Epson 1400 or R1900 for Piezography K7

[sanking]

Piezography refill kits are available from inkjetmall.com for both the Epson 1400 and Epson R1900. Any advantage to one printer over the other for Piezography K7?

Sandy King

[John Rodriguez]

I used to have an R1900. Only used the OEM inks, but here are some general issues I had with it -

- The paper feeding mechanisms stank, both rear and top. Fine art papers (especially Hahnemuhle) quickly because unusable because dust from the paper gummed up the rollers. By quickly I mean 10 prints on fine art stock from brand new I had to get a replacement. I ran into the same problem on the replacement and resorted to a lengthy cleaning process before abandoning any paper that might produce paper dust.

- Nozzles dry out fairly easily.

- Carts are very small, those nozzle cleaning routines could go through a large % of the cart.

[Tyler Boley]

1900 has enough ink positions to do gloss as well, 1400 would be matte only for PZO. As John said the paper feeds suck, so you have to learn to baby them, and clean the grab rollers etc. frequently. They make beautiful PZO prints though, bot hf them.

[sanking]

1900 has enough ink positions to do gloss as well, 1400 would be matte only for PZO. As John said the paper feeds suck, so you have to learn to baby them, and clean the grab rollers etc. frequently. They make beautiful PZO prints though, bot hf them.

Tyler,

Thanks for your comments. Since both these printers have very small picoliter size just wondering if they are more prone to clogging with K7 inks than the K3 Epson printers that have larger nozzles?

Sandy

[Tyler Boley]

Hasn't been my experience Sandy, seemed to work very well with both models here. HAssles are refillable carts, small. I'd decide on a set and get a CIS system. Then the paper feed as discussed. THey are cheaper office modle printers

[sanking]

Hasn't been my experience Sandy, seemed to work very well with both models here. HAssles are refillable carts, small. I'd decide on a set and get a CIS system. Then the paper feed as discussed. THey are cheaper office modle printers

Tyler,

Thanks again for your comment. Clogging is more of an issue for me than the small carts. In fact, the small carts are an attraction because they would allow me to experiment with different ink mixes with less ink waste.

Sandy

[Tyler Boley]

yes.. experimenting with mixes is exactly whyy I like to do with these models...and a 1900 and refillable carts is exactly what I was playing with here-
http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPres...-ink-workshop/
and exactly what I play with at home. THe only hassle is the constant need to reset them, generally one at a time, whether needed or not, but opening and reseating the carts... only to find after doing so and a cleaning yet another flashes empty...
Just a niggle.. well worth it considering the fun it can be...
Much like endless paper choice, developer choice, toner.. etc.. in the darkroom, or your tissue tweaking.
Tyler

[sanking]

THe only hassle is the constant need to reset them, generally one at a time, whether needed or not, but opening and reseating the carts... only to find after doing so and a cleaning yet another flashes empty...
Just a niggle.. well worth it considering the fun it can be...
Much like endless paper choice, developer choice, toner.. etc.. in the darkroom, or your tissue tweaking.
Tyler

Well, I picked up a used R1800, which like the 1900 is a 2 picoliter printer, and a set of refillable cartridges. Filled the cartridges with K7 inks, installed them in the R1900, and after a couple of cleaning cycles got a good nozzle check. I then printed a calibration sheet, and a 21 step wedge. The step wedge print was not totally linear so I made an .acv curve to correct. First real print with the curve applied to the file was very nice. Everything worked fine, but after the cleaning cycles and calibration some of the cartridge show less than 50% full.

BTW, I am using a mix of K7 shades, including selenium, warm neutral and sepia. I used pure carbon in the light shades, figuring fading is more likely here.

So far, having a lot of fun, and no down side!! Has not been exactly plug and play, but on the other hand, not all that complicated either.

Sandy