Epson R340 generic ink compatibility

[elevenart]

Greetings,
My Epson R340 worked great with all epson ink- bought printer new 4 months ago. I've slowly replaced each cartridge with compatible ink by Premium on seperate days. The printer worked fine until the last cartridge had been replaced. I reproduce my artwork with the printer and there were no color changes. Now with all Premium brand the prints are acid green etc. Stripes started appearing with last cartridge replaced but now all stripes, absurd coloring.
This is my first printer. Epson users: do you think it's really the ink or the printer is designed to go off line without the epson ink? The printer gives a warning that the cartridges are not epson and it would be believable if the color was screwed up from the beginning but the color only went bad after all epson ink was removed...
If I replace the epson ink for all cartridges, it will cost 1/2 the price of the printer with each refill vs. $25 for the Premium.
blah blah
Other Question: Does anyone have a suggestion for a superior brand printer for art reproduction that has decent priced ink? I thought it was epson but now I wonder?

Sincerely, Novice

 

[mikling]

Do a nozzle check and see which colors are not working. It is likely the design/quality control issues from the cartridges that are causing your problem. Every brand of printer has its pros and cons so when comments about a particular brand is made keep an open mind.

The problem you have with your Epson is that it is "shooting blanks", you have air in your printhead. Before doing a head cleaning which really should be labeled a "head flush" make sure that the seal to the color that is giving you problems is good. If the seal is not good, the head will ingest air into the head and you're back to cleaning/flushing ALL your carts. A few of these and you'll see that your inks are gone. If the problem is not cleared up after three cleanings, give your printer an overnight rest and try again next day. Pay particular attention to quality of cartridges and especially to seals.

Quality and fit... remember. You can get inexpensive supplies for the Epson but look for quality and not the cheapest price above all. One bad cartridge will cost you in flushing the inks on ALL.... that's no economy.

 

[InkMon]

I am no expert but I agree with mikling, I observe the conditions stated above and if sealing is a problem consider hot melt, a low temperature type, I use it to seal my refilled carts, and I stress, always have a good back up set of carts. Never, never leave an Epson without a good head of ink, that means when you take a cart out to replace or fill put in a full cart immediately. Ink dries, it is designed to and it does that fast. Otherwise you would complain that the colours run.

Go with the flow and keep it flowing, following a simple procedures is all it takes , its no rocket science. A print head whether in a removable cartridge or print head is only a collection of incredibly small orifices that only require a few minutes to seal and seal they do.

My Motto: An ounce of precaution is worth a heap of repair

Terry