Epson XP-600 and 800 series

[mikling]

I spent quite some time to get really good output from this printer because I think it deserves it. It is easily what many want for a home printer. Very small, wireless, scanner, dual trays, Cd printing, duplex printing, high quality photos, permanent text output, EASY refilling, self maintaining cartridges. All you need is a set of inks and a few electronic chips. Nothing else! except faith.

I spent quite some time exceeding the output quality of all currently available third party inks for the Claria series that I know of. The inks are created from Image Specialists stock but the formulas are exclusive to me because I created the colors. The results show in the photos.
NO CUSTOM ICC PROFILES used!

 

[The Hat]

mikling
You have just saved me the price of getting three of these cartridges to experiment with.

All your pictures are excellent and very well detailed Mike especially the one with the hole in the top of the cartridge,
and for anyone contemplating drilling a hole WELL DONT it wont work on these cartridges.

The one on the right looks to be OEM, why.
Because of the white highlight and shaded areas I reckon look to be a tad brighter but I wouldnt complain about that.

Great job Mike.

 

[websnail]

As of this time the resetter does not work on the chips that have gone overboard. You have to retrieve and reset before the edge.

Just for completeness, can I ask what resetter you're working with that has not worked? I just want to be sure that the resetter I'm being offered for testing, isn't identical so I don't just assume it is and ignore an opportunity to find that all ellusive plan B.

I'd say most folks will at some time step over the edge and at that point a new cart will be necessary... this can get expensive for someone who keeps walking at the edge.

Agreed... Extending that slightly... most folks are going to be getting starter cartridges, rather than the XL versions so they'd hit empty in no time at all...

I do wonder if the reason that chips resetters won't reset past a certain low point, is down to legal rather than technical issues though... Will need to chase that idea to see what the deal is there.

I think the engineers at Epson have understood the weaknesses they put in the older generation chip is costing the corp revenue. I suspect marching orders on fixing the situation. Early ARC chips on these machines were eventually buried by firmware updates.. either a weakness in the implementing the ARC or revised Epson firmware to catch up and move one step ahead. The strength that Epson has is that networking and auto updates will help them over the users who don't know what ticking those boxes really means during installation.

Which most likely means we'll be developing approaches to block such firmware updates, although it'll be very much "after the horse has bolted" for a lot of folks.. Can't think that Epson are going to be particularly popular with the auto firmware update routine though. Bound to be someone itching to slam them with another class action so my guess is they save it as a possible weapon to use if a particularly strong third party market appears that's hurting their bottom line more than normal.

Expanding on that thought further. I'd imagine that the knowledge that Epson could use rolled out firmware updates, would be plenty to make some third party folks to think twice about investing too much time/money into a solution that could be rendered useless with minimal effort from Epson.

As you can now see, the battles in the aftermarket is centered in the reset...this is something I had anticipated and I know there is old technology sitting around to make the mfrs winners. It is simply a matter of will and cost. It's close to a done deal if not already in some circles. Time will tell....Epson is in a sticky spot on this. They must allow refilling in some way to meet environmental laws and I can't see them allowing an override like Canon or else warranty claims will escalate.

Having looked at manufacturing processes and how just one extra task makes a job less and less efficient (and more costly) I suspect you're thinking about it from a different, but equally valid, viewpoint to me. By making resetting an OEM chip impossible (when empty) the manufacturer stops the remanufacturing and the commercial/high-street refilling industry have to work much harder. For one thing, they can't use the OEM chips and create counterfeits, which all the printer industry news is very hot on. Additionally, forcing the replacement of the chip adds additional expenditure in chip purchasing the process of removal and replacement making it less efficient and more costly.

Home grown refillers couldn't care less as most of their "cost" is in time figuring out that first use/refill process so they don't have the same efficiency concerns as large scale refillers.

It will be interesting as to how the solutions unfold. Do remember that Epson's target is the CISS and the ready to use compatibles, not actually the refilling folks in this forum. We are small potatoes.

Agreed but I do think the point is very much "for now". Assuming the CIS manufacturers don't find a way around the problem with yet another buffer design, you can bet the next target will be refillers and in all honesty I do think that Epson will have spotted the potential for that internal valve to really frustrate the re-manufacturers, as described previously.


Anyway, all grist to the mill. There's always new designs, new vectors for attack, counter-attack and so on.. It's never dull!

