Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: John Chardine on September 07, 2013, 03:49:04 pm

Title: Epson SP 7600 what next for inks?
Post by: John Chardine on September 07, 2013, 03:49:04 pm
(I am a member of Yahoo's Epsonwideformat group and posted this there but I like the forum way of communicating so apologies for double-posting).

I am in a quandary and need the advice of the accumulated wisdom here.

I just bought a used 7600 for a very good price with not a lot of miles on it. However, it came with third party inks installed. The inks are from 123inkcartridges.ca and based on the poor English printed on them are cheap Chinese carts. They are half full. The printer prints very nicely right now and the nozzle check looks excellent- almost perfect.

So my quandary is this- when the time comes, do I:

1. Replace the cheap carts as they run out with identical cheap carts.
2. Replace the cheap carts as then run out with higher quality ones containing American-made inks from, for example, Inkowl or Cone, or even OEM Epson ones. No flush between cart changes.
3. Wait till existing carts get low, then remove, flush system and install new, high quality carts.

There are pros and cons to each one of these. Option 1 is the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" option and is cheap, but I may regret in the long run. Option 2 may cause a problem if the inks don't mix well. However, the 123 inks can replace the Epson inks as they run out so I assume you should be able to do the reverse with no problem. However, going from third-party to third-part inks may be a problem without a flush. Option 3 includes the flushing process, which will add to the cost and can cause its own issues if lots of solidified ink is dislodged in the process. However, if it worked, I would be on a higher quality ink path from then on.

Anyway, I would be very grateful to hear what folks would do given my situation above.

TIA.
John
Title: Re: Epson SP 7600 what next for inks?
Post by: iladi on September 07, 2013, 04:55:34 pm
Please don't go for no 2. I have done it once and it was a big mistake.

no 1, as you sad may be a risky one in a long run.

For me the safest option is no. 3. Flush old ink. Fill empty carts with cleaning fluid, fill the printer, let the cleaning set for a while to do his job, then flush. Fill the printer with some quality ink.
Title: Re: Epson SP 7600 what next for inks?
Post by: Wayne Fox on September 07, 2013, 05:40:47 pm
and the nozzle check looks excellent- almost perfect.

mmmm... an "almost" perfect nozzle check.  You must be a glass half full kind of guy, because to me a nozzle check is more of a glass is empty or it's full kind of thing- either it's perfect or there is a problem.

As far as your questions, I'm very much not a believer in 3rd party inks in Epson printers, the two exception being those who convert them to strictly b&w and those who convert them for dye sublimation processes.  But it's kinda hard to really offer any suggestions, because I'm not sure what type of work you are printing on what kind of material ... what your short term and long term expectations are for  your output.

As the previous poster mentioned though, 2 really isn't' an option. So either stick with the same inks, or flush and switch - and by this I mean flush the entire machine at the same time.  otherwise your color will be drifting all over the place as you change each color, and one brand of ink may not blend appropriately with another and the color may even be a complete disaster.
Title: Re: Epson SP 7600 what next for inks?
Post by: John Chardine on September 07, 2013, 07:02:35 pm
Thanks to you both.

Wayne- When I say "almost perfect" nozzle check I can quantify this by saying there is one missing segments in the whole test, which comprises approximately 728 segments. This makes no noticeable difference in the prints (I am sure more segments missing would also not be detectable).

As far as what I print, I'm a wildlife photographer and print on fine art papers. If I want the best it sounds like a flush and switch to Epson inks is the answer.
Title: Re: Epson SP 7600 what next for inks?
Post by: cengell on September 09, 2013, 10:50:39 pm
Hello John, I have a Epson 7600/4000 and have lots of experience and would say, flush it out with a good cleaner like from americaninkjetsystems2.com, as I had both printers 100% clogged and using there CLF007 & CLF007+ and after 2 weeks of soaking now have 100% back on both printers, and I left Epson inks in it for over 2 years unplugged and left in my garage and warn during the summer.

Something to consider if you like to use Epson printers driver and get very good prints and use Epson profiles and also use Photoshop or Lightroom and use say Canson paper with there profiles then Epson inks are great but I will say please get the above cleaner as clogging is very common when you use and don't use the 7600 weekly and even when you do the CLF007+ and a hour later can get you with 1005 nozzles printing without using Epson inks cleaning after cleaning wasting $$$$.

I learned that the hard way as you can get the larger ink carts sealed on ebay at a good price, and I have used expired Epson carts with no problems at all but that's a different talk.

What ever you choose please try a lot pf papers from Canson, Red River, Epson Cold & Hot press papers, those 3 are the one's I am profiling now and are very nice papers.

Christopher
Title: Re: Epson SP 7600 what next for inks?
Post by: John Chardine on September 14, 2013, 10:30:53 pm
Many thanks. This is excellent information!