Canon is careful to point out that they cannot guarantee the longevity of prints, as many factors can contribute to color fading and other problems, such as storage conditions, environmental factors, and drying times.

While it is unclear what effect the Canon ChromaLife technology will have in the long term, Canon is taking steps to improve the longevity of inkjet prints.  In any case, this will certainly be a benefit to the ongoing improvement of inkjet technology.

Xerox’s line of solid ink printers are a remarkable feat of technology. Solid ink printers have many major advantages over inkjet and laser printers, and are becoming increasingly popular in the business world. But where did the solid ink technology come from? Here is a brief history of the solid ink printer.

Solid ink technology got its start with Tektronix, Inc., a US company that got its start in 1946 producing test equipment such as oscilloscopes. In later years the company would expand into other areas of technology, such as computer terminals, flatbed plotters, and television and video equipment. In the past, Tektronix has been allied with larger companies such as Sony, operating in Japan under the name Sony-Tektronix.

In 1986, Tektronix invented solid ink technology, which used solid sticks of ink instead of powders or liquids. Though the technology had been around for years, Tektronix didn’t develop a working ink jet printer until 1991. Although the first ink jet printers were fairly successful, it had many problems. In order for solid ink jets to spray directly onto the paper, it required a large amount of movement, and when combined with heavy printheads, it resulted in a printer that rocked back and forth violently. Also, as the printheads printed in separate “bands” of color, it was difficult to achieve alignment within the image.

Starting in 1995, Tektronix began using a different design that involved spraying ink onto a drum, instead of the paper. This drum would then roll across the page, transferring the ink to the paper. This design fixed many of the problems of earlier designs, and is still used in modern solid ink printers.

In 2000, Xerox acquired the Tektronix Color Printing and Imaging Division, which included all of its solid ink products and technologies. Today, Xerox is the only major manufacturer to produce solid ink printers. Its Phaser and ColorQube series of printers are extremely popular, and still utilize the designs and innovations created by the Tektronix company so many years ago.

Early versions of solid ink printers used a printhead that printed directly onto the paper, similar to an inkjet printer. This caused many problems. First, the printhead was so heavy that shuffling the printhead back and forth across the page would cause the entire printer to rock back and forth. Second, the ink drops from one pass would often not line up correctly with another pass, causing inaccuracies. Lastly, this system relied on combining two color droplets to achieve some colors, and the order of combining caused color inaccuracies.

Modern solid ink printers use a different method of printing. The solid ink sticks are melted at a temperature of 135 degrees Celsius. The molten ink is then sprayed onto a drum rather than the paper itself. The drum is the rolled across the paper and the ink is transferred directly onto the page. When the ink is sprayed onto the drum, it can be sprayed much more accurately than it can be sprayed onto a page, and spraying onto the drum allows the ink to change from its molten state into a semi-solid state, which is more malleable and more easily transferred to paper. This also allows for quicker drying, as the paper is completely dry and ready to use by the time it comes out of the printer.

This process also improves color clarity because the ink is not wet when it contacts the paper. Rather than soaking into the paper, it fuses to the paper. Wet ink is often slightly absorbed into the paper, affecting the color. This is not the case with solid ink technology.

Today, we explore the question: Are compatible ink sticks as good as OEM (original equipment manufacturer) ink sticks? In other words, is buying a third party brand instead of Xerox brand safe? The short answer is yes, and compatible ink sticks can also save you quite a bit of money over their OEM counterparts.

Compatible ink products have gotten somewhat of a bad reputation in recent years, mainly due to inkjet cartridges and ink. With a large majority of consumers using inkjet printers and wanting to save money, companies have filled that gap with compatible inkjet cartridges and refill kits. Unfortunately, these products run the gamut from high-quality to extremely poor quality. The result is horror stories of poor quality inkjet cartridges that have ruined inkjet printers.

While there are still poor quality inkjet cartridges around, solid ink printers don’t suffer from some of the issues that have given compatible inkjet cartridges their bad reputation. For example, a compatible inkjet cartridge must include the cartridge itself, the circuitry, and a number of other tiny parts, all of which need to function properly.

A solid ink stick, on the other hand, has none of these parts. A solid ink stick is only solidified ink. There are no cartridges or parts to be reverse-engineered. In fact, the only quality concern with a compatible ink stick is with the quality of the ink itself. Even on the rare occasion that a compatible ink stick did not perform properly, once the ink stick is consumed, there is no trace of it left behind, meaning it can be replaced with a better quality stick with no damage to the printer.

As long as you look for a reliable reseller with a satisfaction guarantee to back their products, compatible ink sticks should be just as high-quality and reliable as the sticks you buy from Xerox. This is one case where you can save money and still get the quality you expect.

There is no question that going green is becoming increasingly important to both individuals and to businesses. Many businesses are looking for more and more ways of reducing their impact on the environment through recycling programs, lowering power consumption, and reducing waste. One aspect that might not be immediately obvious in creating a greener workplace is a printer, but printers can contribute significantly to power usage, waste, and environmental impact.

Solid ink printers are some of the greenest printers available on the market. Let us explore a few of the benefits of solid ink printers, and how they can help create a greener office.

