3800 vs 4800 especially clogs?

[Ron Marshall]

I am considering the purchase of an Epson 3800 or a 4800.

For anyone with personal experience of either of these printers, I am wondering how they have fared in terms of nozzle clogs. I currently run a 2200, that has been very trouble-free in that respect, but I have read a few posts from people who have not been so lucky with the 4800, and I am wondering how prevalent this is.

[Greg Lockrey]

I have both plus a stable of 9600's. I use the 4800 more often than the 3800. The 3800 hasn't given me any trouble to date and I had it since it came out. I bought a used 4800 for the roll paper capability. If you let it set, there is some head cleaning that needs to be done prior to start up, but nothing too severe. The 3800 is a better machine in terms of print quality imho. Run a couple of prints every week if it's going to be idle and the clogging issue will be kept to a minimum. That's advice for all of the machines.

[Brian Ellis]

I haven't had a clog with my 3800 since I bought it about six months ago. I use it relatively infrequently, I probably average three or four prints a week. However, I've had two problems with the single paper rear feed mechanism. After a month or so of usage it started becoming difficult to get the paper through without getting an error message to the effect that the paper wasn't properly aligned. Sometimes I'd have to try five or six times before it would finally go through. I posted a message about that in another forum and quite a few people related a similar experience. That was fixed with the help of someone in another forum by changing one of the preferences in the LCD window on the printer.

So everything was fine until a few days ago when all of a sudden it started printing off-center about an inch despite the fact that it formerly centered everything perfectly. The culprit appears to be the feed mechanism again, sometimes the paper doesn't seem to go far enough down into the printing slot when it's first "grabbed." I don't know if anyone else has experienced this problem or not, when I have time I plan to call Epson and see what they say. Usually I can get a print that's properly centered on the second or third try but it's wasting a lot of paper and ink.

[Bill Eisele]

. . .However, I've had two problems with the single paper rear feed mechanism. After a month or so of usage it started becoming difficult to get the paper through without getting an error message to the effect that the paper wasn't properly aligned. Sometimes I'd have to try five or six times before it would finally go through. I posted a message about that in another forum and quite a few people related a similar experience. That was fixed with the help of someone in another forum by changing one of the preferences in the LCD window on the printer. . .

Hello Brian,

I've been experiencing the same problem you describe regarding the single paper rear feed mechanism with my new 3800. What preference needed to be changed in the LCD window?

Thanks,

Bill Eisele

[Chris Strobel]

Well I've been running my 4800 for 9 months now.I only print usually once a week.Not one clog yet.I've never done any kind of nozzle cleaning or auto nozzle check.When it prompts me I just say no.I keep it powered off when not in use.I only print b&w, so what I do is every 3-4 days no matter what I print out a color test pattern 8x10 to keep the juices flowing.So far in 9 months every test pattern and every b&w print has been perfect.

I was in the same printer choice dilemma and had it narrowed down to the 3800, 4800, or Canon IPF 5000.At my local calumet I took in a file and we printed it with all three printers on my usual paper Epson VFA.I really could tell no difference between em with my naked eye, so I chose the 4800 for its roll capability, more robust build, and most important its support for 3rd party ink from Jon Cone thats not available for the 3800 or Canon.I'm lovin it and so far so good.


I am considering the purchase of an Epson 3800 or a 4800.

For anyone with personal experience of either of these printers, I am wondering how they have fared in terms of nozzle clogs. I currently run a 2200, that has been very trouble-free in that respect, but I have read a few posts from people who have not been so lucky with the 4800, and I am wondering how prevalent this is.

[Ron Marshall]

Well I've been running my 4800 for 9 months now.I only print usually once a week.Not one clog yet.I've never done any kind of nozzle cleaning or auto nozzle check.When it prompts me I just say no.I keep it powered off when not in use.I only print b&w, so what I do is every 3-4 days no matter what I print out a color test pattern 8x10 to keep the juices flowing.So far in 9 months every test pattern and every b&w print has been perfect.

I was in the same printer choice dilemma and had it narrowed down to the 3800, 4800, or Canon IPF 5000.At my local calumet I took in a file and we printed it with all three printers on my usual paper Epson VFA.I really could tell no difference between em with my naked eye, so I chose the 4800 for its roll capability, more robust build, and most important its support for 3rd party ink from Jon Cone thats not available for the 3800 or Canon.I'm lovin it and so far so good.

Chris, I've been using Cone's K7s on my 2200, and am very happy with the results. How does the 4800 compare to the Cone ink for b/w on glossy and matt surfaced media?

[Greg Miller]

I have had my 4800 for about a year. It's nozzle clogging is much improved over the 4000 I had before it. I run a nozzle check (the one which prints colored rectangles) prior to each printing session just to be sure. It rarely has a clog even if left sitting idle and powered on for a week or two. And if it does have a clog a head clean will clear it with one or two cleaning cycles.

[Chris Strobel]

Hey Ron, I'm waiting to suck dry the K3 inks that came with my 4800 before I order up a set of Piezotones for it.I am running Cone on a little R220 at the moment and like it better than the K3's, but am impressed with the K3 ABW prints on the 4800 as well.I also run an old 1160 with MIS black eboni in BO mode and love it.The only problem with Cone is that as we speak its only for mat paper.I've never printed on gloss media with the K3's, but the Harman FB AL gloss sounds promising

.
Chris, I've been using Cone's K7s on my 2200, and am very happy with the results. How does the 4800 compare to the Cone ink for b/w on glossy and matt surfaced media?

[Brian Ellis]

Hello Brian,

I've been experiencing the same problem you describe regarding the single paper rear feed mechanism with my new 3800. What preference needed to be changed in the LCD window?

Thanks,

Bill Eisele

Menu > Setup > Paper Size
Turn the "Paper Size Check" off