Talk to me about printers and scanners...

[Alita49DS]

If you really have to print then agree that a small laser is much better than an inkjet. But why would you? You can email a scan.

For scanning it really depends on bulk. Lots get a double sided scanner. Otherwise, in my view by far the best mobile phone scanning software is Microsoft Office Lens. Outputs to multiple options, includes OCR and is free.

[sailcrazy]

We installed an Epson XP400 Printer Scanner 7-8 years ago. We buy injet ink cartridges about 1/yr, keep them in their sealed packages and then in a zip-lock bag...never had a problem (unless I don't buy Epson ink). We buy paper when we get a chance, in lots on 1or2 reams, and keep it lying flat in a side locker in the saloon. We power the printer via a 350w inverter, so it runs off the house battery, and we use it to print B&W or color, print photos, scan docs, and copy whatever we need to copy. It's worked flawlessly since we installed it! Not the fastest around, but it's small and compact....and it keeps on working. Minimal cost, small package, minn hassle....and it works! Pretty much a no-brainer from our perspective!

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by Adelie

I didn’t make it clear, the 140amps is at 12v DC.
On the other side of the inverter it would be 14a at 120v AC startup and 8.5amps steady.

I had a clamp ammeter to inspect welding so that’s how I know what the 12v side was doing.

I measured my small HP laser AIO (monochrome) @ 50 amps while printing.
12v nominal system as measured on my BMV-712
2000w modified sine wave inverter/100a charger

Laser solves most of the moist paper issues and long intervals between printing.

[hellosailor]

There are two main kind of inkjet ink. One uses finely ground pigments for long-term stable color. The other uses liquid dyes. The pigment-based inks tend to settle out, the pigment will clump and solidify after about 2 years, so those tend to be guaranteed for 2 years from date of sale or one year after opening, etc. The liquid dyes will last longer--depending on the dye chemistry and how well things are sealed.

Some makers "park" the printing heads over a rubber pad to semi-seal them. Others have a rubber "ring" around the head that is on each cartridge, rather than in the machine. All this stuff means that unless someone wants to put a good dozen printers on a boat and take them sailing...we're never really going to know.

I'd suggest dye based, from a company and machine model that doesn't use cartridge chips so messy generic refills are possible, or drug chains like WalGreens have a long list of what they can refill. For long term non-use, putting the printer in a Pelican case or Tupperware to really SEAL IT, along with a humectant, may be the best bet.

But with laser printers you still can't escape, many are sensitive to humidity and will print a gray background if the RHI is too high when you try to use them. And the toner can clump from moisture, eventually.

One size many not fit all.

Similar problems with scanners. The Fujitsu ScanSnap is great. Fairly compact (load of bread size when all folded up) with great real duplex and autofeed. But you can't drop passports in a scanner that does sheet feeds. You need a flatbed (bulky) or to go the cell phone route. On the other hand, a ScanSnap can digitise a 300 page book in no time flat.

Horses for courses.

[Cpt Mark]

Well, when I 1st saw this thread I kinda thought how ridiculous. Now, obviously not. I lived aboard on/off roughly 1995-2010. Never had any issue with my printer. Did nothing special blah blah blah.

I had no idea about the chipping of the ink cartridges or other what should be illegal nonsense going on.

I looked at the Brother Laser Jet and HP and Samsung (who now apparently is made and owned by HP). I'm appalled that of the negative reviews I read, all centered on getting the machine to connect with your computer and those that had a USB connection were fragile. Many stories of connection issues where the techs gave up after 4 hours. Ok, that's fine, simply return it. Oh no, these issues raise their ugly heads randomly after the fact as well.

Am starting a new thread to not hijack this thread to answer the question "if you are truly out cruising, do you have a printer on board"

Great discussion.

[hellosailor]

I have a Brother, bought for various reasons, that was supposed to replace a fairly good HP AIO. Well, yeah, the Brother works...but the color really isn't up to the HP. There's no "photographic" quality no matter how you slice it.

OTOH the reason I was trying to replace the HP, is that the entire "communications" module went psycho. First machine was replaced during the first year, this us the second HP, and after about 5 years it decided it doesn't want to communicate with BT, WiFi, or read memory cards. Only the USB interface works.

HP's quality is way more disposable than it was in the glory days of LaserJets and reliable office equipment, fwiw.

[GILow]

One more vote for a small laser printer and the phone as the scanner. But make sure it has built in wifi because running USB leads in a boat is just plain silly.


Who ever described inkjet printers as being like junkies needing their next fix hit the nail right on the head.

And modern laser printers don’t need very high wattage inverters. My Brother printer draws 318 watts in “quiet” mode according to the specs, but according to my inverter it’s more like 180 watts on average. Peak load is listed as 1080 watts but I’ve never seen it draw that kind of power. Might be too short for the display on my inverter to register.

[El Pinguino]

Used to have a printer.... have gone without for 12 years or more....

I just print up a couple of zarpes ( leave dates blank) , crew lists ( leave blank lines for extra entries), cert of registry, etc., either before joining or in marina office or wherever...

[blubaju]

Originally Posted by Valmika

This would be my concern. Does anybody have real world experience with an inkjet that doesn't dry up when not used for a while? Is it possible to keep it alive by printing one page a day, week, month, etc?

as technician i am biased to hp & epson, hated canon for their expensive and not serious camera service, but the canon printer ink is the one and only still printing when i return to my boat after 6 months. The epson before, advertised as new unit, never could find an ink cartridge! Scanners last forever, the windows driver might be the problem one day. Modern ones are powered from usb only! Camera might do too but usually needs processing the pictures as they are more grey. For years i used a handscanner for chart copy, they travel more than a meter, then stitch together

[feudalkaos]

I use the HP Officejet 250 Mobile all in one. It is battery powered, has printer and scanner, wifi, bluetooth, android and iPhone app connections. It's also fairly compact which makes it really great on our boat.

[Davo1404]

Originally Posted by sailstax

Check out the HP 250 mobile printer. It is an all-in-one, has a battery, and an optional hard case for storage. I bought mine several months ago to give it a shakedown before moving onto the boat. So far it works great.

I have also just bought one of these. Expensive but is very compact, has a battery, fast and quality print also has wifi direct. Very happy with it.

[MVDarlin]

Remove cartridges and store in sealed container when not in use. Get bulk ink to refill.

[danci]

[QUOTE=Argyle38;2843096]I just picked up one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have this printer for 4 years "Canon PIXMAip110" on my boat (eastern Med) - so far no problems.

[dochip]

I often work aboard and love my HP LaserJet Pro. It's small and simple to use and the cartridges last forever. But it's only black & white, FYI.

For scanning I swear by an app called Genius Scan, which uses the camera in my phones to turn photos of documents into PDFs that you can mail directly from the app.
It works perfectly

[danci]

I use the same printer for 4 years without any problems (as Argyle38 mentioned in his post) – cloud printing – Wifi – battery – (DC 12V- to DC16V (AliExpress)).