Refill Inks for Epson 3880

[348montesa]

Hello Everyone,

I have found lots of info from 2011/12 about inks for the 3880, but very little info after that. I am about to buy cartridges and inks for my 3880 and i would like to know what the suggestions would be today.

From my readings it seems that the following inksets are the best:

Inkrepublik irk4 NANO
Inktec Powerchrome k3

As for cartridges, the are the inkrepublic and the newer ones form Inkjetmall.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

http://www.octoink.co.uk is a source for the Inktek (http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/UltraChrome-K3-9x100ml-Ink-Set.html), has good shipping rates to the US, is there a better source?

I use mostly satin papers (red river arctic polar satin and Ilford luster)

Thanks for your comments.
S

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

What do you expect from the 'best' inkset - what are the parameters ?

There are quite some companies on the market with good refill inks, but they all differ somewhat - in their gamut, their gloss and bronzing on different papers and the black level of the black inks- I don't think it's possible to say there is a 'best' ink. Inks perform together with the paper, not just on their own which makes it more complex and difficult. The Inktec ink is quite glossy overall, the black ink exhibits a pretty strong metallic sheen in reflecting light, some people don't see it, some don't care and some people expect the inks rather matching the Epson inks by color so they wouldn't need to create new profiles.

You may check here http://precisioncolors.com/Epson_789_color.html for the 3880 or P800 type inks
or here http://www.vermontphotoinkjet.com/ for your choice of inks

 

[The Hat]

It’s not a case of finding a better source of ink, but more so that most ink suppliers wont ship to Medellín, and this makes choice far more limited...

 

[348montesa]

Hat,
shipping to Miami, Fl or Munich, Germany is fine with me.

IKS,
I had seen the first website but no reviews online about their product. Regarding the second, it seems people with fist hand experience with those found other to work better. I had not read about the metallic sheen with the Inktec black ink, thanks for that. My question is for suggestions for refill inks and cartridges available for the 3880 given that I can't find that many recent reviews on K3 refill ink. Back in 2011/12 there where some users comparing various alternatives on all those aspects you mention.

Thanks,

Sebastian

 

[The Hat]

I was referring specifically to the ink suppliers not wishing to ship to all destinations. !
Here is one of @jtoolman five videos on refilling the 3880 carts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRr-rUu9hkU

As far as gloss differential and bronzing are concerned, all inks can suffer from these problems, on certain paper surfaces and if it’s not one colour it’s another, so you just have to avoid the them..