Does XEROX 8570 & 8870 ink interchange? 4

[tivie]

I have both the 8570 & 8650 printers. When I purchased my 8570, it came with a rainbow starter pack of ink cubes. The box states "For the Colorqube 8570/8870 solid ink printers." I see also that the specs on my maintenance kit works for both also. So here's my question .... Can I use 8870 ink in my 8570 printer? Seems to me if the starter ink pack works in both, the ink should interchange. Am I correct?

 

[rclarke250]

They do not show as compatible on the xerox site. I would use caution, doesn't mean they won't work, but the ink has different stock numbers.

 

[tivie]

Thank you so much for the advice. I am so tempted to try it. I think I understand why it wouldn't show compatible on the xerox site ... The ink for the two are on opposite sides of the spectrum. I can get 6 ink sticks for the 8870(17500 pgs)for the same price as two costs for the 8570. Of course I gave 800.00 for my 8570, whereas the 8870 costs 2000.00 +. I just keep going back to the starter pack that says you can use the same set for either printer. I think I am going to go for it. If it doesn't work, I'll sell it on ebay I would appreciate hearing from anyone who may have tried it, and what their results were. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again rclarke250 for your help.

 

[bwl]

Hi,

The ink sticks are not interchangable, alltough they look like it but i can guarantee you they are not.

I myself am a engineer @xerox thats where i got the above info from

 

[tivie]

Thank you. I appreciate your response. But since you work for Xerox, can you explain to me why the starter ink set is for both printers then? Whats the difference in the inks?

 

[tivie]

Oh wait, I just saw an error in my first post. I have an 8750 & 8560. The starter ink for the 8570 states its for the 8570/8870. That was my question.Are THEY interchangeable? This has nothing to do with my 8560. So sorry for the confusion.

 

[startkapital]

Generally spoken both Inks do interchange
Problem is the Size and Shape of 8870 Ink Bloks

With the old 8860 Ink bloks it was fairly easy to melt them very carefully with a hotplate or flatiron and let the melted inkwax drop into the corresponding 8560 plastic jacket.

Shape and weight was successfully registered with each block I made my self.

The Ink Block for the 8570 however doesnt come with the "negative" cast plastic jacket. Have have to improvise a 2 sided cast with Silicone or a similar material.

For example with the OLD models 8860/8560

108R00746 Xerox Cyan Colorstick Phaser 8860/8860 MFP 6x around 14.000 pages with 5% coverage Cost = approx $75 incl. Shipping

108R00723 Xerox Cyan Colorstick Phaser 8560/8560 MFP 3x around 3400 pages with 5% coverage Cost = approx $100 incl. Shipping

I basicly calculate the averange cost per page based on these prices and the result is that the ink for the 8860 models are nearly 5,5x times cheaper than the 8560 is! We are talking about the Original Xerox ink.

(0,0053571428571429/0,0294117647058824)=5,49

I always use a Pair of clean rubber gloves for each "color" I melt down with the flatiron. You get nearly 13 Blocks of 8560 ink out of the six 8860 ink blocks. Each package has 3 in it equals:
13/3*100USD=USD 433,33 worth ink out of USD75,- ink wow!!

 

[mcstever]

Mechanically, the 8570 and 8870 share many components.
What would be required to convert a 8570 into a 8870? Anyone know?

 

[Viridel]

So was there a final answer on this? The thread started with two models, then changed into two different ones, then kinda' died.

I'd obviously prefer to use the 6 @ $120 8870 ink instead of the 2 @ $150 8570 ink. I'm sure the composition of the ink is identical, but what I've been reading (including above) is that the shape is different. So basically, what do I need to do to make this work? I don't have any molds, but if someone can direct me the appropriate way (including where to get molds), and provide clear and careful directions, I think I'd be willing to try it out... I think

Thanks!
- V

 

[tivie]

I bought the ink and tried to melt it down. That was a mess. I used the mold they came in and it warped from the heat. To my best guestimation, they have to be a particular weight also. All in all, it would work, but you'd have to do your homework first. Mostly trial and error. Straight out of the box, they are completely different sizes, so it's a no-go. I ended up buying the 8860 printer. It costs a little more in the beginning, but the ink is so much cheaper and last forever. In the long run, I'm still saving money. Just my 2 cents. Good luck. Let me know if you are successful at melting it down, as I still have my other printer. One thing I thought of after the fact, was to maybe place your molds in a ice water bath before pouring the melted wax into it to cool it faster???
Good luck!

