Hamby wrote on 2021-09-28, 19:47:

well, lessee... my 'current' printer is a Canon... 2900? inkjet. I've always had good luck with canons. Then I have Canon BJC-80 […]
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well, lessee... my 'current' printer is a Canon... 2900? inkjet. I've always had good luck with canons.
Then I have Canon BJC-80 portable printer (no battery for it though)
And my beloved Panasonic kxp 2130/2135 24-pin dot matrix
Then there's the Gorilla Banana, DOS equivalent of the CBM 1525... 7 x 5 pin dot-matrix with no descenders.
Then in a box somewhere I have my Okimate10 (Or is it Okimate20? The one for DOS). I need to get some fax paper for it, though I do have a couple of the ribbons for it
And then I have my two CBM 1520 plotters... which I gave up on because the gears seemed to stop working, but now I've found a source for brass gears, so...
And my CGP-115 plotter... same as the 1520, just for the Tandy. I haven't tried it out yet; I've a bunch of pens still in package, but they may be dried out. I really loved the 1520s for stuff like program listings. I'd written my own syntax highlighter for 6502 assembler and the listings look awesome.

I think that's all I have (for now).

i found an old canon creative center cd with old drivers for BJ type inkjets, I threw it away because it doesn't work on modern systems anymore

Don't forget that:
- Most printers can print using a "text only" driver (or dumping text files directly to LPT).
- Most dot-matrix printers are either Epson or IBM Graphics Printer compatible.
- Laser printers usually are very proud about which PDLs they support so is easy to find compatible drivers. PCL printers will print using drivers from other printers with same capabilities, same with PS printers...
- Non USB HP Deskjet printers are usually PCL3 compatible, so they will print using an HP Laserjet driver.
- This is the universal tool for winprinters.

I don't think printer drivers need to be collected. After like 5 years It'll be hard to find even aftermarket ink cartridges.
Also, you don't get much enjoyment out of an old printer. If I ever decide to pick up an old printer it's only for the motors.

During THIS DUMPSTER DIVE I ignored several dozens of printer driver CDs.

Ribbons can get reinked and cartridges refilled, though you've really gotta keep an inkjet printing every few days in order that you don't get nozzle blockage, especially with refill ink in a cart that's seen a dozen refills already. Very popular cartridges like Canon and HP models that lasted more than one year range of printers can still be got. Brands that changed cartridge designs more often than the CEOs underwear, and spammed the market with 100s of different SKUs, they were hard to get a year or two after the model shipped, so hopefully those printers got recycled already.

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-01, 14:08:

Ribbons can get reinked and cartridges refilled, though you've really gotta keep an inkjet printing every few days in order that you don't get nozzle blockage, especially with refill ink in a cart that's seen a dozen refills already. Very popular cartridges like Canon and HP models that lasted more than one year range of printers can still be got. Brands that changed cartridge designs more often than the CEOs underwear, and spammed the market with 100s of different SKUs, they were hard to get a year or two after the model shipped, so hopefully those printers got recycled already.

what about toner printers? can they be refilled?

No it's just a complicated modern version of one of those blackface soap gags... https://www.amazon.ca/Printer-Refill-Toner-Po … er+toner+powder

(Yeah you can but it's typically really messy.)

Hahaa ! I refilled my old Lexmark Optra 1855 many times and it can be done and it lasted near 15 years. The commercial grade old Laser printers are much easier than the cheaper consumer based and last so much longer.
Never, I repeat never try to refill one of them HP 5L or 6L, they are NOT the same quality as a true HP Laserjet 4, 5 or 6 and should be tossed. IMHO !
General rule: if an old laser printer does not have a true paper tray it is junk ;p

Horun wrote on 2021-10-05, 01:28:

Hahaa ! I refilled my old Lexmark Optra 1855 many times and it can be done and it lasted near 15 years. The commercial grade old Laser printers are much easier than the cheaper consumer based and last so much longer.
Never, I repeat never try to refill one of them HP 5L or 6L, they are NOT the same quality as a true HP Laserjet 4, 5 or 6 and should be tossed. IMHO !
General rule: if an old laser printer does not have a true paper tray it is junk ;p

make sure you do not vacuum up toner and developer.... i'd rather take it to a store and have them refill or just order another cartridge and recycle

I've always stuck with PCL compatible hardware and have never had any issues. For example if you have a PCL 5 driver any printer that is compatible with PCL 5 it will just work.

twiz11 wrote on 2021-10-04, 23:25:

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-01, 14:08:

Ribbons can get reinked and cartridges refilled, though you've really gotta keep an inkjet printing every few days in order that you don't get nozzle blockage, especially with refill ink in a cart that's seen a dozen refills already. Very popular cartridges like Canon and HP models that lasted more than one year range of printers can still be got. Brands that changed cartridge designs more often than the CEOs underwear, and spammed the market with 100s of different SKUs, they were hard to get a year or two after the model shipped, so hopefully those printers got recycled already.

what about toner printers? can they be refilled?

Yes, but it is really not worth it to do that anymore IMO with how cheap decent quality aftermarket toner carts are. I can get a full set of high yield toner for my color HP for around $40.

When I had a b/w laser, I did refill a couple times but after that the built in drum was shot and I still had 1/2 of the refill toner I bought left so it was wasted.

The desktop laser printers generally have a toner/drum assembly per color with the waste toner holder being built in as well. Usually by the time the toner is empty then waste toner holder is about full and the drum is worn out and the drum wiper is about worn out as well.

On top of that, you generally also need to buy counter chips for each cartridge each time you do a refill.

The really, really old printers such as the ancient HP Laserjet series don't have a counter but unless you can find a fully serviced one, they are just a ticking time bomb as far as them not having issues plus they suck way more energy than newer units.

Refill toner is a bit cheaper but unless you only value your time at about $5/hour, then it is not worth is at all to do a refill. Plus then when the drum decides to have issues, you end up wasting a bunch of toner.