(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