1. 90% less waste

Solid ink printers produce 90% less waste than color laser printers. With a color laser printer, the ink is contained in a cartridge, which needs a certain amount of packaging to protect the cartridge. Many color laser toner cartridges are thrown away to end up in a landfill. Solid ink “sticks” need no cartridge. They are simply inserted into the printer directly, and are completely consumed, leaving behind no cartridge or waste. They also require less packaging, as they are not as sensitive as ink cartridges when transporting, and the packaging can usually be recycled.

2. Printing on Recycled paper

While many laser printers can have difficulty printing on recycled paper, solid ink printers can print on virtually any type of recycled paper. The solid ink printing process allows for more flexibility of paper types in general.

3. Free Greenprint software

Xerox includes its Greenprint software for free with every solid ink printer. This software monitors all print jobs for unnecessary banners, URLs, or blank pages that normally take up unnecessary space, resulting in fewer unnecessary pages printed, and therefore, less ink, paper, and power consumption. The average office user saves 1400 pages annually by using this software, adding up to a significant savings for an entire company.

4. Intelligent Ready

The Intelligent Ready technology allows the printer to learn from your printing habits and patterns, intelligently putting itself into low power mode when it is not likely to be used. For example, if your entire office goes to lunch from noon to 1 every day, the printer will learn this pattern and lower its power usage during this period.

Individuals and businesses are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need to become greener, and it is a welcome change to see this being utilized by printer manufacturers. These improvements not only help the environment by reducing waste and power consumption, but also help save businesses money, creating a win-win situation for everyone.

Solid ink printers have many benefits. They are cost-saving, simple to operate, and extremely reliable. As with any product, however, they come with their own specific issues that may crop up from time to time. One of these issues is known as “light stripes”. Simply put, light stripes are vertical stripes where the ink did not print correctly. On white paper, it looks like a tiny stripe of white in the middle of a letter or a graphic. These light stripes are usually caused by one or more jets being clogged within the printer. Luckily, Xerox has a built-in cleaning procedure specifically for this problem. Here are the steps:

1. Scroll to Menu and press the Select button.

2. Scroll to Troubleshooting and press the Select button.

3. Scroll to “Eliminate Light Stripes” and press the select button.

4. The printer will run a cleaning routine and give indications on the front panel about its progress. At the end of the process, the printer will print a test page to confirm whether the problem was solved or not.

5. The test page will contain 4 bars in each of the colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. If there are still light stripes or gaps in any of the bars, repeat the cleaning sequence.

6. If the prints still show light stripes after two cleaning sequences, turn off the printer for more than 4 hours to allow the ink to solidify. When the printer is turned on it will run a separate cleaning process which may solve the problem.

7. If the prints still show lights stripes, run the “Eliminate Light Stripes” procedure two more times.

8. If the problem still persists, the printer may need to be serviced.

1. Cost

Solid ink printers tend to be more expensive than their laser counterparts, at least initially. This is somewhat balanced by the lower operating costs and lower waste associated with solid ink technology, but is still a consideration for buyers on a budget.

2. Warm-up time

A certain amount of ink needs to be melted before printing. If the printer is in standby mode or turned off, there is a wait time while the printer warms up before the first page can be printed. Once warm, this wait time is no longer necessary.

3. Cannot be used with laser printers

Solid ink prints will melt under the heat of a laser printer, so letterheads and other stationary printed on a solid ink printer can not later be fed through a laser printer.

4. Ink dumping

If a solid ink printer loses power, the melted ink is dumped into a waste tank and cannot be recovered. This could be resolved with the use of a battery backup unit in areas where power loss is common.

5. Moving the unit can cause damage

Solid ink printers have sensitive parts that may be damaged if the unit is moved while still warm. The printer must be allowed to cool completely before moving. In many printers, there is a procedure and a menu option for locking down sensitive parts before moving.

6. Noise

Solid ink printers tend to be somewhat louder than laser printers, though mostly during the ink melting process. This will likely only be a major concern in smaller offices where workers are in close proximity to the printer.

1. Great print quality
Solid ink printers produce prints of high quality, on par with laser printers, and in some cases can even outdo laser printer quality. Solid ink prints also dry faster than laser prints, reducing the potential for smudging if pages rub together or come in contact with fingers.

2. Better for the environment
Solid ink blocks produce virtually no waste. Unlike ink cartridges, which are either thrown away or recycled, solid ink is totally used up, with no waste left behind, leaving a smaller impact on the environment. In addition, solid ink printer produce no ozone, unlike some inkjet and laser printers. These factors combine to make solid ink printing a very green solution.

3. Easy to use
Solid ink is easy to replace. It comes in blocks or sticks of color that are simply inserted into slots in the printer. Xerox makes this even easier by designing each stick with different shapes to prevent the user from putting the wrong color into the wrong slot.

4. Speed
Not only do solid ink printers print very quickly, they have faster “first page out” times than most laser printers. However, this comes with a caveat. When the printers are not warmed up, first page out time is drastically slower. High-volume offices will see the most benefit, as the printer will nearly always stay in a warm state.

5. Third-party supplies
Because solid ink printers don’t require cartridges, the availability of third-party ink sellers is much greater. It is much easier for third-party sellers to manufacture solid ink blocks than to manufacture ink and cartridges for laser and inkjet printers.