Best deal on colorstix?

[uscpsycho]

Where have you found to get the best deal on Phaser 850 colorstix (genuine)? I just got my 850 running and there are so many people selling aftermarket ink that it's hard to price shop for genuine ink.

If posting that kind of information is not allowed on this forum, please email me at roy -( a t )- netraction.com

Thanks.

 

[uscpsycho]

Speaking of buying colorstix, if any of you power users have too many Phaser 850 stix on your hands, I'd be happy to buy a set from you to get me started (I have zero ink). Contact me at the email address in my original post.

 

[marty5261]

You can try Xerox's website and look for a reseller in your area, though I do not think you will get much price variation from them. I have seen some good prices on the auction websites. I would stay away from the aftermarket inks, they are cheaper but you get what you pay for and there is a real problem that can arise down the road regarding print quality and printhead damage.

 

[jgideon]

We just bought an 8400, and the best price I found on ink was through

http://www.shopperwiz.com/

If you have a manuf. part number, i'd suggest going to

http://froogle.google.com/

and searching for the part number, then sorting by price.

 

[Einar43]

Genuine Xerox ink isn't where most resellers make their money, so there's generally not much profit margin in there for them to discount their prices.

What are your concerns about using generic? I'd be interested to hear from Marty5261 what his experience has been.

 

[marty5261]

The problematic history using 3rd party or generic ink sticks has been that they will cause a printhead failure. What you will experience is massive jet failure in one or two colors, the test prints will show nearly all the jets have failed and running cleaning cycles is a waste of time. My experience has been that at about a 75%-80% of users will experience this issue, but there is no time frame where you can say that after a month of usage it will start to occurr, it could be a month or it could be 2 years. One thing I do believe speeds up the process is when you use both Xerox/Tektronix ink along with the generic inks. Typically people will buy the generic colors and use genuine black because up to the 860 model it was free. The black jets are on the bottom of the printhead faceplate and the generic inks create alot of scum residue which runs down the faceplate causing the black jets to fail. Alot of mis-statements have been made regarding the use of the generic inks, such as it voids service agreements or warranties, IT DOES NOT VOID EITHER, but Xerox will not cover the cost of replacing a printhead which has failed due to the use of generic inks. Some ink manufacturers will even pay for having the head replaced even if it is not under contract or warranty, as I have been contacted by them on numerous occassions to do just that. I have had customers use this ink for a short time and then revert back because the colors are not quite the same, because of patent laws they can not duplicate the exact formula. Bottom line is that the failures occur due to compatibility problems and if you are willing to deal with the possibility of a failure and patient enough to jump through the hoops to get the head replaced then yes you can save money on buying the generic ink. Yes resellers do not make much profit on selling Xerox ink verus the off brands. I believe we make maybe about 5-7 dollars a box and we sell below list, so profit margins are not very high but my boss has indicated he does not want to deal with the inherent problems which can arise. I hope this answers any questions.

 

[TCouch]

I will COMPLETELY AGREE with Marty on the problems with using 3rd Party Inks. I'm a Xerox Service Center, and have MANY customers who use this 3rd party ink. I have one printer in my shop, where the customer got the Phaser for free, but had to estimate how much printing she does on a monthly basis, and then they would send her xx number of inksticks based on that estimate. Problem was, she over estimated. She now has a stockpile of this ink, from a company, that has since been absorbed by another 3rd party ink mfg. I am having to replace the printhead in her printer twice, within the last 12 months. I am currently waiting on this 2nd replacement printhead to arrive. Although, the new company is still validating her warranty based on her use of this ink, and is replacing her printhead, I feel that this most likely would not have happened if she were using Xerox brand ink.

Now, I'm NOT saying that you will never experience a printhead failure if you use Xerox ink. Of all the Phaser printers that I've worked on, only about 10% needing replacement printehads, are using Xerox ink. Which leaves 90% of the failures with Non-Xerox ink.

