Looking for ink tank printer to replace my old CISS installed inkjet

[LBrewer_42]

I have been printing for home use since the days of the dot matrix Gemini 10X printer that took $1.69 typewriter ribbons. Printer then incorporated "gotchas" to find ways of keeping your cash flowing to them. I always found viable work arounds and intend to do so now with your help

Before buying an ink tank printer I want to solve the problem of expensive proprietary inks, waste tanks, resets, etc.

Naysayer notes:
- yes...the proprietory inks are expensive compared to me paying 15.00 for a set of 4 large bottles (colors and black) a total of possibly three times in the last decade.
- Yes, generic inks can be just as good. Having over a decade of hands on experience and usage of them with no problems (and good prints) has proven this to me. I do realize I will need to find out if the Chinese have been flooding the market with their typical lack of quality product...so the entire situation may have changed.

My CISS printer seems to have a non-repairable problem (for now!) Therefore I am hoping for knwledgeable and researched help on ink tank printers.

Online reviews are so full of "Hi, let me guide you through the wild and wonderful wonderful world of ink tank printer comparisons (after I play my three minute musical youtube channel intro showing my expertise at flashy graphics) so I can then talk endlessly about obvious things (this is the ink tank...this is the lid and I am opening it...this is an ink bottle...the tops are keyed so you don't put the wrong ink....)," I have had more than enough of this kind of thing from very good meaning people. I think I can tell from the color which bottle of ink goes in which reservoir...but thank you anyway.

So unlike this post, I want someone who can cut to the quick. But without my included verbosity, I am afraid I would get a lot of very nice people with well meaning replies, yet be similar to the youtube video-type mentioned above.

My desires:
1. I do not want to be saddled to a greedy company.
2. I want to be able to print a book and not see a noticeable drop in the ink tank level (I used my CISS like this when editing self authored hard copies).
3. I want to be able to replace/refurb the waste ink tanks myself, or be able to divert waste ink so the built in gimme-more-money-software gotcha will not be triggered requiring me BUY another replacement tank.
- "Just buy a replacement waste tank" is something I should not have to do b/c it is all part of planned obsolescence. and I won't be a part of that.
- I built such a thing for my CISS printer long ago. So I am wanting to make sure a recommended printer is one that can have such a device used with it.

Summary:
I have been able to print anything in any volume I want without worrying about cost of replacing ink. I have not had to keep putting money into the printer b/c of the work arounds. I want the same from a new system.

Can anyone recommend the printer that would likely fit the above...from experience? Much appreciated.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

An Eco/Megatank printer matching your requirements is not on the market, You are getting pretty verbose decribing what you don't want to have but it is not clear which your requirements are for the printer - write up your must have - nice to have - don't need options and compare that list to the printer specs of Canon or Epson.
What is your current printer model running with a CISS ? Do you look for a direct replacement ?

 

[LBrewer_42]

Thanks for the reply.

What I am looking for is a printer not costing me more to run that the current system: About 15.00 every 2.5 years or so to replace the black, red, blue, and yellow inks.

I need a machine I can find workarounds for to solve company-designed obsolescence. Specifically their deliberate stopping the machine from working after a set number of printouts and/or the machine quitting when the waste ink sponges become full.

The machine I was using is an Epson Workforce 2760 with CISS and I installed a homemade external waste ink tank (jar actually).

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

What's wrong with the current machine ? Why would you want to replace it ?

If you look for a model with a built in tank system - Epson Ecotank with similar functionality as your current model - you may check the ET-3850 or ET-4850.

You appear to be pre-coccupied with some assumptions what the printer is doing - it does not stop once a given number of pages printed is reached - the waste ink counter is counting the number of cleaning actions - either firmware driven or user driven, you are using a CISS but you still have prenty cleaning cycles - one with every cartrdige chip reset unless you are running your printer with a chipless firmware modification. There is a page counter in the firmware but that does not stop the printer at any time, the number of pages does not tell you much about the actual ink usage. And what do you expect once the waste ink container is full - the waste ink will eventually spread into the bottom of the printer body and leak on your desk if the printer does not get stopped.
But again - you need to define what you need - what you want in your printer - Do you need a sheet feeder - do you need borderless printing etc - you need to take that list and compare it with the model ranges of Canon or Epson, I'm not in the position to make any more recommendations.

 

[LBrewer_42]

I appreciate this knowledge.

I will freely admit I may be in error about print cycle stoppage in my old printer, it was something I had researched rather thoroughly years ago when I got the printer. I wish I had the references now to cite or review, but I do not.

In light of your reply I assume the counter is just to indicate when the waste tank is full, and the WICReset utility is to keep track of waste ink levels.

A sensor would have been nicer, b/c an external waste tank makes this type of counter nothing but a $10.00 nuisance to buy the utility (why should it not be a free download form the company?).

But i understand the reality is the engineers were following a different paradigm when designing the machines, and a sensor would most likely not have been as cost effective.

Too bad that instead of a software counter they did not place a chip in the replacement tank similar to how they did in their expensive ink cartridges.

And what do you expect once the waste ink container is full - the waste ink will eventually spread into the bottom of the printer body and leak on your desk.

Sorry, maybe I was unclear? The point I was trying to make was not a complaint the printer stops when the sponges are saturated. My problem is with how a company decides to handle the situation. I want to avoid a printer making it difficult or "impossible" for the user to resolve the problem by themselves without having to shell out more money to the company.

Years ago I had either HP or Epson say the only resolution was to pay them to fix my printer going again.
Online research, instead, taught me about waste in k tanks, CISS systems how to get the printer going again. Plus it enabled me from then on not to have to re-ink the company cartridges.

I was hoping someone here had already installed a waste tank onto various modern ink tank printers. The hands on experience of modification per each printer type will be different depending on teardown, screw placement in the case etc. Hence it seemed logical to find people who had done this and compare the ease (or not) per printer type.