When to change inks Epson 7900

[sfblue]

Hi,  basic question:  The low ink warning appears well in advance of the cartridge needing to be changed.   I then run them down until the remaining ink level display on my computer looks very thin.  Am I still changing too early?   i.e. should I wait until the cartridge is truly done?   Is there a warning if there is not enough ink to complete a large print?  

Thanks

Daniel

[PhillyPhotographer]

On my 4880 I wait until the printer stops as says to replace the ink. I then replace the cartridge and it resumes.

[sfblue]

I guess part of my question is:   What happens if a cartridge runs out in the middle of a print?   I am printing some long panoramics and don't know whether to change cartridges before when there is still a little bit of ink left?  Or if the printer is "smart" enough to know when it can't complete a print with the remaining ink.   Alternatively, does the printer stop during a print-- can you then replace the cartridge and will it then resume where it left off?  

It's not really a big deal-- I'm just trying to stretch out every drop of ink, but also don't want to waste some very large pieces of paper.

Thanks.

[PhillyPhotographer]

Alternatively, does the printer stop during a print-- can you then replace the cartridge and will it then resume where it left off?  

Thanks.

Yes

[sfblue]

Yes

Thanks!

[Farmer]

If you're in attendance at the printer, definitely wait for it to run out before changing.

If you were going to do a lot of prints say overnight or whilst being away, then you might want to ensure you have enough in all cartridges to avoid stopping part way.  Changing on the fly is fine, but if you wait for a long time before swapping and continuing, then you risk a dry-line in the print.

[JDClements]

This is a great tip, because it means I can stop wasting ink.

Just to be certain: If the printer stops in the middle of the print and resumes after a cartridge change, there are NO visible artifacts on the print (e.g. a band of some sort)?

[Randy Carone]

QUOTE Just to be certain: If the printer stops in the middle of the print and resumes after a cartridge change, there are NO visible artifacts on the print (e.g. a band of some sort)?

Correct.

[Wayne Fox]

This is a great tip, because it means I can stop wasting ink.

Just to be certain: If the printer stops in the middle of the print and resumes after a cartridge change, there are NO visible artifacts on the print (e.g. a band of some sort)?

I've done it 3 times this way with no problems.

[reburns]

Remember the "downside" of charging ink used to fill the lines when first setting up the new printer?  From now on there's this "upside" - the lines now act as a reservoir.  I've also changed carts in the middle of a print - it seems to me that this is the intended procedure.  Somehow any air entering a line is properly handled.

[Wayne Fox]

This feature was introduced on Epson 78/98/11880 printers, so it's been around for a while, and appears to be quite reliable.

I've done this on several occasions with  the 11880 and 7900.

[sfblue]

Thanks.  It works!   I've been in a manic printing frenzy all day and I would have changed my LLK about a dozen or so prints ago (between 13 x 19 and 17x 25) because the ink display looked like a tiny sliver.   Instead, I ran it dry-- the printer stopped in the middle of a print, I changed the cartridge, and sure enough the printer resumed without any impact on the print.

[langier]

Ever since I got my 2200 about 10 years ago, I've changed the carts in the middle of a print with no problems. Even today the 2200 runs out in the middle of a print and you can't tell that it ran out of ink in the middle of the print. Even has happened with two and three carts at the same time...

Since then, I've experienced the same with my 4000, 7600 and 9800 and the prints are just fine. Just use it until you run out and then change the cart.

A couple of years ago, I had a print run of 700 24x18 prints on the 7600. 28 carts and ten days later, the prints looked as good as the first ones of the run, even the ones that had cart changes in the middle of the print. The client was happy and the check had lots of zeros...