New Epson printers/all-in-ones

[bobjoek]

You might consider the Epson Stylus Photo 1400. Straight thru paper path, up to 13" x 44" printing, and lots of aftermarket items available(CISS, refillable cartridges with autoreset chips or pushbutton resets.)

If you are still considering any of the "Workforce" line of Epsons, be advised that these are 4 color pigment based printers.

The Artisan line, and the Stylus Photo mentioned above are 6 color dye based printers.
I don't know about the African market, but here in the US, The 1400 can often be found around $220 USD...............

Hello Everyone,

I just subscribed to this forum today. Maybe my questions are answered elsewhere, and would appreciate any answers. We own an Epson Workforce 840 and are very happy with it. However replacement Epson ink cartridges at Staples or Amazon are half again as much as the printer cost = Very Expensive! We had a Cannon inkjet previously that used little ink tanks. The cheap aftermarket ink tanks always had inferior ink (smears with highlighters, and not so sharp in color depth). The print head eventually failed, so we purchased this Epson Workforce as a replacement. We're very happy with the print quality.

Questions:
1. You mention that our 4 color printer is "pigment based printing", and 6 color printers are "dye based printers." What is the practical difference between pigment and dye? One better than the other, and for what purpose?

2. Can you advise the best alternative to print cheaply and as good as possible - Alternative to purchasing OEM Epson cartridges? I saw an ingenious system in use in Ukraine - they had half liter ink/pigment in cans on a shelf above their printer, with little plastic tubes routed down to the print head - must have been a very inexpensive print cost per page! WOW! Can this be done on our printer?

Thanks,

Olga

Olga,

Regarding your question #1, this has been discussed previously on this forum. Just perform a search.

On your question #2, I do not recommend the system (CISS) that you saw, unless you are doing a lot of printing. CISS systems can be difficult to set up and operate. Plus it may require some modification of your Epson Workforce 840 to install. The best solution to reduce ink costs is to buy quality bulk ink and cartridges and refill yourself. I have gone this route with my Workforce 840 and am pleased with the results. You may want to check inkjetcarts(dot)us, inkjetmall(dot)com, and other quality suppliers mentioned on this forum. Make sure to pay close attention to the instructions on initial priming of the cartridges. Once properly primed, these cartridges perform well, and coupled with quality ink, the results will be as good as using OEM cartridges. One additional item you will need is a chip resetter for the cartridges. Most of the suppliers sell a complete kit with the resetter, cartridges, ink and syringes.

Bob

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Questions:
1. You mention that our 4 color printer is "pigment based printing", and 6 color printers are "dye based printers." What is the practical difference between pigment and dye? One better than the other, and for what purpose?

Dye: Pros-Brighter colors, even with 4-color systems. Can print on pretty much any paper from glossy to matte. Much cheaper than pigments, both with OEM and aftermarket cartridges. Cons-Less water and fade resistant, though this also greatly depends on the paper used.

Pigment: Pros-Much more fade resistant than dyes (archival if you get quality aftermarket inks) Much better for use for t-shirt transfers. Less "feathering" on cheap copy papers. Cons-Lower color gamut (less bright) colors, especially if you use a 4-color system. If you use OEM Durabrite, more likely to clog due to "fast dry" properties (Ultrachrome for higher end printers and aftermarkets are less likely to clog than Durabrite but still more likely to clog than dye). Not useful on glossy papers unless you buy an expensive model with a gloss optimizer tank.

A six color system will give you better photo reproduction, not only because of the two extra hues (light cyan and light magenta) but also because the printhead can do finer quality printing. Many 6-color Epsons can be converted to pigment (but not all of them), but you will need to use color profiling for good results, especially with newer printers. I never profiled with my older R220 unless I was actually going to sell a print, for personal use it was more than good enough on its own, but I've heard printers like the 1400 are completely unbalanced without a profile.

2. Can you advise the best alternative to print cheaply and as good as possible - Alternative to purchasing OEM Epson cartridges? I saw an ingenious system in use in Ukraine - they had half liter ink/pigment in cans on a shelf above their printer, with little plastic tubes routed down to the print head - must have been a very inexpensive print cost per page! WOW! Can this be done on our printer?

