Lexmark CD/DVD printer guide

[The village idiot]

The Lexmark CD/DVD printer guide is now up. Please discuss the Lexmark and Epson printers in this forum. Lets keep the guide free from comments so that it is easy to read. I'll update them both as need to reflect any changes discussed in this forum. Thanks.


The link to both guides is in my signature, just click on them.

[The village idiot]

Refills for the lexmark look good from http://www.amazonimaging.com

[The village idiot]

Just did a google search.... There are more refill kits than you can shake a stick at for Lexmark printers!

[AlienRelics]

I'm not trying to troll, or anger you, but-

How are you going to sue for something that is already being done by others?

This company is modifying several Canon printers and the Epson 1520 for CD printing:
http://www.gsmediasystems.com/

Plus all the other companies selling CD printers. You weren't the first to think of modifying existing printers.

[Rogue3]

I'm sorry, but I work for Lexmark and I know that what you do to a company's products are in no way your property. So saying that someone can't take your idea and run with it is ludicrous. That would be like saying you are going to sue someone for selling copies of a movie that you copied and loaned to them. Whatever.

The CPD team here at lexmark got quite a chuckle over your modifications by the way. They especially liked the part about "who would know if you switched the insides and took it back"

[The village idiot]

Good I'm glad you got a chuckle. And as far as Lexmark making a similar device, since they own the original patents, and these are just upgrades, or improvements that effect the original operation, I assume that you will be able to make something even better. IF I had wanted to hack apart the firmware, you can be sure that I could have made a better machine too, but for its purpose it is good enough. The reason for the statement is that I have seen far too many FREE modifications get mass produced by other third parties for sale. I have no problems with Lexmark taking THEIR printer design and improving it. Please see this modification as a form of flattery. You have made a product that was flexible enough to modify. Not all printers are this simple to modify, and that's why you don't see them here instead.

And about the returning, that was a joke. I assume that you might put the serial number in the firmware somewhere to discourage that exact thing!

I am also more than a little unhappy that your packaging people shorted me the color cartridge. The damn thing costs as much as the damn printer. It's little things like that which make me less lickely to respect your products. I bought this from a Walmart and they have had several people with the same problem! Not very good quality control!


And while you are reading.... What other models of your printers will work with these modifications? You want to sell printers, here is one more way. And without warranty possibilites, you won't ever have to look at them again! Though I must say, you have reduced the operation down to the absolute minimum components needed to make the machine function properly. This I find that to be a very good thing. And is there a way to slow the paper feed down. The rollers don't really grip the vinyl very well. If it could be slowed, there would be less slipping. That is, short of different firmware, which can most likely be flashed from the USB connection. Is that really an ARM MCU in this printer? Please think about helping me with this project, it can only help you design team to make other new products! Think of it as free research.

[The village idiot]

I'm not trying to troll, or anger you, but-

How are you going to sue for something that is already being done by others?

This company is modifying several Canon printers and the Epson 1520 for CD printing:
http://www.gsmediasystems.com/

Plus all the other companies selling CD printers. You weren't the first to think of modifying existing printers.

It's not the thought, but how it is done! I did know that others were making modified printers before starting this. They each have their own way of doing. And with answers like that, i assume you are the type to mass produce these and sell them.

[Nick Burns]

Question on the template/caddy:

Are you saying that when you make your template (w/ your choice of software) and print it out that you are printing directly on the caddy? If so, what caddy material did you use that would not make the ink run/smear?

[The village idiot]

If you are making one out of cardboard, it won't smear. If you are making one out of the plastic, I found that you have to sand the surface in order for the ink to "hang on" long enough to cut the circle out. The plastic ones are a little messy while you are making them. I would suggest making your first one out of cardboard and paper. Make sure that whatever you are using, it is about 1mm thick before you try to print the circle for the disk cut out. Also you should use a spray glue of some kind. I have been using a spray contact cement from 3M that you can get at Walmart, 3M #77 contact cement. I've been told that 2 layers of a cereal box is about right, then after you cut the hole for the disk, glue another piece of paper to the cardboard to protect the written side of the disk. Before you print the circle for the cutout, remember to draw a line on the caddy even with the top pressure rollers. That way you know how far to push the caddy into the printer each time you want to print.

[Nick Burns]

One more question about the caddy, as that is where I am now.
You said:

You will need one sheet 0.040 (approx 1mm) inches thick and one that is 0.010 (.25mm thick)

I'm assuming that the 1mm sheet is for cutting out the CD circle and the .25mm sheet is for the backing. Am I correct?

Also, because of the watermark, I don't see where you are making marks on the rollers. Could you provide a watermark free pic or a larger version of this?:


I could PM you with my email addy to send it to.

Thanks again for this great idea!

[The village idiot]

Let me find the non marked picture and replace it. I didn't really look at what each picture was showing when I marked them. Depending on which computer they are on, it might take a day or so. I think the markings can be seen in the picture of the caddy. One set to show you how far to stick the caddy into the printer before printing, and another set to show where the rollers "grip" the caddy while feeding.

And yes the plastic sheets are used just as you are thinking, thin one uncut and on the bottom to protect the disk.

When you make the first printout, the one to mark the plastic for cutting, you might want to set the driver to a much smaller paper size like maybe 6.5x6.5 inches. I've been getting a lot of slipping as the caddy feeds the several inches of un-used plastic before it gets to the disk for printing. Don't know if that will solve the problem, or possible make it worse. Or maybe still put the disk in the middle of the 6.5x11 sheet of plastic, but stick the plastic into the printer about a quarter or third of the way and then change the paper size (in the driver) so that it is set for 6.5x6.5 inches. This printer feeds the paper so fast when it is moving to the print area, that the slipping can be excessive.

[stphilli]

I have modded my Lexmark Z23 and I love the results. The only problem I have is that my images look somewhat washed out. It looks like it just isn't putting enough ink on the disk. I have been using some Memorex printable CD-Rs I bought to try it out. The disks are dry to the touch when they come out of the printer. I'm printing with the quality set to best and I've tried using photo, plain paper, and card stock for paper type setting. The best results I've seen were with the card stock setting, but it still looked considerably lighter than the image looks on the monitor. One disk that I printed had a dark grey background and it looked a medium greenish grey color when printed. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm thinking I may need to darken the image in photoshop before I print because I can't find a way to darken it in the printer settings. Also, I'm printing with only the color cartridge in because I heard that it doesn't use the black when printing color pictures anyways. Is this true? If anyone else is using this printer and has advice for me I would really appreciate it.

[The village idiot]

I recently removed the black cart since it did nothing. Works just as well without it. It's odd the you are getting lighter pictures with the Memorex CDs, I've found them to be very close to what the image should treally look like. I use best and photo glossy for my settings, maybe you have a bad batch of ink, or maybe these printers are such a cheap piece of garbage that they differ this much. If you print to DVD, you might find that the Ritek DVDs come out more to your liking, the ones I tried were much darker than other disks I had tried.

[stphilli]

Thanks. I ordered some Ritek DVD-R disks on Friday, so I should get them soon. Hopefully my results with those are a little better. Overall, its a great disk printer for $30. Plus, I can use the black ink cart that came with it in my other lexmark I use for day to day printing. So basically I bought a black ink cartride and got a free DVD printer with a color cartridge...not a bad deal.