Daughter wants a simple,reliable,refillable tank printer-I know very little about them as I've refilled for years.

[avolanche]

She's looking for:
-reliability
-bottled ink with tanks for refillingll
-easy to use
-Wireless printing from a Mac (new iPad)

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[pharmacist]

All latest ecotank (bottle ink) printers are Mac and Windows compatible: just choose according to need and budget.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The low end models are Canon G1530 or the Epson ET-1810, model names may vary by business region of Canon or Epson

 

[kdsdata]

I have a long outstanding question in this regard. On so called "larger" or "large" tank printers, is there a concern of inks settling, or clumping, or drying, etc. ?

In other words, are there any concern about long term, especially when the ink levels would last a long time in printers that are used less than often?

Best Regards, kdsdata

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

In other words, are there any concern about long term, especially when the ink levels would last a long time in printers that are used less than often?

I don't think general statements are just not possible - is 'less than often' just a 'normal' usage frequency ? And what about implied differences between dye and pigment inks - settling of those ?
Drying - drying as a phyiscal process of the evaporation of the solvent - does not happen inside an airtight ink supply system but at the point where the ink comes into contact with the ambient - and that's the same as in non-inktank printers .

Just keep a printer printing to avoid any of the assumed problems

 

[kdsdata]

Good point @Ink Stained Fingers.

I have a Pro-100 for many years. I have 3 sets of cartridges that I refill and the use to replace in-printer cartridges when I get a low warning. The scheme has worked extremely well. I print say 5 pages a day. Once a month I print something that needs the 8.5x17 inch paper. Twice a year I print say 30 photos on 4x6 inch photo paper (with fairly good results). For me my arrangement has been very cost effective.

But my Pro-100 is getting on in years, and one day it will come up with one of nasty flashing lights, and may simply stop. I live in Canada, and getting a low cost replacement will not be cost effective, due to border crossing issue.

That's why I keep tracking issues like this topic with great interest. In the back of my mind "what could be a replacement, considering I will probable like to keep the wide carriage. Big tanks sound good, but I place the wide carriage ahead of the big tank. I have had my fingers dirty, and I don't rule refilling.

If this still sounds to general I can understand that an answer is not possible. Perhaps I am just rambling, or is it, in modern terminology, a rant ^_^.

Just keep a printer printing to avoid any of the assumed problems

I suppose that in line with this advice is what I am doing with my 5 or so pages per day.
Anyway, Best Regards, kdsdata.

 

[James Mike]

All latest ecotank (bottle ink) printers are Mac and Windows compatible: just choose according to need and budget.

Depending on the region Canon still sells the G1010-4010 which aren't Mac compatible (prints from ipads fine though- not sure if printing via airprint/running the ios app on a m1 app will work)

I have a long outstanding question in this regard. On so called "larger" or "large" tank printers, is there a concern of inks settling, or clumping, or drying, etc. ?

In other words, are there any concern about long term, especially when the ink levels would last a long time in printers that are used less than often?

Best Regards, kdsdata

Had no prior experience with integrated ink tank (nor CISS conversions) prior to getting one but it seems to be doing more frequent cleaning cycles (atleast to me) than the non ink-tank printer it replaced so cost savings may be negated if printing that infrequently.

Also from what i've read prior to getting one air getting into the delivery tubes/dampers can also be an issue with some worse than others. Not sure if disuse would exacerbate the issue.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Had no prior experience with integrated ink tank (nor CISS conversions) prior to getting one but it seems to be doing more frequent cleaning cycles (atleast to me) than the non ink-tank printer it replaced so cost savings may be negated if printing that infrequently.

I'm not sure to understand how infrequent printing would cause more cleaning cycles on a Eco/Megatankprinter and impact cost savings. Printers - with cartridges or tanks - typically do a cleaning cycle when you power them up , and if you then just print half a page of text - yes - the printer probably used more ink for cleaning than for printing. I only can advise not to do a CISS conversion on a regular printer - it does not make sense for a low usage printer at all and not to mention additional potential complications with the CISS system.

Let's got back to the original inquiry by @avolanche for a simple and reliable tank system printer - are there any problems with the lower end Epson or Canon printers ? One question could be left - do you need as well a scanner - most of the Eco/Megatank models come with a simple scanner on top

 

[James Mike]

I'm not sure to understand how infrequent printing would cause more cleaning cycles on a Eco/Megatankprinter and impact cost savings. Printers - with cartridges or tanks - typically do a cleaning cycle when you power them up , and if you then just print half a page of text - yes - the printer probably used more ink for cleaning than for printing. I only can advise not to do a CISS conversion on a regular printer - it does not make sense for a low usage printer at all and not to mention additional potential complications with the CISS system.

I apologize for not wording it more clearly, its not so much that infrequent use makes it do more cleaning but rather that it seems to do more cleaning cycles in general compared to a non inktank printer that low usage scenarios would not make sense as you have said. While cleaning on power on and inbetween long print jobs is also observed on the non inktank MG it seems that the G3010 would also do a cleaning right after the last printjob finishes.

As for problems, the earlier Canon megatanks(which includes the G3010) designs pop up in more ink flushing videos than the later models which could be a sign that those are more susceptible to air leak issues than the later models or that they were sold in higher quantities than the rest given that they are still being sold as Canon's entrylevel inktank in Asia. Haven't personally experienced it (knocks on wood that it stays that way) though its a bit early to tell as we only have owned it for about a month.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

it seems that the G3010 would also do a cleaning right after the last printjob finishes.

Yes, that's quite possible, but not all cleaning actions consume additional ink; it is very typical that the firmware wipes off the nozzle plate after a print job, and this includes a short run of the pump to get that ink away, that's the same as the cleaning of the nozzle plate during a larger print job causing a short interruption.