Raw & Post Processing, Printing > Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks

Second Hand Epson 3880 testing

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philaitman:
Hi,
I've managed to get (legitimately I must Add) two used 3880's one I'm told doesn't recognise the new maintenance tank which was fitted, the other I'm told is in working order. The problem being neither have any ink installed. So I have no way of testing them for sure.
I guess the only way is to risk buying a full ink set. Can anyone in the UK recommend the cheapest place to get a full set? The only cheaper ones I can find are all 3rd party and I don't want to risk that.

Thanks for any help offered :)

howardm:
This is, IMO, a marginal situation.  At least right now (and I'm using USA prices along w/ rebates etc), you can get a brand new P800 for around $845 along w/ their 'almost full' carts (aside:  screw you Epson for doing that).  I know that the UK is usually more expensive than the US but here, 3880 carts are around $50-55 each and maybe a bit less if you buy a 'kit' of them (BH does/did that).  So figure you're in for at *least* $500 US just for the inks and you first have no clue if the printers are functional or not.  There is absolutely no way to test w/o the carts and often, carts that are very low will be rejected (insists on replacement) by the printer if the printer needs to go through a cleaning cycle (although after the cycle, the low carts can be reinserted).

I might just bypass the whole deal or maybe reach out to local camera clubs and see if anyone is willing to 'lend' you carts in exchange for some amount of $$ or maybe someone's got a 'used' partially full set they are willing to sell.

The sensor 'fingers' that read the maint. cart chip are on a little arm and I've heard of them being damaged by rough handling of the maint cart during insertion/extraction.

So what's it all worth to you?

philaitman:
Thanks Howard,
You make a valid point unfortunately a new P800 in the UK is the equivalent of $1,327.31 and a P600 is $768.483 so we do get royally screwed on price.


I might just ebay the printers for spares/repairs if I can be bothered to ship such heavy items. I'm tempted to just go for a P600 but am put off by the smaller carts and respective high print price.

dgberg:
Buy a new 3880. You get the full carts to test the other printers and you may find out one of the 3880's is still good. If it is then order a second set of inks.
You may think that 2 printers of the same model does not make sense but quite a few people do it for the following reason.
One setup for matte the other one Pk.

philaitman:

--- Quote from: Dan Berg on November 26, 2015, 09:07:34 am ---Buy a new 3880. You get the full carts to test the other printers and you may find out one of the 3880's is still good. If it is then order a second set of inks.
You may think that 2 printers of the same model does not make sense but quite a few people do it for the following reason.
One setup for matte the other one Pk.

--- End quote ---

That would be a good idea if I could find a 3880 in the UK which wasn't being sold for more than the P800 costs :(

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