Xerox Solid Ink Sticks

Solid Ink Sticks are currently used by four different printer models in the Xerox Phaser series.

Article chapters:
1. What is a solid ink stick?
2. What brands and printer models are using solid ink sticks?

What is a solid ink stick?

The solid ink technology is owned and developed by Xerox which currently is the only printer maker selling printers based on this technology. Solid ink sticks was introduced to the market already 1991 making the technology proven and stable.

The color system used in solid ink printers are the same as the one used in inkjet and laser printers with black, cyan, magenta and yellow ink sticks used.

Solid ink printers are strong in the environmental area making it one of the better green printer choices for home and office owners. The most notable differences compared to laser toner or inkjet ink based printers are:

A solid ink stick is based on environment friendly resin (similar to crayon), contains no solvents and produce no ozone
Unlike toners and ink which are made by powder or liquid, solid ink sticks are firm making them impossible to spill, leak or inhale.
No cartridge casings made of plastics are needed decreasing the waste volume. According to Xerox this means that 90% less packaging waste is generated compared to a toner cartridge.

Solid ink printers are together with laser printers weak compared with ordinary ink printers when it comes to energy efficiency. Both these printer types require that several internal parts are kept at high temperature due to the melting and fusing process that is used. If putting them into eco/low power mode this means that a special warm up period needs to be completed before the printers can print again.

What brands and printer models are using ink sticks?

Xerox is the sole manufacturer producing solid ink based printers. Xerox printer series Xerox Phaser have many models that uses solid ink and Xerox Workcentre currently have one.

Compatible solid ink has been introduced on the market and can be bought up to 50% cheaper compared to original (OEM) Xerox solid ink.

Find solid ink (also called colorstix and ink sticks on the market) for your Xerox printer model below:

Xerox Phaser Series (click on the link and select your printer model)
Xerox Workcentre Series (click on the link and select your printer model)