Epson inkjet printers and their inks ???

I've owned Epson inkjet printers : 1270, 1280 and now a 1400.
The 1400 has been a dream to use compared to the 1st two.
After fighting the inks drying, clogging the nozzles and finally throwing both the 1270 and 1280 away because they would no longer print properly, I have finally found my Perfect inkjet, the 1400. I've had it for a few years now and only rarely do I need to run a nozzle cleaning regimen. And when I do, it only takes two, three at the most, cycles to clear thing up. I do not use the inkjet every day. I can go a month or more in between using it. This 1400 just keeps chugging along giving me no headaches. It has been the best color printer I have been able to find for my type of usage. I have used aftermarket inks from various suppliers in all three inkjets. Although, I've only used Precision Color inks in the 1400.

I have recently purchased a new 24mp camera. I am hungering for a larger format inkjet, say up to a 24" width. I've seen ads on the local Craigslist for a 7800 and a 9800. They both use the UltraChrome K3 inks not the Claria used in the 1400.

I assume the lack of clogging of the print heads on the 1400 is due to the type of ink it uses.
Both the 7800m and 9800 are being sold at very low prices with the admonitions that they have not been used for months, or have print head problems.

I am not considering purchasing either of these printers. But, they have brought up the question about which inks and Epson printers with a wider format [17", 24", ?] than the 1400 would suit the needs of my usage pattern?

all Epson wide format printers use pigment inks, there are several variations and generations of the Ultrachrome type, K3, K3 vivid magenta, HD with promises of a better black level, a wider gamut. If you are planning to refill you may use either version of compatible inks, but then you need to create color profiles for the ink in combination with the paper you are using.
If you are looking for a used printer you only should buy a unit with a perfect nozzle print and functionally in good order, otherwise your first action would be a service call to Epson probably becoming more expensive than the printer itself. And you should understand a little bit of the history of such unit, heavily used or not, prior service actions done on that unit, e.g. printhead replaced , and if possible you should see the unit actually printing. The nozzle check of most Epson large format printers is followed by some lines of text - total ink used, total meters of paper printed. You wouldn't be happy witha worn out and used up unit.
I got a real bargain of a 7600 some time ago, via Ebay, from a graphics office shutting down, at a very low starting price because their spelling was not correct in the description so about nobody could find the posting. I went there to pick it up, with a notebook, driver already loaded, and with the maintenance adjustment program to read out some internal usage counters, it turned out that the printer was a backup unit in their office and barely printed 3 rolls of paper, was almost new and clean, a really happy deal. I have seen other printers before completely run down for a much higher price, o.k. , that's the game when buying a used printer, you may win or not.
There are families of Epson models -like the 3800,3880,3900, and the 4xxx series, 4000, 4800, 4880, 4900 both as 17" models, the 4XXX models with a paper roll holder and paper cutter in the printer, the 7XXX models are very similar 24" models, wider , heavier and need more space.
Pigment inks in general have a better longevity performance than dye inks, but may have some other effects like bronzing, gloss differentials between colors, the gloss not as shiny as with dye inks, very much depending on the combination of inks and the paper you are using

I always recommend for everyone to first find service manual, refillable carts with resetter or arc cartridges only then consider to buy the printer.

In the service manual you can find information on duty cycle, how many pages can be printed until certain parts begin to fail etc. None of this is in the marketing you read on printer maker websites.

It's nice to bring laptop etc to test the printer at the place it's sold yourself like @
Ink stained Fingers said.

Thanks guys.
Excellent info for stage 2 of my upgrade to a wider format inkjet.

My interest right now is which type of inks are best for my intermittent usage style, dye, pigment, or ...(?) .
That will define the models that will work best through the long run for me.
My thoughts are that the 1400 uses a dye based ink, and the 4xxx models use a pigment based ink.
I do not remember what the 12xx printers used.
But, my suspicion is that they were pigment inks.
If so, I'm concerned that pigment inks are not compatible with my usage style.
I do not want to have to deal with all the nozzle clogging I had to deal with on the 12xx models.
Some of the things I see posted around lead me to believe that at least some of those that use pigment inks are prone to clogging problems.

intermittent usage style - what does that mean - every week, or with months of idle time or ? There are no clear and precise numbers telling you that pigment ink printers require you to print something every 5 or 10 or xx days, it depends on various factors, the environment etc. If you are frequently on your computer it should be possible to start some small printout in a particular sequence - e.g. every 5 days, and epanding that slowly depending on the actual findings.
The choice of pigment or dye inks should be a decision about what you want to acheive and do with your prints, what your quality requirements are. Generally said dye inks have less stability against UV radiation and ozone, so if you plan to post your prints for a longer time in daylight then you need pigment ink prints for better performance. If that's not your prime concern you may use dye inks, but 3rd party dye inks vary very much in their longevity performance, typical dye inks are mostly cheaper than pigment inks , so again what is important for you, what are your expectations, what are you planning with your printouts..?

Personally I'd hold back on a 24" printer and see what Canon does with their newly announced models. All have 12 inks for larger gamut, hopefully user replaceable head or one you can access to flip over and clean it occasionally when they gum up under there. Their new 17 inch looks like a Epson 3380 desktop killer too. New line should show up within a few months and it looks totally revamped of their old ipf series which were a lot wider than the new lineup.

W. FIsher