Epson CX Series

[aman74]

Hi all, I have the CX3810, all in one.

I was wondering if the OEM carts are refillable?

I'm not sure if these Epsons use a fuse or chip or anything? What's my best bet here?

I haven't seen any guides out there for these printers like there are for the Canon's and to buy carts for this printer is about twice that of the Canon so I'd rather refill.

Thanks

 

[tigerwan]

http://www.rjettek.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/58_106/products_id/486

 

[aman74]

Is that what's necessary for Epson? I didn't feel like spending 80 bucks. If that's the case I'll use refills as I use that printer more often for the scanning feature.

I had also heard mention in my searches that doing a cheap resetter allows you to use the cartridges until they are completely empty, but that this can cause other problems.

 

[Froggy]

Is that what's necessary for Epson?

I had also heard mention in my searches that doing a cheap resetter allows you to use the cartridges until they are completely empty, but that this can cause other problems.

You can refill Epson OEM cartridges, but they are more difficult than, say, Canon cartridges which generally use the "make hole, inject ink, seal hole" method.

If you do a search for a phrase like "refilling epson OEM" on Google (other search engines are available) you will find a number of web sites and manufacturers that provide instructions, for example:

http://www.inksupply.com/html/pdf/epson_oem_refill_kit_instructions.pdf

If you do a search on Youtube you will see other methods of refilling Epson OEMs. You will see that it is more complex than for other cartridges.

The link that was posted with the $80 equipment appears to be a convenient refill kit for Epson OEMs.

SOME compatables use a simplified cartridge design than can be refilled very easily. In the UK, the "Pro-Jet" Epson carts for my CX3600 have a simple 2 compartment sponge-reserviour design which is simple to refill. They have a similar cartridge out for the new Epson cartridges with the ink-level anti-reset chip which might bypass that problem, but I have yet to find out as my brother doesn't print that much on his new epson.

You can buy empty cartridges from some retailers that have cartridges that self reset on power off (so to get accurate ink levels you have to leave the printer on standby or keep checking by eye which can waste ink if you need to remove the carts)

Many of the people on this forum drink less beer* than the volume of ink they get through in a week and so refilling and continuous ink systems are very important to them.

If you don't use the printer that much, except for scanning / photocopying, then save yourself the bother and buy compatables. To be honest, unless your carts are lasting less than 2-3 weeks, I wouldn't bother refilling, compatibles are a cheap option compared to OEM, and easier to use than refilling. Other threads on this site will point to decent ink suppliers.

Your second point, the chip resetter simply sets the counters on the chip back to full. The chip doesn't know how much ink is in the cartridge, it simply counts how many times the nozzles print and after X squirts it says empty.

(OK, the nasty new Epson carts can tell when the level drops below 30% but that's not relevent with older carts)

So when you reset a cartridge, neither the printer or you have any idea how much ink is left. The printer will keep going long after the cartridge is really empty, which could destroy the print head. So how brave are you? Me, I'm not brave.

Sorry for long post, but hope this helps.


*Not sure about Grandad, though.

 

[aman74]

Thanks very much for all the info. I guess it does sound like I should just use compatibles unless I can find some of the easy fill ones like you have in the UK.

If you know much about the Canon BCI cartridges or Samsung toner please look at my other posts.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to give me that info!

Anthony

 

[Froggy]

Just found this and thought you might be interested. Never seen this method before, wonder what the Forum thinks?

http://support.medea.co.uk/index.php?action=kb&article=89

Namely:

http://www.disc-info.com/downloads/jr-refill/epson/jr-epson-t0791.pdf


A general question for Ink Boffins.

Canon yellow ink looks a sort of translucent orange. Epson yellow ink looks an opaque thick yellow. What's the difference between the two? Dumb question, but I need to ask. Thanks

 

[lin]

Just found this and thought you might be interested. Never seen this method before, wonder what the Forum thinks?

http://support.medea.co.uk/index.php?action=kb&article=89

Namely:

http://www.disc-info.com/downloads/jr-refill/epson/jr-epson-t0791.pdf


A general question for Ink Boffins.

Canon yellow ink looks a sort of translucent orange. Epson yellow ink looks an opaque thick yellow. What's the difference between the two? Dumb question, but I need to ask. Thanks

The one looking opaque is the pigment ink. Usually pigment ink look rather opaque while dye ink look rather translucent since the dye dissolves in solution.

 

[Froggy]

Thank you, Lin.

That makes good sense to me. Reading up on some Epson web site, the reason given for the complex design of cartridges is to ensure mixing of the ink to keep it consistent. Which makes sense.