Soon: big test of refillable Epson Pro 3800 cartridges + resetters

[pharmacist]

You don't need to remove the cover, but it is more estethical to do so, because you cannot close the cover anymore. No program on you PC, just the 7 chips of your original chips + two cartridges which have two special tuning chips which control all the other cartridges and also your maintenance cartridge, so this will be reset too when full.

 

[patz]

The cover is fixed on the printer by two notches which can be easily be unlocked from the printer using a simple screw driver, just take a look and you will find out how this can be done.

I have 3885. The inksystem fro inkrepublic works fine for me. But I have the cover problem. It doesn't seem to have any screws. How can I remove the cover with a screwdriver? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fortisi876]

You use to screwdriver to GENTLY pry the cover off not to unscrew screws. On the opposite side of where those scratches are is a little nipple that sits in a recess in the base (silver) cover, all you need to do is GENTLY pry the cover out of that indent. Takes all of 2secs on each side.

 

[patz]

I see, thank you.

 

[pharmacist]

Fortis876 is right: just push the nipple just from under the indentation and the cover can be removed without the slightest harm.

 

[cwphoto]

I last wrote in June of 2010 regarding the CISS from Ink Republic. I sent some LLK ink to Ink Republic for analysis, along with a CD containing an image I was printing, and some of the paper I was using, so that they could duplicate as closely as possible my own results. I think I e-mailed them no less than 6 times for a report, but they simply never responded. Amanda claimed the engineers were looking into the issue, but they never followed through. To date, I have never gotten a response.

I would advise anybody using the system to use Epson LLK for black-and-white printing, or the resulting black-and-white prints will be very disappointing. For color images, this is less of an issue, but there still is some gloss differential issues with the PK and LK inks. Essentially, the more deep blacks an image contains, the more of an issue it becomes.

Some other issues I've had pretty consistently are clogging problems after about 40, 8 x 10 prints or equivalent. I believe the more the ink is agitated, the more the ink foams up, and consequently causes air pockets and head clogs. I have learned to keep my larger printing sessions to about 40 images per day, and even tried to break those into 2,20 print sessions. It's not too often I have these larger runs of prints, so it has not been a major issue for me.

I have also had numerous problems trying to reset the chips, and more recently error messages regarding the maintenance tank not being present, even though it is. It generally takes me no less than three times to get the chips to reset, and despite Ink Republican claim that this does not cause clogging, I have found it has clogged my printer twice. Inserting, and reinserting the cartridges I believe introduces air, maybe not if done only once, but if done multiple times, as is generally required to reset the chips, it can and does introduce air into the system.

Lastly, the only other printer I have to compare this to is my HP Z3100. On matte paper I can say that the Dmax of the HP is much better than the Epson. The HPZ3100 is said to have some issues with its red (improved in the 3200 model), the red of the Ink Republic ink still is not as rich as the HP. I'm not sure if this is due to ink Republic's ink set or the printer itself as I have not been able to compare Epson ink to ink Republic ink side by side. I can say that the HP uses both PK and MK ink to produce their black ink on matte paper, whereas the Epson does not. The deep reds tend to be more orange on the Epson.

In the end, I believe the ink Republic system has its place, but also has its limitations. If one is looking for the absolute best quality, then it's probably no surprise that using the manufacturers ink is the way to go.

 

[pharmacist]

Hi cwphoto,

glad you are back to report on the LLK problem: I am still using Image Specialists IM-K4 ink and I did not find any problems with gloss differential, so it could be the inkset. Only my PK and LM inks are already changed to IRK-4 nano (Inkrepublic.com) and my first conclusion is the higher gloss of these two inks. The rest of the cartridges are now running lower to the point I might have to refill them the next months to come.

About the formation of trapped air: I too have experienced the problem with air trapped inside the the tubing system and I would suggest to fill the ink at the end of the day and let the ink settle overnight to let the air escape from the ink, loosely capping the plug before firmly close it the next day before resetting. Actually the way of resetting is a bit annoying, like I have mentioned before. It would be better if you could reset only the cartridge which is actually empty, not the whole system.

