The Advantages of Solid Ink Sticks

As opposed to ink cartridges used in an inkjet or laser printer, solid ink sticks are just that – solid. When the printer warms up it also warms the ink stick and applies a thin layer of ink onto the page where it then cools instantly. All of this usually takes place in five seconds or less.

One of the major advantages to having a printer that uses solid ink is that it reduces the waste that is produced by traditional ink cartridges because it is sold with very little packaging. Since solid ink sticks do not come in ink cartridges, they are made to be handled directly and are therefore nontoxic, as demonstrated the Tektronix CEO when he swallowed a piece of solid ink. Also, solid ink sticks are easier to produce and therefore spill less CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

Another advantage to solid ink sticks is how easy it is to put new ink into the printer. When the printer alerts the consumer that the ink is low, they can simply open the top of the printer. The instructions are clearly displayed and if the right type of ink was purchased, it should be the only kind that fits into the specific slot in the printer. Solid ink sticks are very purposely manufactured to be different shapes and sizes so it is nearly impossible to load the wrong kind of ink into the printer.

Finally, printers with solid ink sticks are made to be shared, and would be good for an office or public setting due to their high print speeds and quality. Although the printer may take a little longer to warm-up at the beginning of the day than some printers, after that it prints high quality pages from the very first time. Even with the high print speeds, solid ink sticks are very competitively priced and will last for a long time.

These solid ink sticks are among the most sophisticated Xerox ink products that the company produces. You’ll find this technology within the popular Xerox Phaser 8560 and most recently the Xerox ColorQube 8570 model printers.