Need to buy CISS and dependable mid-range AIO...Suggestions?

[websnail]

Just to qualify my point re: the HP L7780... The earlier CIS kits were not, frankly, up to the job but a newer design has come out that integrates the pump mechanism in the cartridges, thus avoiding the pitfalls of low pressure and air being pumped instead of ink.

I wouldn't touch any HP outside of the Officejet L7000 or K5400 (just a printer) range though..

 

[djkokalis]

If you really want to upgrade to CISS like I stated before Epson is pretty much the only name in the game. And you're going to have to take the hit in color printing speed for it. The HP 564 ink series is pretty much a copy of the Canon style printer. 5 separate cartridges with a pigment black and CMYK dye. The print head construction is similar to Canon and so isn't quite as robust as the Epsons are so even if you have success installing a CISS into it there's no guarantee that it will continue to operate with it indefinitely and with the thermal print head design also if you ever run into any flow issues, and with CISS you eventually will, your print head is toast.

I went through several print heads for my Canon's just refilling, it goes with the territory with higher volume printing. Of course with burned out print heads it'll still print decently but photo's would end up with stripes. At least with the Canon's you can easily purchase new print heads. HP not so much. So if you're really set on CISS you should just go with Epson. Get an older Workforce series and convert it to a dye base CISS (newer ones don't have CISS available yet), it won't have the tendency to clog as much as say an artisan which you have to do maintenance prints on both plain paper settings and photo paper settings.

what about artisan? it clogs with cis? don't say to me please...i just ordered my new artisan (px820fwd for greece) and a brand new cis....what should i do to avoid clogging??

 

[mikling]

Let's get the FUD out of the way. If you have a thermal head thus...Canon and HP and you are using a desktop style machine and you bought a CISS then you've made a suboptimal choice. It might work for a while and it might work for a long time as well. The risk to your machine is that when it does not work properly, then you are slowly killing the printhead. If the pain is slight it might go on for a long time and then you notice it at which point your printhead can be permanently damaged. The problem with this scenario is that you might not know when it is happening until it is too late. Not a good scenario.

If you install a CISS on an Epson piezo printhead, the printhead is not destroyed if the CISS is misbehaving a bit. The risk to the investment is work in sorting things out. You will not end up with a terminal printhead.

Clogging is not caused by the CISS itself per se. It can be caused by the improper design of the CISS or INSTALLATION. The fact is that on Epson printers, the CISS system can be rudimentary and as simple as a tube dipped into an open bottle of ink and it will work ( actually best way). There is no need for fancy pressure blah blah stuff etc. On paper it might help, in the real world it matters not.
On the ARtisan 700/800+ in question there is a built in CISS inside the printer. It is non accessible. Aftermarket CISS for these are really tank extensions and NOTHING else. On the Artisan 700- 835 the aftermarket CISS systems are simply extensions of the tank/cartridges inside the printer.

What does matter in these CISSes is that the ink should be of high quality and the construction of the CISS is solid. Also important as well is the quality of installation done by the user themselves....this is a big factor.

Just remember that ink to be used on Epson printheads have slightly different characteristics compared to that used on thermal printheads. These differences can cause the ink recede from the nozzle of the printhead and cause perceived clogs or even physical clogging depending on the quality. So the relaibility of the CISS will be a function of the ink you place inside it. This is where you need to pay attention. You should check that the ink inside the CISS is of a good quality and not something thrown in to make is seem like you got a deal. Is additional ink obtainable, is it consistent from batch to batch. Can you count on getting exactly the same down the road.... or would you want to?

 

[printfan1138]

I agree Epson is best for a ciss system and right now the excellent Epson 1400 Stylus can be purchased for just $149 refurbished. I bought 2 of those and just one is being used at the moment with a cis system and I have printed several hundred full page photo's to date without a hitch! I like the damper cis system with the separate chip bar to fool the printer into thinking the cartridges are always full and it saves me a ton of money. I can buy 6 240ml bottles of ink for $60.00 and the same amount of ink in OEM Epson carts would be approximately $1,260 a savings of $1200. Do you think that's worth using a cis system or not? Happy printing!

 

[printfan1138]

Being a relative novice in the art of inkjet printing I Tend to Lean on the input from the experts and the people that have been in the game for a long time. I am completely sold on the cis systems and have had limited but excellent experiences so far with the cis damper systems. Those are available as many here know in both the type with the tubing that draws ink from large bottles to the refillable sponge-less cartridges that are refillable and stay in the printer. Both systems are now available in the damper systems. I bought some products early on from Ink Republic but then switched to InkJetCarts not that IR was bad because they actually both offer the same equipment but for me I get a lot out of the experience of the IJC people and the tutorials they have on their web site. The owner has over 30 years of experience in the printing business and he is wonderful and very patient about sharing his expertise. I hope it's ok to state my experiences here because I want to share a good experience when I find one with all my printer friends. Regards, Printfan1138

 

[printfan1138]

Follow Up On my previous post. I had a question about my Epson and sent it into Ross Hardie at InkJetCarts and had an answer back just now but he answered even earlier. Sometimes I get an answer within 30 minutes or less and I never had that happen with any company site before. Good Printing...Printfan1138

 

[printfan1138]

I'm a fan of Epson printers and they have a lot of models that would be excellent for your use plus the advantage of a printhead that is different than both hp and canon. I refer to their Piezo head and I think it is unique to Epson, Both hp and canon have thermal heads which means the ink is heated in the head by diodes I believe and the heated ink expands and is sprayed onto the paper as a result. In the Epson the head works from electrical current and no heating of the ink is necessary. This results in a printhead that is more durable and forgiving of mistakes such as running a head dry! From what you say I think this type of printer would be best for your use and the Epson does very well with good CIS systems. Go online and type in "DAMPER" CIS systems. The damper set up is better in my personal opinion than the usual empty Cartridge for a number of reasons! I hope this information is of some help!