There is a Designjet 650C that @pandabob mentioned during the wide format training disassembled from its stand in the warehouse. This model is very similar to one I administered in the late 90s (this one is one model number back, same series). I have a lot of experience with its line.
Who is in charge of that equipment? I would like to put it on the stand, power it up, and try to evaluate its condition. Working, it would fit into a different niche than the Epson we have now, which is fantastic for photos. This printer is an architectural plotter, so it is really geared towards color drawings and diagrams. Even being 20 years old, it could very well be serviceable, and the supplies are cheaper than the Epson.
FYI, when I found it, the printer was lying on its back, which is a pretty big no-no for these printers. The mechanics in them aren’t designed to handle stresses in that direction long term, and it causes the ink to run out of its well and all over the inside of the machine. I’ve put it back on it’s bottom, but be careful moving it, because there are protruding clips on the underside that need to fit into the gaps between the boards to avoid shearing off.
I haven’t looked at the hardware in question but, I googled up some images of the same model printer and I may have a replacement display that I can donate to the cause…if it is determined to be the display that is bad.
I think probably so, even if it is broken. It’s a 1999-2001 year model. Supplies aren’t as cheap as the old one that I am working with – they are more comparable to the Epsons. On the other hand, it’s still a CMYK dye-based system, and designed for plotting style jobs more than photo jobs, so it would still fill the niche we are looking for, and if what I am reading online is right, we should still be able to keep the costs under where they are for the Epson enough to encourage people to use it for charts/diagrams. Charts and diagrams with more white space will obviously average less ink per print.
Ink cartridges for it are about $55x4, CMYK. They are 350ml carts, so they should last for a while. We can use the same cheap 20# paper rolls. It has user-replaceable printheads/cleaners as separate parts, so that should help us on upkeep ($175/ea). The manual says to expect to replace them every 700ml, so that’s every other cart. That puts it at roughly $285/700ml.
It’s overall a better printer than the 650, in all ways except potential ink costs. (It may even be better there, since the $40 carts on the 650 are almost certainly not 350ml.)
I think it would be the perfect printer for the space with regards to charts, signs and graphics, and it has specific tuning and drivers for AutoCAD prints, if we have demand for that. I know that I have seen questions about printing on onionskin/tracing paper, and this one has specific support for that and official HP tracing paper.
Even if it is broken, many of us would love to play with the movements…fun project to repurpose it with an arduino or something…Would just need to mark as: “BROKEN, BUT FREE TO EXPERMIENT ON” or something.
