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View Full Version : R2400 Bulk Inks, Media Street and Others



Ed K.
27-Aug-2006, 00:05
Alas, after burning through 3 sets of cartridges in nothing flat, with most of the ink going to waste during cartridge change or one extended cleaning.

I did manage to make 12 13x19 prints from three cartridge sets, now one cartridge is low, which means if I change it, all will drop by a nearly a third! Obviously, the only way to "win" with the stock cartridges is to simply replace all at once and toss out even half full cartridges. Let's see - ink cost alone - 22.50 per print! Of course, if that clog hadn't occured, this would have been less.

Not to rant about ripoffs and all that. As a means to proof read full spreads, the printer seems to work well enough with Epson's semi-matte proofing paper - so I'll keep it until I can afford a decent color laser for that purpose ( then it will cheerfully be smashed with a hammer!!! )

Okay you inventive and frugal LF people. Anyone tried the Mediastreet Niagra system for R2400? Does the gloss differential work out okay? Clogs? Archival concerns? They do offer pigment inks, and their resevoirs are a full 100ml ( almost 6x the stock capacity? ). If the system works out, it would be a real joy to avoid a trashcan full of half-full ink cartridges and assorted industrial waste every few days of light work. What good are individual cartridges when one must replace all of them at once anyway?

Experiences with Niagra or others? Thoughts? Worries that Epson will sue them too? Color management woes?

As an aside, okay, and I can't resist the rant - when we visit the local fastfood place, they always toss in a pile of napkins and handfulls of little Catsup packets. One day, I noticed large squeeze bottles filled with sauces in the fridge. My wife took the packets, which would normally end up in the trash, and ended up with about a two year supply of various Jack in the Sauces in convenient full sized despensers. Hmmm, the inkjet situation doesnt even give that option, but it does illustrate the point. A small number of wastes, repeated often can really add up!

Doug Fisher
27-Aug-2006, 07:52
>>Does the gloss differential work out okay? Clogs? Archival concerns? They do offer pigment inks, and their resevoirs are a full 100ml<<

If you do go with a bulk system, you might want to consider buying the 4800's larger (110 ml and 220 ml?) carts and then dumping them into the bottle for your bulk system vs. going with a third party ink.

Doug
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www.BetterScanning.com

Helen Bach
27-Aug-2006, 08:45
I use an Inkrepublic i-Ink CIS with ink sucked from 4800 cartridges. The 'dampers' look loose, but the system works well, better than the other two I have tried (the Niagara II and the Flux 1) on other printers.

Best,
Helen

Ken Allen
27-Aug-2006, 09:25
Hi Ed,

I often want to rant after running into problems with this printer too. Yet, I think it's still one of the better 13" printers. I am surprised that you see 1/3 ink loss after inserting a new cartridge. I don't see that.

I've printed several large jobs on this printer (200-300 13x19 prints). I wait untill the printer forces me to chnage a cartridge or two. On big jobs I change cartridges CONSTANTLY. But the overall cost does not seem to be more than 220 ml ink for the 7800. In fact somehow I spend less on ink for the r2400 for the same revenue than the 7800.

I measure the ink costs by comparing the cost of ink for the two printers Vs. the revenue of the prints. Since I charge by square foot this provides an approximation of comparitive ink costs. So far, It seems that the cost of running the r2400 vs. the 7800 is LESS. Maybe that's because of more waste on the bigger printer.

Hope this helps.