Piezo/Thermal Head Conundrum

[MurrayMinchin]

Thank you Sandy, Bob & koraks for chiming in on this one.

Dry air is one problem we don't face on BC's north coast!

Health and Life had me out of the photography game for a while. Another reason was that I had taken my printing about as far as I could, control wise, but found something was missing. This gave me some time to ponder the issue...

I learned to print using Lynn Radeka's masking techniques and even though making the best prints of my life, they fell short. What it boiled down to (completely personal response to my own work) was that my images seemed like windows through which one looked to see a scene beyond. What was missing? I wanted the experience not to be of looking through to something distant, but rather to have the experience of holding an art object in my hands; something which has a weight and presence in and of itself.

This is why polymer photogravure held my interest for a while, but I believe platinum toned Kallitypes will give me what I'm looking for.

Will look further into the Epson OEM inks QTR possibilities to avoid buying an older refurbished printer.

Thanks again!

[Len Middleton]

Given the long life of some of the printers discussed here, what is the order of magnitude of printer lifetime and the appropriate unit of measure (age, number of pages handled, amount of ink. etc.) in determining it.

Looking at a used Epson printer and wondering whether 25,000 pages is a high or low count, or even relevant.

Parts availability of course is no doubt the final determinant...

[sanking]

Given the long life of some of the printers discussed here, what is the order of magnitude of printer lifetime and the appropriate unit of measure (age, number of pages handled, amount of ink. etc.) in determining it.

Looking at a used Epson printer and wondering whether 25,000 pages is a high or low count, or even relevant.

Parts availability of course is no doubt the final determinant...

Len,

There are several things to look for if purchasing a used Epson printer.

First, make sure you can get a perfect nozzle check. It may be possible to clear a nozzle, but it may not be. With QTR you can re route the nozzles if necessary, but you want to know in advance if you will have to do this, and you might be able to get the printer for less if it is not capable of a clear nozzle check. Sadly, nozzle clogs are often found in low usage Epson printers, especially those that have lived in arid parts of the world.

Second, you can verify the condition of several important things from the printer control panel, including page number count, total usage (ink used and cm of paper printed).

And third, you can also verify the status of some of the key components of the printer, such as the service life of the head, CF and PF motors, service life of the cleaning unit, etc.

A page count of 25,000 is indicative of a printer that was used professionally for a number of years, and you should expect the status of the key components to be at about 40% to 60% of life expectancy. That could be ok if the printer is priced reasonably, and some consumables are included in the total price. I bought an Epson 4880 locally recently for $500, but the $500 included the printer and an entire set of eight (8) 220ml containers, and the ones in the printer were about 50% full. Average price of a 220ml cartridges from B&H is about $80, or value on ebay of about $480 (8X$60).

My preference would normally be to look for a printer owned and used by one person, and not a professional, with low paper count and clear nozzles. And these can be found and best source in my experience is a personal contact, or Craigslist. For example, I bought an Epson 7880 in perfect condition March of last year for $700, with total page count of 400, and all of the important components at 100% of full life service. Found it on Craigslist list, located at a church in Atlanta, so an easy road trip for me. And well worth the effort since the *800/8800 series is one of the most desirable line of Epson printers IMO. No problem with third-party inks, work great with QTR, and great track record with head reliability compared to the *890 and *900 series.


Sandy

[Len Middleton]

Sandy,

Thank you very much for your insights,

Len

[MurrayMinchin]

Just got back from a trip to Vancouver where I got to check out the Prograf 1000 and the P800. After looking at prints supplied by Canon and Epson, as well as prints made by staff and clients of the two stores, the Epson P800 was the winner. (Didn't purchase one yet).

My wife and I saw the Canon prints first, and our choice was pretty much instantaneous when we saw the Epson prints.

Wasn't much for the overall colour of the B&W prints with both machines that I saw. If my hunch is right about what platinum toned Kallitypes will give me, I foresee using digital enlarged negatives (probably in 8x10 size) to make proof contact prints on Ilford Multigrade FB with my modified Ansco 120 developer which has Glycin added, that gives a print tone I love after selenium toning.

Thanks for all your help!

[faberryman]

I recently bought a refurbished 3880 from Epson for $699, which is barely more than the cost of a set of replacement ink cartridges. It was as new. I suggest doing that rather than eBay or Craigslist.