[myself248]

And not a single solid-ink-onto-paper sublimation printer, that I'm aware. There are badge printers still using a dye-sub ribbon, but the Tektronix Phaser, later the Xerox Phaser, is completely gone.

I wonder why. Were the consumables too cheap and the printers too reliable to be commercially viable? Did color laser printers catch up in terms of print quality? Did it have some other fatal flaw?

[OneDeuxTriSeiGo]

Hot melt ink/solid ink has a laundry list of problems that complicate it.

- A single ink clog can destroy a printhead.

- partial clogs can result in ugly messes with ink smeared all over the pages and the assembly further smearing on later prints.

- the printer has to be calibrated to the specific formulation of solid ink to work properly. A bad ink batch or calibrating to the wrong formulation (or a drift in specs on the formulation) can cause clogs, print head failures, etc.

- solid ink printing massively complicates lamination if that's something you need to do (ex in an office).

Overall it's a far more unforgiving process. You can't really have aftermarket inks like you can with modern inks and even variations in the first party manufacturing process can have catastrophic effects on the print hardware.

[myself248]

Interesting, thank you! That is quite a list.

I only used one for a few years, and never thought to laminate the pages because they didn't need it -- dye-sub wax-printed pages were already suitable for outdoor maps because the wax repelled water, and they held up where inkjet pages became a smeary mess immediately.

We definitely did wash our hands before and after loading ink blocks, I remember being cautioned about that.

Oh well. I guess my memories are better than the tech deserved. Won't be the last time.