Printer Lifecycle

About7Narwhal

All,

Does anyone have suggestions for life-cycling Laser Jet printers? Currently we have no metrics to go by and are looking to formulate a checklist to determine if we should repair or replace a printer. I am struggling to find a jumping off point so any assistance is appreciated.

Plantwiz

How much trouble are you having with your print devices?

I'm trying to recall an issue in thirty years that would require a discussion of, 'should we repair this or replace it?' Not that a repair cost should not be part of a budget, I'm trying to recall any time a network print device was ever a significant issue. Hence, they are usually kept in production as long as they work and toner and drivers are available. Ten years or so.

Used mostly HP devices. Some Xerox and Lexmark. Brother tend to be the most problematic from my experience.

So, back to the question of 'what have you seen break?'

Sticking with quality units tends to minimize problems. Major things will break under a normal warranty period, anything worse, maybe replace the device. Three years on an aggressive replacement plan and can be justified with staying forward compliant security/drivers etc.. However, most places I have seen adopt the, 'if it is not broken, don't fix it' or 'run the wheels off it'. And simply see print devices as disposable.

wd40

From a financial point of view, what is the current written down value?

For example we have a 4 years cycle for small printers.

If it costs 480$ to purchase, divide that by 48 months => you lose 10$ value every month.
if it fails at month 45, the printer still has 30$ dollar value, if it will cost you 100$ to repair then replacing it will be a good idea.

And as a note, printers are like cars, when faults start (due to age) they never stop, it starts with the fuser, then rollers and gears, then trays break etc etc.

Areba21

All inkjet printers are designed to be used regularly. This is due to the nature of the technology - there is a natural tendency for all inkjet liquid ink systems and printheads to naturally dry out and develop clogs over time. This is especially a problem for occasional users where the printer is more likely to be left unused for weeks/months at a time.

All inkjet printers perform maintenance before any print job to ensure that the print head remains as clean as possible and that any air bubbles are expelled from the ink system and that the ink trapped in the supply lines and in the print head remains fresh and viscous on its own. When an inkjet printer is left unused (not powered on) for many weeks/month at a time, it will not have an opportunity to perform its regular maintenance to avoid drying of the ink system. Due to the way inkjet printers function, there is a risk of permanent damage to the printhead if the printer's ink system has begun to dry out.

shochan

From a security point of view...most newer printers services/ports/protocols can be enabled or disabled...if you cannot turn these off within the web interface or CLI of the older printer, I would say recycle the printer & get one that you can manage these services better.