Can a stylus printer really last for ten years？

　　【PConline in-depth reportRecently, someone suddenly asked me a question, how long is the service life of those inkjet printers that are selling well in the market, especially those with large ink tanks? In fact, last year, we had an article devoted to this issue, and finally we came to the conclusion that 3-4 years is the standard life span for users with medium and low printing volume, which means that the printer will retire gloriously when the manufacturer’s warranty period ends. For users who print a lot, it may be a problem whether they can resist the past two years, which is directly related to the structure of inkjet printers with a price of about 1,000 yuan. Therefore, many small and medium-sized enterprises with color printing needs are recommended to buy laser printers.

　　So is the life of the laser printer very long? The fixing film will naturally wear and need to be replaced after printing 20,000-30,000 pages, and the rubber inside the fixing lower roller needs to be replaced after printing 30,000 pages. Of course, these expenses are not high, and it is not necessary to go to the maintenance station. Under normal circumstances, the service life of a laser printer is about 5-7 years, and there is no problem with normal maintenance and printing 100,000 pages.

　　So is the laser printer the printer with the longest service life? Of course not. Many stylus printers claim that they will not break down after 10 years of use. Is this true? Let’s not talk about the old products. Take Epson LQ-630KII, which is selling like hot cakes and is known as super durable. It emphasizes in the advertisement that the average time between failures is 10,000 hours, which can be used for 13 years according to the calculation of 3 hours per day and 250 working days throughout the year. It sounds a little incredible.

　　For a long time, because of its special principle, no other equipment can replace it. We can see some intuitive information from the working principle of the stylus printer.

　　The code sent by the host computer is sent to the main control circuit of the printer after being processed by the input interface circuit of the printer. Under the control of the control program, the code of characters or graphics is generated, and the print head is driven to print a column of dot matrix graphics. At the same time, the carriage moves laterally to generate column spacing or word spacing, and then the next column is printed, and the printing is carried out column by column. After one line is printed, start the paper feeding mechanism to feed paper, resulting in line spacing, and at the same time, the print head returns to line feed and prints the next line. The above process is repeated until the printing is finished.

　　The key to the name of the stylus printer lies in the structure of the print head. The structure of the print head is complex, which can be roughly divided into printing needle, driving coil, positioner, excitation disk and so on. When the print head gets a current pulse from the driving circuit, the driving coil of the electromagnet generates a magnetic field to attract the armature of the printing needle, which drives the printing needle to hit the ribbon and print a dot pattern on the printing paper.

　　So what is the life of the print head? Almost all manufacturers claim that the service life is 400 million/needle. According to senior maintenance personnel, the service life of the original print head of the first-line brand can be close to the nominal level, and it is hard to say for some domestic brands, so it is necessary to make a discount. The brand of Taobao’s deputy factory is completely unreliable, and the probability of using broken needles under heavy load is extremely high. After all, the price is only over 100 yuan, and the manufacturer can only promise the warranty for half a year at most.

　　Another important reason for the long life of the stylus printer is its simple structure, so that there are many high imitation Epson stylus printers (older models) on the market in recent years. From the inside out, even the motherboard is a high imitation. So pieced together, it can print normally, but its life is greatly reduced.

　　If you pay attention to the observation, you will find that many printers in the lobby of the tax bureau are old models more than ten years ago, and their shells have changed from white to kraft paper color, and they are still alive, and they print documents with high intensity almost every day. In the words of many users, "it won’t be bad to replace it if you don’t want to use it." This is mainly because the maintenance of the stylus printer is very simple, and it is easy to find the fault source. For example, the open circuit fault of the printing drive coil is mostly caused by the damage of the printing needle drive tube on the motherboard, and the maintenance cost is only 2 yuan. Mechanical failure of the carriage mechanism, such as belt wear, front and rear guide rail parallelism displacement, etc., the maintenance cost shall not exceed 100 yuan at most. It is normal to use it for another three years, that is, for more than ten years. Of course, there is also a premise, that is, the printer that I spent money on was not a bargain.

　　Senior maintenance personnel also said that stylus printers usually give people a very solid and durable feeling. In fact, there are many details to pay attention to in daily use. If violence is used, shortening life expectancy is also a high probability event. For example, you should pay attention to adjust the paper thickness adjustment switch to the appropriate position, and different papers should have different scales. You should not adjust the handle too low, otherwise it will easily lead to broken needles or paper jams. In addition, the printing strength of the stylus printer is very strong, which gives many users the illusion that they can print on any medium, and there is no limit on the thickness. This is a big mistake, and it is necessary to strictly follow the instructions. If the thickness exceeds the standard, it will easily lead to paper jam and ribbon guide deformation, and the most serious direct print head will break the needle. Some media are very soft, such as wax paper, which is easy to be damaged once it comes into direct contact with the print head.

　　Some users have bad habits, and they don’t think about whether the ribbon should be changed until they can’t print the color. Can this really maximize the utilization rate of consumables? NO, it is very harmful to the print head. The correct way is to change the ribbon in time if the printed handwriting becomes lighter in daily use. If the ribbon really turns white and fuzzy, I’m afraid it’s not far from the break of the printing needle. Don’t fight for character. In addition, some people will buy some cheap ribbons for the sake of getting a few tens of dollars, and the printing effect is not good. The uneven interface will cause the printing needle not to be returned in time when working, which will seriously wear, hang and even break the printing needle.

　　Some people say that losing weight is seven points to eat three points to practice, in fact, the printer belongs to seven points to raise three points to repair. If you go to the second-hand market, you will find that many stylus printers that have been eliminated by government banks are actually functional after maintenance, and it is no problem to use them for a few years, so the selection is very important, and it is always expensive.