Youre putting me right off buying one of these printers, because I spend most of my time tripping into the Abyss

Like that has ever stopped you before!

 

[doom2]

Yep I think the one on the right is the Epson Carts too.

 

[websnail]

Well, my first full day experimenting with the XP-600 and, aside from an absolutely stunning n00b error at the beginning, I have to admit I quite like this printer too.

Refilling is, as anticipated, a breeze and despite the lack of a windows you quickly recognise the signs that the cartridge is nearly full (the mesh suddenly darkens just before ink starts pooling) although I suspect some folk might like having scales as a reassurance/indicator. As with all things your mileage may vary.

One thing I particularly noticed was that the pigment black cartridge felt overly light after refilling and I felt distinctly uncomfortable about assuming things were full until I'd checked weights and capacities. Was quite unnerving so worth bearing that in mind.

As Image Specialists haven't developed anything specific for this printer model I'm currently working with one of the OCP sets (there are two) and busy using up a lot of scrap paper so I can flush out the OEM inks and get to the true inksets characteristics. Initial impressions are very positive for plain paper output and I'm waiting until I've run through a few refills before making any comments about the output.

As I said there's a second ink set for this printer where, going from memory, OCP have worked to improve on the original OEM blend (make of that what you will) although my understanding is that it's rarely ordered and expensive so we'll see if it's worth it, or not, once I've sourced the relevant sample.

As with all things when testing I hit a small snag in the form of a mixup with the ARC's and I have two of the same type. Interestingly the duplicate chip was recognised, as valid, until the cartridge hit empty then refused to reset. All in all a valuable lesson learned in advance (which makes a pleasant-ish change!).

With the ARC's I've sourced, I found the chips have a tiny printed code on the front, indicated as a 631R/632R/633R/634R or 621R where the 'R' indicates that you have an ARC, and the three digits represent the cartridge code eg: T2634 for the yellow. Can't speak for chips intended for the US or other sales zones but presumably the same manufacturer will be applying similar rules to their other chips.

It's a hiccup but it's given me some valuable insight into possible problems so better to find out this way than through a frustrated customer... Silver lining n'all that.


Oh and small note on chip swapping... I found that the chips require a little extra finessing compared to chip swaps on Canon cartridges.

While there is a void behind the OEM chip, I found the ARC chips I have, have a small component that doesn't quite fit in the void and lifts the chip up slightly. Resolving this is simple enough with the deft use of sharp blade to remove a little plastic at the appropriate point, and it'll all slide into place. I also found that the chip needed a little additional pressure to slide the chip slot down far enough for the top plastic retaining pin to fit into the chip hole. That said once it was in position it was very snug and didn't really need anything in the way of glue or similar to hold it in place.

I've some raw images and a video of the process so I'll be editing and uploading in due course but figured that was worth sharing while I remember.


So, day #1... not too shoddy...

 

[mikling]

Eventually Epsons will need an external waste tank. Here it is for the XP600. If you were thinking of getting a new Canon AIO. Think again........The tables have turned.





The Method Tank is quite a bit of overkill for a printer like this. More Appropriate is the standard Precision External Tank (PET).

The external tank pictured here is more appropriate for this printer. It is shown with an Artisan 730. The tank will handle a full ink pad reset cycle on an Artisan 730 before needing to be emptied.



Full support for this XP600 as my supplies roll in. As you can see, EVERYTHING needed for supporting this printer will be available.

 

[doom2]

What are you using to reset the counters?

 

[websnail]

What are you using to reset the counters?

The North American market will have access to the IPR utilities although there's plenty of evidence that they're a temporary fix and often don't work.

The other option is the WICReset utility which has compatibility built in already and having recently tested it with my own XP-600 it works fine. there are no known issues unlike the workforce 840/845 models. Either way the utility has a few potential gotchas so make sure you check instructions before use.

 

[doom2]

I got a WICReset when I got my Printer Potty for my P50 from you but not found one for the XP-700 as yet... Not keen on this one that wants you to remote connect port to some internet IP address pass them some money and boooom!... Don't sound like a wise idea to be honest.

 

[websnail]

I got a WICReset when I got my Printer Potty for my P50 from you but not found one for the XP-700 as yet...

Patience Doomy-San, patience

You have to remember I work on Printer Potty kits with a wide range of end-user technical abilities in mind. DIY bottle and a bit of tubing are all well and good but aren't for every user so I'm aiming to get it right on that basis, not rush something out as an "it'll do".