Good 3rd-Party OEM inks for Epson?

[Ari]

I have an Epson 4880, inks are running low, and I'm looking for good alternatives to the Epson ink, which is getting less affordable.
Was hoping to find 220mL ink cartridges from a 3rd-party supplier, but I'd like to avoid the shoddier suppliers that offer mid-grade inks that will only cause problems.
I looked briefly at Cone inks, but they don't supply full cartridges, just empty ones that you can refill. Too bad, as they seemed like a good-quality place.
Any other suggestions? Good experiences?
Thanks in advance.

[Alan9940]

Personally, I've never heard of any pre-filled non-OEM replacement ink cartridges for any printer. If you're going to use third party ink, then I think you're stuck doing the fill yourself. If it were my Epson 4880 I'd definitely go with Jon Cone's inks. IMO, he has the best quality.

[wager123]

I ran a 4880 on johns inks for 3 years with no problems and refilling is not hard at all.
Mitch

[Ari]

Personally, I've never heard of any pre-filled non-OEM replacement ink cartridges for any printer. If you're going to use third party ink, then I think you're stuck doing the fill yourself. If it were my Epson 4880 I'd definitely go with Jon Cone's inks. IMO, he has the best quality.

Alan, there are hundreds of 3rd-party cartridges for every printer all over eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Wide-Format-Ink-8-Cartridge-Set-Compatible-for-Epson-Stylus-Pro-4880-Printer/231397788737?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225074%26meid%3D202ec030cfc34c68bf46ccde1cc61857%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dco%26sd%3D353132168597%26itm%3D231397788737%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion%26brand%3DGigablock&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
I just don't know if they're pretty good or utter crap.

[Peter De Smidt]

I have a 4880. I use Cone refillable cartridges and inks. In my experience, Cone's products are very good, and so is their support.

[Alan9940]

Alan, there are hundreds of 3rd-party cartridges for every printer all over eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Wide-Format-Ink-8-Cartridge-Set-Compatible-for-Epson-Stylus-Pro-4880-Printer/231397788737?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225074%26meid%3D202ec030cfc34c68bf46ccde1cc61857%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dco%26sd%3D353132168597%26itm%3D231397788737%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion%26brand%3DGigablock&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
I just don't know if they're pretty good or utter crap.

These are already filled with ink? Don't know anything about these cartridges for a 4880, but most of the ones on eBay for the Canon Pro-100 are crap. Only one guy sells quality refillable. Have you seen Jose Rodriguez on YouTube? He's kind of a guru on using non-OEM inks.

[Ari]

Thanks, Alan. I'll check out Jose.

[sanking]

The Cone inks would be my first choice for third-party ink.

But another choice would be to purchase unopened Epson genuine ink on ebay. Cost used for the 4880 cartridges is often much less than new, and so long as you are within or not far out from expiration date they should work fine.

Be careful in buying though since the 220 ml cartridges for the 4880 takes a different size than the 7880/9880.

Sandy

[Tin Can]

I am known for my dislike of inkjet

but this page may change my mind

https://shop.inkjetmall.com/about-conecolor-pro-inks

[domaz]

I am known for my dislike of inkjet

but this page may change my mind

https://shop.inkjetmall.com/about-conecolor-pro-inks

I made a custom all-gray inkjet for my Epson 1430 with ConeColor Inks. I would say "clog-free" might be stretching it a bit, but I've never had a clog that doesn't clear with a single head cleaning. If you leave your printer for months at a time you should still install a set of cartridges filled with their Piezoflush. So you still need to the maintenance really. The advantage is refilling cartridges is cheaper and gives you more freedom (you can use their digital negative inks or roll your own like me etc). It's best to think of Inkjet a lot like conventional analog process to me. You don't expect your developer to last forever, or even your B&W paper for that matter. If you don't use it you will lose it basically.

[Ari]

Thanks Sandy, Randy, domaz.
I've had success with expired cartridges, and I needed one in a pinch so that's what I bought for now.
But I'll research the Cone color set some more. After an initial investment, it looks like a good way to keep quality ink in the printer without breaking the bank.