Epson 3800 & Replacement Inks?

[Brian Ellis]

Jon Cone inks all the way.
Match my prints from epson ink perfectly.
My b&w's are great using the color ink set.
Meaning I am not using the 7 b&w ink set.
I have the color ink set and print b&w with the ABW driver.
Great custtomer service.

I didn't know Cone made color inks so after seeing your message I checked and his replacements for the 3800 inks look like a huge bargain compared to the cost of Epson inks. I see that the Cone inks come in bottles and you have to pour the ink from the bottles into the cartridges. Is this as clean, neat, and easy as Cone makes it sound? The one time I tried to deal with refillable cartridges for MIS inks years ago it was a messy disaster.

[Curt]

I refilled some cartridges once and made a huge mess and they leaked afterward. I would imagine there have been some improvements since then.

As to the 3800 there is now listed a 3880, is that an improved or updated model of the 3800 or a completely different printer?

The R1900 was a nice printer, it must have had a mechanical flaw. I'd have kept it for some time if it had performed as ordered. Epson still makes the best printers in my mind, I still have a 1520 that produces large cad drawings for me. As a photo printer it's not the model to use.

Any recommendations on an Epson printer for digital negatives? Are the more expensive models a better bet for a problem free printing?

Thanks,
Curt

[D. Bryant]

OHP on the 3800 works fine, but to avoid any pizza lines, use the front feed option.

I've never had pizza wheel marks on any media using the 3800. Of course that's always a possibility if one is using a heavier ink load. Good to know that the front load option can be used as a work around.

Don

[Curt]

I had not heard about the front load on that printer, that's an interesting feature but isn't the Pizza wheel problem with the output wheels? I wonder which models have the suction paper movement feature in them that I read about on the net the other day, maybe it was a 4800 model I don't remember. The same article said the wheel assemblies can be removed and I did that on the model I had but the paper went wild because the wheels are there for a reason, duh. I put them back and the problem persisted. I wish the wheels were spaced on the very edges of the media, then pizza wheel marks wouldn't matter. Epson's official position is when you use Epson inks and media with the stock printer it won't have any problems, if it does then the printer is broken. Sounds rational but who is going to stick to the company media when so many other products are available? I mentioned Pictorico and the technician thought I was talking about iron-on-heat-transfers and said I'd need a laser printer for that. Clearly they don't go there so to speak so I dropped the topic.

Curt

[BarryS]

When using the front loader, the pizza wheels aren't engaged on the 3800.

[D. Bryant]

I didn't know Cone made color inks so after seeing your message I checked and his replacements for the 3800 inks look like a huge bargain compared to the cost of Epson inks. I see that the Cone inks come in bottles and you have to pour the ink from the bottles into the cartridges. Is this as clean, neat, and easy as Cone makes it sound? The one time I tried to deal with refillable cartridges for MIS inks years ago it was a messy disaster.

I can echo Brian's experience with MIS carts (and CIS system) with my Epson 1160. Leaks and clogs, constantly! However when they worked they worked very well, at least the Quadtone ink sets did, I didn't use their color inks.

I used their Full Spectrum Neutral QT inks with a custom curve created by John Wolfe. I pulled out a print I made with that inkset tonight and it still looked terrific after 8 years. But unfortunately the problems with the clogs drove me away from their products (along with their worthless customer support - not to be confused with their tech support which was okay). But to be fair I also had problems with Cone B&W inks from that era.

The Cone color ink seems to represent a bargain and I am considering using them. Jon Cone has had been in the biz a long time now and realizes that selling shoddy products only produces short term customers, so I'm hoping their new color inks will be clog free.



Don Bryant

[BarryS]

Saving money on ink sounds appealing, but even setting aside the issue of clogs, having to profile every one of my papers sound expensive and time consuming.

[PViapiano]

Barry,

The Cone info for the 3800 says the normal K3 set will be identical to the OEM K3 set.

There is another color ink set/space they have called Vivid that you "can" use in the 3800 but would have to re-calibrate for THAT set...

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who is using the Cone color inks in a 3800, and is using QTR for printing diginegs on Pictorico...(I know, how small of a niche can I create? LOL!)

[joncone@cone-editions.com]

WEe made a movie on how to fill and maintain your printer when using refillable ink carts. The 3800 refillable carts we sell look different than the video but the idea is essentially the same. And it really is pretty clean and neat if you prepare an area in which to work.

InkjetMall Techsupport Movies

Incidentally, I produce a white paper on preventative care and self-repair of Epson large format printers.

regards,

Jon Cone
InkjetMall

I didn't know Cone made color inks so after seeing your message I checked and his replacements for the 3800 inks look like a huge bargain compared to the cost of Epson inks. I see that the Cone inks come in bottles and you have to pour the ink from the bottles into the cartridges. Is this as clean, neat, and easy as Cone makes it sound? The one time I tried to deal with refillable cartridges for MIS inks years ago it was a messy disaster.

[Mikee]

I have an Epson Photo 1410 and am using CSS ink system and am wondering if the ink replacement is the same solution or are their better inks that won't harm the machine.
Is there a specific Ink that I should use. I only print photographs. Also, keep in mind that I live in Costa Rica?