 

[Viridel]

So logically speaking, if I were to make a mold (using my existing blocks as a model) out of plaster or similar non-shrinking, heat resistant material (I think clay shrinks when it's fired, right?), there's really no reason for this not to work? Problem is that I want/need to save money, so tossing a $500 printer to buy a $2500 printer isn't exactly high on my wishlist

 

[startkapital]

2 compontent silicon rubber is the solition for cast making.. but i am 100% sure that the 8570 cubes require a 2 part mould

 

[oregondean]

It looks to me like the 8870 ink is simply a longer version of the 8570 - just over 1/3 longer if you use page count as the ratio.

The "lower" 76% or so of the ink (the side that has the slight arrow pointing out when you can read 'Xerox' - down in the pictures below) is the same as the 8570 cartridge. It looks to me like you could take 8870 ink and cut them to the proper length, carve the notch out of the upper part of the stick and you would be good to go. The feet and footprint will match because the 8570/8870 starter kit implies 8570 ink works in the 8870 - they have to have the same lower 75%.

The ink you cut off could be melted down and using a silicone mold cast to look like a new 8570 stick. I am not convinced that the weight of the stick matters as all of the printer sensors seem to be looking at the bottom feet placement and sides etc. of the cartridge. Can anyone confirm this? Seems to me this would be a pretty simple 1 part mold. I'm not convinced you need to be concerned about how tall the ink is when re-cast and probably don't need the smaller rectangle where the Xerox is printed. @startkapital - why are you sure a 2 part mold is required?

8870:

8570:

And let's do the math ... without using a mold - what if we simply threw away the cut off 24% of the ink and didn't melt anything. The cost drops to $15.50 per stick!

[ul]
[li]2 sticks for 8570 (4,400 pages ... 2,200 pages per stick) for $150 ($75 each)[/li]
[li]vs.[/li]
[li]6 sticks for 8870 (17,300 pages ... 2,883 pages per stick - 31% more pages than the 8570 stick) pages for $93 ($15.50 each ... 64% cheaper than 8570). If indeed we cut the 8750 ink down to match the 8570 profile then they too should have approx 2,200 pages per stick and the cost remains $15.50 a stick. If you melt and reuse the scrap then you should get down to just over $10 for each equivalent 8570 stick.[/li]
[/ul]

A hot wire cutter would make cutting and notching a breeze. I looked up "hot wire styrofoam cutter" and found lots of sources for hot wire cutters starting at about $30. Probably best tto buy 4 cutting wires - one for each color.

Also, I just hit the dreaded "Starter ink quota exceeded" on my 8570 (ink p/n 108R00926). Of course I have 4 more boxes of 8570 starter ink on hand. I moved the foot from position "D" to position "C" on each stick using an X-acto knife I heated on our gas stove. The printer took the modified ink fine. Even this conversion would be faster with a hot wire so I might give it a try.

 

[fsanford]

Could you explain where position "D" and position "C" are, related to the foot? Higher or lower or left or right.
Please excuse my ignorance.

Thanks in advance.

 

[shalamar1]

I am also having difficulty in finding Position 'C' and what that means. There is a mark 'A' and 'D' at the bottom but that is about it.

 

[oregondean]

Take a look here:

Link

The positions A->D are all in a column on the bottom of the ink.

On the starter ink there are blocks in positions A & C as shown in the picture. On production ink they are in positions A & D. I used a hot X-Acto knife to move the block from C to D on a starter block and the printer took it fine thinking it was production ink.

ds

 

[fsanford]

Got it. Thanks again for the info and quick response.

 

[startkapital]

I had only bought per local pickup a starter block for the 8570 Color BLACK and did a two part silicone mold. It works great put its not necessarily useful due to the starting ink count limitation.

I need a full pack of C Y M K OEM Blocks to do so that would be great!

 

[shalamar1]

Thanks guys for sharing this valuable information about the different positions as well as the silicone mold.
But there is one slight problem. The new 8570 that I have got came with starter (rainbow) ink pack that does not differentiate the block positions. The entire side is flat. How do you deal with that? I am absolutely confused.

 

[oregondean]

The rainbow boxes of starter ink I am using are Xerox p/n 108R00966 (Pins A & D). What is your part number?

Also - Please note an error in my previous picture - I inverted the description. Pins A & D exist for STARTER ink, Pins A & C are for PRODUCTION ink.