Soon: big test of refillable Epson Pro 3800 cartridges + resetters

[vicpug]

Being able to reset the maintenance tank with the I-3800 refill system is great, but the physical fiddling of removing the tank cover and replacing the sponge etc. can be a real nightmare. What we need is a drain tube/bottle system, or even syringing the ink out of the maintenance tank would be preferable. cheers

 

[moderator]

We had a little incident here that required me to take some action. One of our members posted quotes from another private forum that was bad-mouthing a certain manufacturer's CIS. This amounts to hearsay. Then a new member came on representing this manufacturer complaining about the bad report of his product since the poster had no direct knowledge of his product. He has a good point. We should only post things that we know to be true from our own experience or those that we can directly link to. I have deleted all the remaining posts.

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Vicpug,

What I do for the maintenance tank is put a few sheets of paper towel folded and wrapped together into a thick disk-like shape, which can be pushed into the round circle of the maintenance tank. Everytime you have performed 2 cleaning cycles I remove this towel ball and have it replaced with a new one. You do not need to replace the sponge.

You can actually cut the sponge material away from the circle of the maintenance tank and put a plastic disk in it, so you can pull out the ink on regularly basis with a syringe.

 

[vicpug]

Hi Vicpug,

What I do for the maintenance tank is put a few sheets of paper towel folded and wrapped together into a thick disk-like shape, which can be pushed into the round circle of the maintenance tank. Everytime you have performed 2 cleaning cycles I remove this towel ball and have it replaced with a new one. You do not need to replace the sponge.

You can actually cut the sponge material away from the circle of the maintenance tank and put a plastic disk in it, so you can pull out the ink on regularly basis with a syringe.

This is a great idea, it always churns up the ink after a cleaning cycle so it makes sense to have a little plastic circular disc-well and syringe it out manually. Many thanks indeed.

 

[pharmacist]

Why is it, that so many people seem to like to create unnecessary arguments using "hear-say" reasons if they do not have proven first hand experiences with the cartridges (show me the pictures, like I do and have several systems tested first hand and tell both the advantages and disadvantages of the available systems).

Is the Inkrepublic.com's Pro 3800 I-refill system the best for everybody ? Not if you do not like to have the cartridges sticking out from your printer and forces you to remove the ink cover. The strange resetting procedure is something which is to be improved so you can actually reset one cartridge a time when it runs empty, not all cartridges at the same time like this one. Nor the fact the cartridges should be refilled when the ink level has reached a minimum level to prevent air being pumped into the system. The main reason I favor the Inkrepublic.com's system is that not only can reset the maintenance tank when it get full, but also the ease of refilling and most importantly the building quality is far superior to any other refillable system (also the ones from Colordroplets.com and the ones from Efillink.com, the last one happens to be same as the one sold by Inkjetfly.com and ink2image.com). The sealing of the ink entrance valve is very sturdy and rigid like the original Epson cartridges.

My previous Colordroplets.com cartridges do work very well, but not after consecutive refills: somehow the rubber sealing suffered from material fatique (or rupture) and the ink was pumped through a leak into my printer, making a complete mess and letting my LM cartridge be drained.

The similar built cartridges from Lyson and other manufacturers do feature this flimsy rubber seal and from my own experiences this is not good on the long term as stated by the comment by ink2image.com: "...The
Ink2image cartridges can be refilled many times but will eventually show signs of wear at the ink
exit port seal. Replacement cartridges are available at the low cost of $ 20.00 each when this
occurs...." Well for me it already was after 2 refills, so for me it was Murphy's Law.

The bladder-based refillable cartridges of Inkjetfly.com/Ink2image.com do have an important advantage: the superior constant ink flow over time and the fact action of air is reduced to a minimum as the bladder is pressed together during printing. This is the system that mimicks the original Epson cartridges with a inkbag on pair. The procedure of refilling the cartridges: continously pushing and pulling the syringe into the cartridge, puts extremely stress around the rubber sealing in a very short time period and will shorten its life.