These refill cartridges are sold not only by inkrepublic.com, but also by www.inkjetcarts.us and www.conecolor.com and are still the best refillable system for the Epson Pro 3800 I have experienced from my previous tests. So look for better inks if the inkrepublic.com's ink are not satisfactory. Maybe you could try Image Specialists IM-K4 or the latest Inkjetfly inkset or even buy larger 220 ml original Epson K3 ink, suck the ink out and inject the ink into these cartridges.

NEVER shake the cartridges, not only will air be suspended into the ink and released later on in the tubing system, causing "clogs", but it can also stain and possibly clog the pathway from the pressure inlet tubing system of the cartridge, diminishing the possibility of creating enough pressure inside the cartridge to maintain stable ink flow towards the printhead. Conecolor is recommending this to resuspend the ink after a few weeks of stand still. Instead what I do is to lift the front of the cartridge a few inches and quickly let it land on the table softly a few times in a row, so the ink inside the cartridge will be equally suspended by the waves created by the movement of tilting the front of the printer. This way not only all the cartridges are "shaken", but also the chances of introducing small air bubbles into the ink is very low and since the air is trapped inside the pressure inlet valve (as it is locked into the printer) the likelihood of ink penetrating the pathway of the pressure inlet valve is very small.

Your comment about the more orange teint of the deep reds on the Epson confirms my suspicion about the Inkrepublic.com's Epson 1400 inkset. My Epson 1400 converted to CISS with the Inkrepublic.com's 6-colour CcMmYK inkset tends to print high reds with a orangy teint, even after profiling, whether the reds on my Epson Pro 3800 with Image Specialists IM-K4 are very deep red and especially the blues are very saturated and even better compared to the same prints made previously using the original Epson K3 inkset. However the inkset for the Epson 1400 is totally different to the IRK4-nano inkset used in the Epson R2400/Pro 3800 printer, so one cannot compare it directly on a one to one basis.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[LX5-user]

The resetter is especially designed for the Epson BD500DN/B300DN printer, but works also for the Epson Pro 3800 original cartridges chips (if they are not below 5 %) and the maintenance tank chip. Be warned: if the level of the chip falls below 5 % it can NOT reset the chips !!! I did discover it with my LK cartridge (light black) which prior showed the warning: "not enough ink, exchange the ink cartridge". All other chips were only showing low and were flashing on the printer display screen. Eventually you could obtain these cartridges and use it with this particular resetter and forget the two control chips if you want to reset and refill one cartridge at a time when it runs low, but be aware this must be done when it shows low only, not empty.

You can purchase it at: http://www.szmegacolor.com/sdp/1042432/ artri.html

Unfortunately it is quite expensive.

Hi Pharmist,

Can you tell me the exact model name and # of the resetter that you purchased from szmegacolor?

I contacted them and asked them whether the resetter for BD500DN can also reset 3800 cartridges. They replied the resetter can only be used on BD300/BD500 cartridges. It can't reset 3800 cartridges.

This is my first post though I have been following this thread for some time.

Best wishes for everyone to have a great 2011!
Tommy

 

[pharmacist]

Hi tommy,

By chance I discovered the aforementioned resetter for the BD300/BD500 does actually resets the cartridge chips, BUT not if the chip has fallen below 5% (see my earlier posts), so there is a limitation. To be sure: take the 15 % limit to be safe. The BD300/BD500 resetter is marketed to be an Epson Pro 3800 waste ink tank resetter ONLY, but I discovered it also does reset the ink cartridge chips as well. The reason I did the test, because one of the two tuning chip has DOA and I couldn't get the system working. It is a hidden feature and not endorsed by SZmegacolor. Yes it is the resetter for the BD300/BD500 printer (the blue one).

 

[LX5-user]

Hi Pharmacist,

Thanks for the quick reply. One reason why I want to know the exact model is that they are selling a number of resetters that have the same plastic housing in blue color. They said the 3800 maintenance tank resetter and B300/B500 resetter are different. I am not sure if these resetters are indeed identical or not. If you had ordered a B300/B500 resetter from them and found out it also works for 3800 ink cartridges then I am going to ordered the same one just to be sure. Like you said, the single unit price + shipment isn't cheap. I don't want to take a risk.

Thanks,
Tommy