Need a printer for 10,000 (moderate quality) 13x19 prints a year

[Ink stained Fingers]

that's a valid point - the WF-7210DTW has a user replaceable maintenance/waste ink box

 

[maximilian59]

There is still another option: Epson P5000. Built like a tank for heavy usage. Up to 200 ml cartridges make printing cheaper. They cost about 90$ which is 45 cents per ml, or roundabout 1$ per print.
Cheers,
Maximilian

 

[The Hat]

In all likelihood, with a Pro-10/Pro-100/Pro-200, the waste inkpad counter would reach full

You are forgetting the Pro 100/Pro 10 can now be rest, so that is no longer a problem.. But finding one is…

 

[maximilian59]

In all likelihood, with a Pro-10/Pro-100/Pro-200, the waste inkpad counter would reach full long before printing 10.000 13x19" canvas sheets.

How often did this happen with your old printers? It takes a long time to fill the ink pads of a Pro-100. There are not many reports that this happened and this is an old printer.
Do you print borderless? Than you have to check in advance, whether other foams or pads may reach end life first. It may occur that these pads are not user replaceable and no resetting exists.
Cheers,
Maximilian

 

[palombian]

Why don’t you look into getting a second hand Pro 100 or Pro 10, they can handle every one of your needs x 10…

For 10.000 prints of that size it is a full time job on all printers discussed. Estimating a refill of small cartridges 2 times a day, 10 minutes won't change much.

I would provide some redundancy with at least a second printer.

@The Hat: how many prints/year you made in your heydays with such printers and how long did they last ?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

the thread title inquires for a printer for 10 000 prints / year with 'moderate' quality which let me exclude high quality photo printers but rather propose office type printers instead which most likely would to the job. I can imagine that it is not easy at this time for @artprint1 to make the right decision.

 

[The Hat]

@The Hat: how many prints/year you made in your heydays with such printers and how long did they last ?

I was averaging 2000 prints a day and I never lost a printer due to print volume or pads full, but I did lose one due to ignorance when the purge pump blew off a pipe and failed, and I hadn’t got a clue back then..

I can imagine that it is not easy at this time for @artprint1 to make the right decision.

@artprint1 can’t make a proper decision, because there are no printers that go anyway near her requirements sadly.. Maybe choosing two printers might work..

 

[artprint1]

I was averaging 2000 prints a day and I never lost a printer due to print volume or pads full, but I did lose one due to ignorance when the purge pump blew off a pipe and failed, and I hadn’t got a clue back then..

@artprint1 can’t make a proper decision, because there are no printers that go anyway near her requirements sadly.. Maybe choosing two printers might work..

I definitely don't mind buying and running two simultaneous printers.

I also understand we need an array of cartridges that are ready to hot swap.

Mostly my goal was to not have to babysit the printers so much. With our current Canon Pixma iX6820, the ink cartridges are so tiny that we're swapping them every 8 prints. And then everytime we swap a cartridge, the printer takes 5 minutes to continue its cartridge priming routine.

We have to pretty much stick with a rear-loading paper printers because our canvas paper is so thick. That means printers like the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-16600 probably won't work.

So the Epson Ecotank L1800 seems to be the best bet for now.

Maybe the Pro 100/Pro 10

I have used wastepad reset software before to hack our Artisan printer. But I never actually changed out the hardware. Just did a software reset.

One good thing about the Canon Pixma iX6820 is that they are so cheap, we could buy 5 of them and have them working simultaneously, for the same prices as one of the bigger/better printers.

 

[maximilian59]

With our current Canon Pixma iX6820, the ink cartridges are so tiny that we're swapping them every 8 prints

Maybe you could use the inks from the new G520 and refill carts. With resetter you can always fill them up and then change a complete set of carts. So you start again and again with a full set. Refillable carts for this printer should be very cheap. If your already used carts are transparent you can start refilling these. So you can also look for carts with the biggest volume and use these. Depending how many set you need, you fill them all in advance. Changing always the whole set will reduce ink usage, less cleaning cycles after change, and save a lot time. The ChromaLife100 inks are not bad and you can get constant quality. Aftermarket you have with Precision Colors also a reliable source for inks in bigger quantities.
Cheers,
Maximilian

 

[Artur5]

You are forgetting the Pro 100/Pro 10 can now be rest, so that is no longer a problem.. But finding one is…

I didn't forget at all, but reseting the counter is not enough in this case. The user must clean or replace the waste ink pads. Most people ( including myself ) won't dare to do that. You know too well that it requires disassembling and reassembling most of the machine.
The alternative of placing the printer in a leak proof tray might be a temporary fix but for heavy duty printing that won't do. Sooner or later it would end up in a mess.
I stand in my opinon that current Canon Pro models up to A3+ size (i.e. below the Pro1000 ) aren't a good solution for @artprint1 needs.
User replaceable maintenance carts is a must when you deal with this high volume of printing jobs.