A long time ago, when you needed to refuel your car you grabbed a dollar or two and headed to the nearest “service station”. That is what they called gas stations back in the day. Not only could you fill up your tank for less than the price of a doughnut today, but you also didn’t have to do it yourself. That was why it was called a service station, when you pulled up, you could expect some serious service.
That term has fallen out of use in reference to petrol these days. Gas stations no longer fit the bill of high quality, a lot of bang for your buck place. But the etymology remains, and the term has found a new home. A weird and obscure home. Now the term “service station” refers to plotters.
Plotters are a kind of wide format printer. They do high quality print jobs for things like blueprints, banners, and posters. And inside these amazing little plotters is something called a service station.
Plotter service stations are the central hub of the system. They hold the ink, control the carriage assembly, formatter board, and regulate paper intake. They are the regulator, the leader, and the mechanic of the plotter. And the best thing is that, just like service stations back in the day, they do all of this for you. Normally this kind of regulation is done manually on inkjet printers. In plotters this system is automated. That means that you don’t have to do anything. That is what service is, people these days have forgotten.
And while plotters with service station cost quite a bit more than a couple of dollars, the ease of use and dependable quality make it well worth the investment. Service stations pop out easily for any maintenance that needs to be done on it or the rest of the machine.
If for some reason, the service station happens to break (which is rare) they are incredibly easy to replace. Once you pop it out look on the back for a part number. It will look something like this: C6074-60399. This is the number that you need to match on a part search.
If you buy refurbished parts, or event a whole refurbished plotter, you can save quite a few tank-fulls of gas, though you won’t find the same service at a gas station that you will at a plotter service station.
That term has fallen out of use in reference to petrol these days. Gas stations no longer fit the bill of high quality, a lot of bang for your buck place. But the etymology remains, and the term has found a new home. A weird and obscure home. Now the term “service station” refers to plotters.
Plotters are a kind of wide format printer. They do high quality print jobs for things like blueprints, banners, and posters. And inside these amazing little plotters is something called a service station.
Plotter service stations are the central hub of the system. They hold the ink, control the carriage assembly, formatter board, and regulate paper intake. They are the regulator, the leader, and the mechanic of the plotter. And the best thing is that, just like service stations back in the day, they do all of this for you. Normally this kind of regulation is done manually on inkjet printers. In plotters this system is automated. That means that you don’t have to do anything. That is what service is, people these days have forgotten.
And while plotters with service station cost quite a bit more than a couple of dollars, the ease of use and dependable quality make it well worth the investment. Service stations pop out easily for any maintenance that needs to be done on it or the rest of the machine.
If for some reason, the service station happens to break (which is rare) they are incredibly easy to replace. Once you pop it out look on the back for a part number. It will look something like this: C6074-60399. This is the number that you need to match on a part search.
If you buy refurbished parts, or event a whole refurbished plotter, you can save quite a few tank-fulls of gas, though you won’t find the same service at a gas station that you will at a plotter service station.