Fade-resistant bulk ink options for XP15000 (what combination)

[pharmacist]

I just discovered in my cupboard several bottles of Fujilabs dye ink (Epson Claria quality in terms of fade resistance) . I used this once in my previous Epson R2000, for which I mixed yellow and magenta to make red and orange ink as well. Not sure the Canon GI53 Red is orange or true red, because I know Canon tends to name orange ink as red and purple ink as blue. I might these inks first.....now how should I create gray ink with Fujilabs photo black with clear ink base ?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I was ussing the Fujifilm inks for the Drylab printers for quite a while and imported expired 200ml cartridges from the U.S. several times over the years until the Epson ET7750 with the bottled Epson inks got onto the market - with the 114 inks with Claria like fading performance which made procurement of such inks much easier.

I tested as well the Ultrachrome D6 inks for the Surelab printers with similar performance, but these are more expensive.

I'm mixing the M and C inks into light inks for a L1800 - 2 parts dilutant and 1 part C or M, the L1800 does not use a gray ink.

I was mixing inks as well for the pigment ink printer P400 - the red as 1 part yellow and 2 parts M, and the orange with 2 parts yellow and 1 part M , and I'm mixing a gray for a Pro7600 with 1 part dilutant and 1 part black. I did as well 2 parts dilutant and 1 part black, both combinations do not cause problems with profiling. no impact or deformation of the gamut volume; I just use this 1:1 ratio which puts a little bit less ink onto the paper, I have one paper with a rather low ink limit - the 2:1 mix caused some ink puddles on the paper.

I think that the mix ratios 2:1 or 1.5 to 1 or similar are not that critical as long as you create specific icc profiles for the resp ink/paper combinations.

 

[pharmacist]

So making gray would be 1 part Fujifilm photo black and 1 part clear ink base....I would have thought 1 part PB + 2 parts of clear ink base.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm using a 1:1 mix for a gray on a Pro7600, that printer uses only one gray not another light light gray. That mix works fine on this printer. If you tend to a 2:1 mix just run a test, create a profile and print a grayscale ramp . Or start with a 1.5 : 1 mix - I don't think it's that ciritical as long as you create a profile with it .

 

[pharmacist]

I'm using a 1:1 mix for a gray on a Pro7600, that printer uses only one gray not another light light gray. That mix works fine on this printer. If you tend to a 2:1 mix just run a test, create a profile and print a grayscale ramp . Or start with a 1.5 : 1 mix - I don't think it's that ciritical as long as you create a profile with it .

I try to make swaps with the original ink on photo paper and will try to mimic the same hue and density with different dilution ratio's.

 

[pharmacist]

Some pictures printed on Netbit Glossy 300 gsm paper from Aldi using my home made ink mix from Fujifilm Drylabs fade resistent dye ink.

 

[websnail]

Curious to do a follow up on this.

How are the pigment inks working out in the sponged cartridges and the XP-15000?

"Common" sense told me you'd start to see clogging and flow issues in the cartridges within a reasonably short period of time but sense ain't all that common so I'm genuinely intrigued to find out if I was right or you found a work flow that makes it work.

 

[nertog]

Curious to do a follow up on this.

How are the pigment inks working out in the sponged cartridges and the XP-15000?

"Common" sense told me you'd start to see clogging and flow issues in the cartridges within a reasonably short period of time but sense ain't all that common so I'm genuinely intrigued to find out if I was right or you found a work flow that makes it work.

I tried using an XP-970 with similar sponge-based cartridges and pigment ink. Result: major ink flow problems after 5 refills or so. I do have to say that those sponge cartridges don't work all that well with dye inks either.

 

[websnail]

I tried using an XP-970 with similar sponge-based cartridges and pigment ink. Result: major ink flow problems after 5 refills or so. I do have to say that those sponge cartridges don't work all that well with dye inks either.

Dang it... Well, sucks to be right for once but thanks for trying...

 

[pharmacist]

A few days ago I had quite a massive "clog" in the cyan and yellow channel. I couldn't get it right after 3 cleaning cycles, I checked the refillable cartridges and nevertheless the ink compartment was 2/3 to 3/4 full, so there was enough ink. To be sure what the problem was I reinstalled my refilled original cartridges back into the printer and after one cleaning cycle all nozzles were clear. So something was wrong with the sponge based cartridges. I discovered these sponge based cartridges tend to deplete the ink inside the sponge faster than the ink compartment can replenish the sponge. Because of the sponge being heavily stained it is very difficult to see if there is enough ink in the sponge. The solution was found by removing the plug sealing the refill hole and the drains very fast into the sponge material up to the point the all ink was sucked into the sponge without dripping ink.from the ink exit hole.

So most likely the "clog" was actually caused by a lack of ink in the sponge material. This happened when my cartridges were 50% full (these are new cartridges). Maybe waiting some time will cause the ink to be replenished enough to contain enough ink, but this is a eye opener for me. From time to time it seems to be necessary to open the refill hole plug a few seconds so the ink can replenish the sponge with enough ink to prevent "clogs".

If this problem will happen in the future I am thinking to use original cartridges with the bladder system, which seem to feed ink more evenly towards the print head.