Do inkjet type printers work well aboard?

[vpbarkley]

Hello Cruisers,

I need a general purpose printer for our fiberglass sailboat, to print 0 to 10 pages per week. The boat will not be air conditioned for weeks at a time while cruising in the Bahamas and Caribbean. I favor inkjet type all-in-one printers, for their versatility and small size. Do inkjet type printers work well aboard in high humidity? Any trouble feeding paper? Any recommendations on paper type. Thank you in advance.

[StuM]

My HP Envy has been working fine for about 5 years in the tropics. Haven't used aircon at all for the last 2 -3 years. Ordinary photocopy paper

[tkeithlu]

Ditto. I use an old HP 1000, but I do store the paper in a drawer until I'm ready to do some chart or owner's manual printing.

[slug]

Originally Posted by vpbarkley

Hello Cruisers,

I need a general purpose printer for our fiberglass sailboat, to print 0 to 10 pages per week. The boat will not be air conditioned for weeks at a time while cruising in the Bahamas and Caribbean. I favor inkjet type all-in-one printers, for their versatility and small size. Do inkjet type printers work well aboard in high humidity? Any trouble feeding paper? Any recommendations on paper type. Thank you in advance.

Sure , never had a problem

When they fail it’s because they were abused , crushed , soaked

I use the cheapest printer scanner that I can find

Current one is HP

Purchase an extra cartridge .. they always run out when you need it ... tax time ..and can be hard to find on the road

[kas_1611]

One thing to consider is "region coding" of the inkjet cartridges in the same way DVDs are region coded.

I discovered this when living in Trinidad with an Epson inkjet printer purchased in Europe (before we moved). When I got cartridges from US while working there I found they would not work in my printer. Epson confirmed this was due to region coding and there is no way round it.

Shouldn't be an issue if you have a US purchased printer and are in the Bahamas but remember Martinique, Guadaloupe and St Martin are French so you might get caught with EU region coding.

[SV__Grace]

We are full time cruisers who live on the hook in PNW and manage our business from our boat. We have an HP Officejet 150 mobile printer that can scan and copy as well as print in color. It works off of its own battery or can be plugged into ac power. After 3 years of use it is still going strong and we're happy with it. This model probably isn't available anymore, but a cursory search finds a 200 model that seems to be the current version of this machine for under $300.00

One thing that might have made a difference is that we purchased a foam lined plastic case for it and only bring it out when needed.

In general printers are cheap and if you have the space for a full size home office version you can get a $100.00 printer that will last a long time (I've seen these on other boats).

[roland stockham]

Printer no problem, paper can be. Depends on the boat by fiberglass boats are prone to condensation and nothing jams printers lite damp paper! A trick that helps is to feed sheets through the manual slot if you use the tray you can get problems with sheets sticking together. Keep paper in a sealed box and maybe add a drypack in the rainy season.

[singlespeed]

Finding the correct ink cartridge can be difficult and expensive in the Eastern Caribbean. Two things to consider will keep you happy:

1. Remove the ink cartridges, clean off contact and ink surfaces and place in a zip lock baggie after each use. This will increase the life of the cartridge dramatically. Shaking the cartridge before use will take care of an ink settling in the cartridge.

2. Do your homework and find a printer that allows you to use refilled ink cartridges. Even better, also find and learn how to use an ink cartridge refill kit. While the ink refilling can be very messy the first time, we used the same cartridges over five years and used less than a cup of ink. Cost of a cup refill in is less than US$10.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by StuM

My HP Envy has been working fine for about 5 years in the tropics. Haven't used aircon at all for the last 2 -3 years. Ordinary photocopy paper

Yeah, I have one of those, I like that they copy and scan but I think these companies all make their money off the ink cartridges which I rarely get to last til the inks gone.

[gonesail]

for my HP printer .. the HP cartridges are the only ones worth buying .. they can last for a long time (400 pages) and easy to keep a spare. the black ink usually runs out first. forget the refills .. just not worth the trouble. yes to keeping paper in a zip lock bag.

[noelex 77]

If only B&W is acceptable the small laser printers are also worth considering. The cartridges last for a long time and you only need one.

They draw a reasonably high current during printing. This is short lived so does not consume much battery power, but make sure your inverter is capable before purchase.

[Chanticleer]

Check out the Epsom ET-3710. No cartridges ... you have refill bottles and the tanks take the whole bottle of each colour! At 10 pages per week you will not run out of ink for a year or much more! And you can take refill bottles with you when you leave. These bottles are $15 to $20 each. The unit is a printer/scanner/copier and you will have no problems using in humid or cold climates. Check out their website Good luck!

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by Chanticleer

Check out the Epsom ET-3710. No cartridges ... you have refill bottles and the tanks take the whole bottle of each colour! At 10 pages per week you will not run out of ink for a year or much more! And you can take refill bottles with you when you leave. These bottles are $15 to $20 each. The unit is a printer/scanner/copier and you will have no problems using in humid or cold climates. Check out their website Good luck!

I second the Epson ink tanks, bought one of the first L355's in Asia, been running fine on board for 4 years. refilled the black tank once.

No problems with clogged cartridges, dodgy contacts or finding the right cartridge in far away places.

[Minggat]

Thread drift.
I learned here years ago that soaking dried out cartridges in denatured alcohol will revive them. Now I understand that the alcohol is hard to find anymore. I imagine that rubbing alcohol might be just as effective.

[a64pilot]

We bought the cheapest three in one flat bed scanner, printer, copier at Office Depot, print a few times a year, and we are still on the original cartridges, which most often are just starter cartridges and have only a small amount of ink, works fine and connects wirelessly.
Probably paid $100 for the thing.
Walmart says $54, but I’d bet it’s no longer being manufactured, these things get superseded every couple of years, but the idea is you don’t have to spend more than $100

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Canon-136...Black/55420112

Rarely need a printer, but when you need one, you NEED one, some government agency wants a copy, but has no copier or maybe your importing parts and need copies etc.

Mine is a flat bed scanner, so I scanned in everything to .pdf, boat registration, divers cards, everything, Insurence, including Passports. Good to have copies in electronic format.