My favourite cartridge would be a system using the bladder-based design combined with the sturdy and rigid ink outlet valve similar to the original Epson cartridges or the Pro 3800 refillable system's sold by Inkrepublic.com/Inkjetcarts.us/Conecolor.com. And it should be capable to be reset per cartridge a time when ink runs low, not all at a time like my current system or the ones using the so-called autoreset systems (Lyson, who warns specifically to check ink levels periodically and before a large print job as the ink level is reset to full every time when the printer is turned on). Well fortunately the maintenance tank is now resettable using my reviewed blue resetter, but it must not be below 15 % or an error message will be shown on your printer display.

In the end there are only a few different designs for refillable Epson Pro 3800 cartridges.

So every system has its merits and also its disadvantages and when I consider all these facts, the current system from Inkrepublic.com is way better than the other systems from my own experiences. It is now running for more than 2 months effectively and without any major problems (besides a DOA photo black cartridge with a leak in the pressure system which I had replaced soon, causing gradually nozzle loss in the nozzle check print).

Just to clear things: I paid several hundreds of dollars in more than a year time to have these cartridges tested by myself, so consider me as a self sacrificing guinea pig undergoing an expensive experiment and I hope the pro's and con's of this topic will show respect to my neutrality based on my own experiences.

 

[vicpug]

I have both a Lyson type system and Pro-3800 I-Refill and can make some observations. Constant ink flow cartridge design has evolved to a point where maybe the bladder design is not as important or relevant as it used to be say 2 years ago. Why do Epson used a bladder ? To make it difficult to reuse and refill I suspect is the main reason.

I am not sure why the Pro-3800 has a maximum fill of about 110ml ? The cart can hold heaps more - this needs to be redesigned I think. thanks

 

[pharmacist]

The fact that the system is already pressurized the need of an inkbag to maintain constant ink flow is becoming less important. However: the aging of the ink is reduced when there is now physical contact with the ink and air. Hence the bladder design still has its merits.

I think the problem with the maximum refill amount has to do with the algorithm of the Epson chip: it is programmed to fire only 80 ml + the minimum amount of ink still be left in the cartridge to guarantee no air is pushed into the system, because it is not a bladder design and you will end up to about 100 ml or so.

 

[vicpug]

The fact that the system is already pressurized the need of an inkbag to maintain constant ink flow is becoming less important. However: the aging of the ink is reduced when there is now physical contact with the ink and air. Hence the bladder design still has its merits.

I think the problem with the maximum refill amount has to do with the algorithm of the Epson chip: it is programmed to fire only 80 ml + the minimum amount of ink still be left in the cartridge to guarantee no air is pushed into the system, because it is not a bladder design and you will end up to about 100 ml or so.

Good point, contact with air is minimal with the bladder. Not sure how to fix it - the ink manufacturers have to come up with some ideas to overcome or minimise this. cheers

 

[LeoChang]

...............My favourite cartridge would be a system using the bladder-based design combined with the sturdy and rigid ink outlet valve similar to the original Epson cartridges or the Pro 3800 refillable system's sold by Inkrepublic.com/Inkjetcarts.us/Conecolor.com. And it should be capable to be reset per cartridge a time when ink runs low, not all at a time like my current system or the ones using the so-called autoreset systems (Lyson, who warns specifically to check ink levels periodically and before a large print job as the ink level is reset to full every time when the printer is turned on). Well fortunately the maintenance tank is now resettable using my reviewed blue resetter, but it must not be below 15 % or an error message will be shown on your printer display............

pharmacist & vicpug, Good points! I will see what I can do to improve bladder-based design by adding "sturdy and rigid ink outlet valve". Yes, I do listen to the feedback from you. As for chip reset, our chip reset one color at a time not all at a time. I guess that is what you want, right? Let me know your suggestions, I am writing the spec now.

Leo
InkjetFly

 

[vicpug]

It would be nice if in a bladder design, the valve part was somehow screwin/ screwout user replaceable. cheers