Thanks,

Olga

This is called a CIS (continuous ink system). There are many refill companies that post on these boards that sell them (I'm not going to give any specific recommendations). You will get better quality and service than buying a cheaper one on eBay that may or may not have the correct inks in it, as well as build quality. They're all made in China, but a professional refill company will be much more likely to have a system that works well. You can search the boards for more information about specific printers.

I have heard rumors that outside the US there are "official" CIS for sale.

 

[cheapprinter]

Bob and InkJet Master,

Thank you for all your helpful information!

1. Are standard OEM Epson Workforce 840 printer cartridges filled with pigment?

2. What does CISS stand for?

3. What's the difference between CIS (continuous ink system) and CISS?

4. Finally, if anyone cares to chime in on this (I know it's a big question), Is there a "Toyota Camry" or "Honda Accord" of color inkjet printers on the market? Something that is incredibly reliable, high quality, and reasonably priced (purchase and operating costs)?

Thanks Again,

Olga

 

[jtoolman]

All info easy to find doing Google search!

Yes pigment.
CISS = Continuous Ink Supply System
CIS = Continous Ink System
Toyota/Honda equivalent?? If you ask a hundred people you'll get 100 answers.
Since you have not stated what type of printing you are interested in doing, it would be hard to provide a reccommendation.

If your goal is photos no larger than letter or A4 size, then any of the smaller all in one Epsons or Canons would do just fine.
Many are very reliable but each maybe have their quirks. Most are well supported in the 3rd party ink / cart / ciss world.

 

[jtoolman]

@ OutOFtheinkwell, I just realized that you need XP OS to run it. At least I have not been able to meake these adjustment programs on Win 7
I had to set up a Laptop with XP in order to run it properly. I can still send it to you but I cannot guarantee it will like WIN 7
I'll prepare a set of intructions and some screen grabs as you definitely do not want to mess this up!!!!!

 

[OutOFtheinkwell]

Olga wrote ( I saw an ingenious system in use in Ukraine - they had half liter ink/pigment in cans on a shelf above their printer, with little plastic tubes routed down to the print head)
I don't know how that was set up Olga, but all cis people warn you to keep the ink bottles on the same level as the printer to prevent gravity from sucking the inks through the printer and running all over the place. To fill the dampers in a cis that take the place of cartridges some people raise the ink bottles to allow gravity to fill the dampers the first time they are installed but even then small clamps are provided to pinch of the tubing off immediately when the dampers are full and the same clamps are to be used any time the bottles must be moved for any reason. For a more detailed explanation just Google and type in "Installing a CIS using the provided clamps) , that should give you many sites and/or U-tube video's explaining this. Hope that helps! Sincerely, Outoftheinkwell!

 

[OutOFtheinkwell]

Update on the Epson 1400! I installed a damper/RBTF chip set from InkJetCarts and the Epson is it's old self again happly printing beautiful prints.
We will see if this is going to be for the long haul or not! The Epson bomb ya know!

 

[OutOFtheinkwell]

My goodness got to go, I think my printer is ticking!!!!!!

 

[jtoolman]

Congratulations!
Did you install it on the old one or the new one?
Just make sure all your connections are tight and there is ZERO chance of an air leak in any of the elbows or tube joints.
Also keep an eye out for ink flow back into the bottles. If you see that you might want to raise your bottle rack a tiny bit above th table top. 1/2" or so.

About your favorite subject,,,the "time bomb"? Oh you will get hit with it gain.
Your Epson Free reset tool does not reset the counters to zero like the real Adjustment Program for the Epsons does.
The problem is I have not been able to get it to work on anything but XP so I've hadto load all my specific "Adjustment Programs" for each of my Epson printer models on a dedicated XP laptop.
Have you Installed the WIC Tool so you monitor the two counters??????
I monitor all my Time Bomb / Waste ink counter with it. So I know when to reset everything back to zero.