Printhead end of life detection system

A printer for printing a print job comprising:

• an ink drop detector for determining which nozzles of a printhead are currently failing;
• a processor for estimating a number of additional printhead nozzles that will fail while printing said print job;
• first circuitry for calculating a maximum number of failing nozzles that may not be exceeded in order to maintain a specified quality level for said print job;
• and
• second circuitry for determining if said number of currently failing printhead nozzles added to said estimated number of additional printhead nozzles that will fail exceeds said calculated maximum number of failing nozzles.

A printer comprising:

• A printer including a processor that performs the following operations:
• determining which nozzles of a printhead are currently failing;
• estimating a number of additional printhead nozzles that will fail while printing said print job;
• calculating a maximum number of failing nozzles that may not be exceeded in order to maintain a specified quality level for said print job;
• and
• determining if said number of currently failing printhead nozzles added to said estimated number of additional printhead nozzles that will fail exceeds said calculated maximum number of failing nozzles.