Cone inks as partial replacements for Epson 4900/Storing printer

[sully75]

Hey All,

I burned through a lot of ink of a couple of colors trying to clear some ink clots a while back, and I'm down to almost zero on 3 inks. I've been pondering buying Cone inks as a replacement, but I'm unclear as to whether I can use a couple of Cone colors with my remaining Epson colors? I can't really afford to pay for the whole Cone set all at once.

Any thoughts? It appears that the Cone inks are reasonable replacements for the Epson stuff and should be archivalish?

Also...I'm pondering a 10 month trip where I'd be gone from the printer. It already has a tendency to jam. I'm wondering if there's any hope in storing it or should I just sell it and buy another one when I get back?

Thanks
Paul

[vinny]

Archivalish?
I like that.

[wager123]

I use Jon's inks in my 4880 and started with just a few colors as I needed them. I continued to use the Epson profiles and the prints were fine. so go for it , you will save a ton after the first change.
mitch

[PViapiano]

From what I've read, they are absolutely able to coexist with the Epson cartridges on an as needed basis/entry.

I wonder how good they'd be for making digital negatives compared with the Epson K3 set...?

[paulr]

Cone says there's no reason to flush the ink or reprofile or anything. Mix 'n match.

[wager123]

I am using the cone inks to make digital negs and they work fine with mark nelson PDN process , I just had to increase density by 5% to get the correct blocking.
hope this helps
mitch

[George Pappas]

Hi Sully,

I Have use Cone Color inks in my 4900 for some time now and am very pleased with their performance. I put the cone cartridges in as the original Epson inks ran out one by one. The system is convenient and very cost effective.

You will need to do something special to preserve the printer with minimal clogging if you are away for 10 months; this can range from different way to seal your printer to flush fluid in cartridges. I would check the Cone Website and other for some guidance here. Alternatively, if someone else in your studio/house can fire up the printer and make one print twice a month, you would be OK.

Best Regards,
George

[Jan Becket]

Iʻd be careful - not about mixing the inks but about mixing the carts. I did the same thing a couple of years ago on a 4880 and found that the chips are not compatible, or at least not in my case. I ended up foraging for chips on old Epson carts, resetting them and then gluing those onto the Cone carts. The MIS Associates site also has a warning somewhere about mixing different sets of carts. On the other hand, you might end up luckier than I was and get away with it.