[dmfw]

I plan to purchase a new printer for regular and photo printing.

I am seeking a printer or maker which "allows" the use of a 3rd Party Cartridge. I know that some printers check, and if they detect the 3rd Party product, they will refuse to print.

Thanks

[markdesmarais]

I don't think any printers officially accept aftermarket inks, but I think refills are available for pretty much all of them. Not sure about photo quality with after market inks though.

[Schraubstock]

Hi

You don't say whether you are experienced in this. If not have a quick squizz at this to put you in the mood:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/digital-processing-software-printing/1734...als-print.html

I have been printing (for financial reward) fine art and the modest person I am, I have no hesitation in saying that I know a fair bit about this activity.

As to your question re third party inks, if you purchase from well known brand supplier you will find their inks are equal and in many cases better then the OEM juice.
I have been using "MIS Associates " pigment inks for many many years without any problems whatsoever. I have been using these inks on a number of EPSON printers and they have not damaged the printer in the slightest way. Some Epson inks had a well documented metamerism green shift problem. MIS inks are essentially free of this. Also MIS inks do not suffer of the terrible "bronzing" effect when used on semi or full gloss paper. I would have no hasitation in using this ink on museum quality certified paper and in fact have done so. MIS is said to be coloufast for at least 100 years and beyond when framed behind ozone safe glazing and displayed out of direct sunlight. Prints stored in folders out of light will last indefinite. Don't let silverfish get to it though. So all in all the third party MIS inks are one I can thoroughly recommend. There are other brands I know equally as good but I have so far ever only used Mis brand.

Also it is interesting to note that the better brand ink makers (in Germany, England and the USA there are some traditional ink maker who made inks long before EPSON even existed) will carry a "William Imaging Research" certificate. William would probably rate as the world's leading authority on testing papers and inks.

I purchase MIS inks in bulk and refill my EPSON R2880 with it. (I am retired now and only use this machine now.) This printer is now a few years old but I remember only some 6 months after it was first sold the Chinese offered replacement carts for it with resettable chips. I am using these now ever since without any problems and let me tell you they are better than the OEM one.

I do not know what the situation is with newer printers, but usually it takes only a few months before third party carts become available. You need to GOOGLE and e-bay search for them.

Oh and before you start, be prepared to spend a bit of cash to acquire some colour proofing/calibrating gear and possible at least a half decent screen capable of being calibrated. You have to generate paper/ink printer profiles to get decent results. I haven't scared you off, have I ?

Greetings

[dmfw]

"Schraubstock", thanks for the information. I know that some printer makers have firmware in their printers to disallow 3rd party ink. This can add to the overall cost, especially using a printer like the EPSON R2880 with its 9 ?? cartridges!

Curious, with the cost of ink, have you compared the costs of printing "for financial reward" vs. using a commercial service?

[rhodopsin]

Epson Stylus Photo 1400 here. I use 3rd-party inks, no problem.

[Schraubstock]

with the cost of ink, have you compared the costs of printing "for financial reward" vs. using a commercial service?

Hi

No comparison, I can print quite cheaply and retain a healthy margin over the "commercial" job. Mind you in this sense I am commercial too. But my specialty was/is fine art printing which not only concerns correct colour output but also high quality papers, like Hahnemühle 100% Cotton Rag. A very expensive paper.

When buying ink in bulk it becomes almost a minor expense. Paper in my estimation is by far the more expensive component of printing. This is why I think proper calibration and the need to generate printing profiles (and you need one for all the different papers) is so important. Without it you are constantly flying blind, desperation to accept lower and lower print quality and the waste of paper will kill it for you.

There is another aspect to using third party refillable carts I have not mentioned so far.

You will be aware that any inkjet printer will be experiencing clogged heads if not used regularly. This means you need to run cleaning cycles more often then you think. Every time you run a cleaning cycle enormous amounts of inks are being sucked out of the carts. Printer manufacturers absolutely love this. In fact they do everything to make you run this cleaning as often as possible. If only one colour head needs cleaning/unblocking the system is designed to clean all of them whether they need it or not. This of course means wasting more ink then you really need to. But it sells ink, doesn't it.

In my case I have I purchase several empty cart sets. One set I fill with Windex and when a clean is required I remove the ink carts, put the Windex charged ones in and run the cleaning with this. Windex unblocks and cleans print heads much more effectively than just sucking ink through the heads. And it is cheaper. Have done this for many many years without the slightest problem.

I have also disconnected the tiny hoses that lead from the cleaning pads to the waste ink pads in the printer. I extended the hoses and they are now leading into a plastic bottle to collect waste ink.
The reason: Printer manufacturers program their printers to allow a certain number of cleaning cycles before the waste ink pads are full with ink. When the allowable cycle quantity is reached the printer will just stop and it needs to be serviced and reset. For the R2880 it will cost approx $200.00 There are Waste ink pad resetting programs available on the net. I have "somehow" obtained the original EPSON service CD for my printer and since I have no concern about overflowing ink pads a reset my printer frequently.

Hope I have been of help to you

Greetings

[mysticcowboy]

I've had mixed results with bulk inks systems. I ruined an Epson 1400 with inks a friend gave me. I currently have a Canon 9000 and have a bulk ink (dye) setup that has produced good results. The inks are not an exact match for the OEM ones, but extremely close. So far, so good, though I've only printed a few hundred images. I do use a semi-gloss profile on pearl paper to adjust for the tiny lack of saturation in the third party inks.

[Schraubstock]

I ruined an Epson 1400 with inks a friend gave me

Hi

Can you reveal what went wrong ? I have no experience with dye inks as I don't use them. There are of course inks (mainly dye inks) which are less than good quality, I know that much. They are much cheaper to make and consequently there are a few less reputable makers in the market, mainly from China and sold on e-bay. But I am interested to know how the ink ruined your printer.

There are pigment inks on offer on e-bay also but I would never buy them. I only deal with reputable suppliers like "MediaStreet by Ink2image" MediaStreet by Ink2Image

or Inksupply.com - Your Low Cost Printing Solution Since 1994

I have been a customer of these two suppliers for many years and never had any issue with them, neither ink nor service. I buy the refill carts and reset chips from "you beaut" Chinese e-bayer. Can't beat them.

Greetings