Need Help At what Ink level do you replace your ink

[Annette Asberg]

Hi
I have a question about when you replace the ink on a HP Latex 365?
My designer says that it can be replaced at 20% but I think that too low.
Any recommendations?

 

[clarizeyale]

whenever the printer tells me to replace it.... even in the middle of a job.. lol

we keep 2 ink cartridges ready because we've had rare issues where the printer wont accept an ink and of course it would be in the middle of a super large job needed in the next day or 2.... it's funny how machines work.

 

[Dan360]

Replace it when the printer tells you to (0%). We only replace early if we're running the printer through the night and are concerned that some inks may run out with no one there to change it (which will cause the job to error out).

We keep 2 extra cartridges of each as well, had plenty not work and had to get them replaced through warranty.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

If you replace before the machine tells you to then you are wasting money. Even at 100% empty on the screen, there is still ink left in the cartridge.

 

[Annette Asberg]

But it's warning that is it low around 120% left and I have been told that if it goes down to 0% it could damage the machine.

 

[bannertime]

When I first got our HP Latex we were replacing way too early at like 60mil left (7-10% remaining). Most the time I replace it around 20-30 mils because a job might use more. Just depends on how big a job we're running. It's what like $4? Who cares.

 

[eahicks]

It's not like your car. You're not going to damage anything running it to zero. The machine tells you when a cart is empty. Replace it, move on.

 

[equippaint]

It's not like your car. You're not going to damage anything running it to zero. The machine tells you when a cart is empty. Replace it, move on.

Agreed but the car example is bad. The crap, rust, dirt etc settles at the bottom of fuel tanks. Run to empty and you risk sucking that crap up and clogging filters or potentially worse. Figured Id throw it out there in case my wife is listening, she has the run it to zero philosophy sometimes too.

 

[eahicks]

Agreed but the car example is bad. The crap, rust, dirt etc settles at the bottom of fuel tanks. Run to empty and you risk sucking that crap up and clogging filters or potentially worse. Figured Id throw it out there in case my wife is listening, she has the run it to zero philosophy sometimes too.

UH....I said it's NOT like your car. No I do not recommend running your car to empty.

 

[equippaint]

UH....I said it's NOT like your car. No I do not recommend running your car to empty.

Oops sorry haha. I thought maybe you and my wife think the same way, 5 gal gas delivery on speed dial.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

0% because there is always ink in the lines and if not it's a waste.

 

[ikarasu]

When I was new I changed it when it said low also.

You can run out of ink mid print... Change it to a new tank 5 minutes later and it'll still print perfectly (for the most part). I once didn't notice and by the time I did it canceled the print. I'm not sure what the hard time limit is... But it's pretty high.

I've had a few times where the color changed and looked washed out mid print when I ran out of ink....maybe twice out of like 100 ink changes though, so not a big issue.

But yes... Anytime you change it before the pop-up asks you to is just a waste of ink. Only time id ever do that is if I had a few ml left and a couple hours left on the print, and I was heading home for the night. And even then... I'd save the ink, put it in the next day and continue printing until it runs out.

 

[MikePro]

i keep an eye on it when <100mL remaining, but never feel bad about swapping the cartridge out at 40-60mL (<10%)

 

[TheSnowman]

I ran mine down to 0ml on my HP once, and I had to replace the heads on that particular color because they say I starved the head of ink and it jacked it up. I don't know if that's true or not, but since then (3.5 years) I've replaced at about 20ml and I've literally never replaced a head. I'm totally blown away by that because they told me to plan on replacing all of them once a year, but so far, if my colors are changing, it's not enough to effect anything I print. I'm a believer in replacing before 0 after that deal.

 

[Jay Grooms]

I usually don't print unattended, so I replace when the machine starts beeping at me. I keep 2 sets of inks for my Eco-Sol Rolands and 1 set for the flatbed.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Agreed but the car example is bad. The crap, rust, dirt etc settles at the bottom of fuel tanks. Run to empty and you risk sucking that crap up and clogging filters or potentially worse. Figured Id throw it out there in case my wife is listening, she has the run it to zero philosophy sometimes too.

I don't think I've ever gotten into my wife's car and it was above 1/4 tank.

 

[equippaint]

I don't think I've ever gotten into my wife's car and it was above 1/4 tank.

Yup, for vacation: load up the night before, get up early to get a jump on a long drive, start the car and there it is, fuel light on smh. I think we have the same wife. Hopefully she's nicer to you than she is to me

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Yup, for vacation: load up the night before, get up early to get a jump on a long drive, start the car and there it is, fuel light on smh. I think we have the same wife. Hopefully she's nicer to you than she is to me

What does "Nice" mean?

I got screamed at for putting the wrong zip code on a packet of documents she needed to mail out. Suddenly "I don't care about her stuff or making sure her stuff is correct" She said "ILL GO TO THE POST OFFICE MYSELF" and slammed the door.

She came back 30 mins later and apologized and said the post office changed the zip code and that's why it was different when I printed it... it auto corrected it.

 

[ikarasu]

At least on older vehicles it was bad to let the tank run low because the pump had to work harder which caused premature failures. After having to cut a square out right above the fuel tank in my Trans am trunk, so I could get to the fuel pump and replace it... I started filling up at the quarter mark.

I don't know if today's vehicles are the same. But it does make me wonder about printers... Printers probably have the cheapest weakest pumps they can get. You can easily hear when your ink is low because the pumps twice as loud on the latex printers. We go through enough ink that even switching out at 50ml would cost us 1-200 a month in wasted ink though. Kind of wish we went for the 570 over the 560 now that I know how much ink we use!

 

[equippaint]

At least on older vehicles it was bad to let the tank run low because the pump had to work harder which caused premature failures. After having to cut a square out right above the fuel tank in my Trans am trunk, so I could get to the fuel pump and replace it... I started filling up at the quarter mark.

I don't know if today's vehicles are the same. But it does make me wonder about printers... Printers probably have the cheapest weakest pumps they can get. You can easily hear when your ink is low because the pumps twice as loud on the latex printers. We go through enough ink that even switching out at 50ml would cost us 1-200 a month in wasted ink though. Kind of wish we went for the 570 over the 560 now that I know how much ink we use!

The cost is relative just like taxes