Now, my experience with these 3rd Party ink mfg's have been less than spectacular. I had two Phaser 8200's come in around the same time, both with the same Non-Xerox ink. After sending ofer the necessary pages to get the printhead replacement on it's way, I was called by their team. They advised me that the 8200 printhead was on 90 back order, and that rather than wait, they would replace the printers with the new 8400. Sounds like a good deal right. I told both my customers this, and they were excited. Well, one of my customers got the new 8400. The other did not. And kept calling me to see what was going on. After finally being able to reach the ink mfg that said they were going to replace the printer, they politely advised that the printheads were no longer on back order. They sent one out to me. So, one gets a new printer from Xerox. The other gets a refurbished printhead in their existing printer. On the one that they had replaced, originally they wanted only the Main Board sent back to them, as verifiaction that the printer was not going to be repaired and resold. Later, that was changed to send back the whole printer.

In regards to the customer that got the replacement printhead for their 8200, we had their printer for about 2 months before we actually recieved the printhead.

The Advantage to using Non-Xerox ink, was that this mfg replaced the printhead, and paid my service labor, which meant no cost was incured to the customer.

The Disadvantage - We had their printer for about 2 Months before we actually got a printhead to make the necessary repairs.

Timothy N. Couch
A1 Printech
Anchorage, AK

 

[papiste]

The black jets are on the bottom of the printhead faceplate and the generic inks create alot of scum residue which runs down the faceplate causing the black jets to fail"

What's a user supposed to do ?
I live in the Caribbean and here the local Xerox dealership sell packs of three Colorstix at around 200 us dollars.
Which makes me very reluctant to carry out purges - each purge of the heads costs me a small fortune. And then there are the frequent power outages - triggering the expensive start-up cycle.
I had a problem with the 8200 which the generic ink company kindly sorted out for me. Are the gneric inks equally problematic with the 8400 ? I've been getting pale stripes on my 8400 but the tests are showing no malfunctioning jet.
I was wondering whether a hot, humid climate could cause printing problems.

 

[TCouch]

As for the 8400 printer, my repair experience with that has been limited. I've not had to replace any printheads in that, simply because none have come in with jet problems. Again, that's not to say that they won't ever. Just that at this time, I haven't had any. The problem with the 8400 that I have seen is in regards to the Maintanence Drum Kick Plate. Xerox has an advisory out on this, where the earlier plates crack causing inconsistant oiling of the drum. Easiest way to tell if you have the old one, or the new one is it's color. The older one, that cracks is black, whereas the redesigned plate is white. Remove the Oil Roller and look towards the front of the printer.

As for other inks in the 8400, I've just not seen it. Currently, all our customers with 8400's are using Xerox ink. Our price to our customers for the Xerox brand ink is $100 for the 3 pack of Cyan, Magenta, or Yellow, and $00 for the 6 pack of Black. Which is what you can purchase it for at Xerox's Web Site. I'm sure you could probably buy your ink mail order through Xerox or some other company that will give you Xerox prices. You'd obviously have to pay shipping, but it should more than make up for it, as opposed to buying it locally at $200.

Timothy N. Couch
A1 Printech
Anchorage, AK

 

[papiste]

TCouch

Thanks for your very helpful reply.

However, you can't help wondering whether even at the prices you quote for Colorstix it is reasonable for so much ink to be wasted on purges.

I don't know how much ink each purge consumes - but it is a hefty percentage of any given ink block, each of which costs some 30 dollars. This consumption is in my opinion the Phaser's achilles heel. It seriously puts up the overall running costs. As I understand it, 8400 inks are more expensive than other inks, volume for volume.

What stops the generic ink makers from sorting out the scum problem in their inks? After all, replacing clogged printheads can't be an option they're keen on.

 

[kcoates55]

There's always eBay. I've gotten some good deals on genuine ink for my 850.

 

[jdwvw]

Generic ink is Bad stuff. Stay away from it if you like your printer.

 

[papiste]

Back in May, Timothy Couch wrote:

"As for the 8400 printer, my repair experience with that has been limited. "
I have had problems with both 8200 and 8400. What I need to know is whether generic inks cause clogging more frequently than Xerox inks. Given that where I live, three inks cost 200 us, I just can't afford frequent purges although I frequently get pale stripes.
If generic inks cause clogging, then clearly I am not saving money by buying them.

 

[kcoates55]

eBay!

 

[davii]

Ebay is always useful - many on a buy it now basis.

Never had any probs with 3rd party ink myself...