Epson SC-P5000 Enviromental Conditions Q

[Tibor O]

Hi,

I have a small portrait studio and decided to start printing the photos both for myself and for my clients. I would like to start with a 17" printer and maybe later add a 24" one. Unfortunately I have not enough space to accomodate a 44" one.


Here's my general portrait printing strategy:

1. I will print exclusively on Tuesdays and Fridays between 9:30 and 11:30. That is two printing sessions a week with 2 times 2 hours dedicated solely to production printing, i.e. the photos will be edited and prepared for print prior to that. In between, if needed, I will print A4 test prints.

2. The printer will be always ON but connected to the computer only during the printing sessions.

3. There will of course be some periods of time without printing due to vacations, i.e. 3 - 4 times for a week or 10 days in a row in one year, mainly in the summer.

4. I will print both BW and color photos, both on glossy and matte media.

5. I will print only with borders. See example for A4, A3 and A2 formats with my borders in the attachment 1.

6. I will print on Sheet and Roll paper, but will focus more on Roll paper due to lower price per print (will of course redefine my borders for roll paper).


Unfortunately during winter and autumn months the enviromental conditions in my studio are less than perfect for Epson printers as I read that at least 40% RH at 20 C temperature is required. On a side note: the specs for the Epson SC-P500 state that the required operating humidity can be as low as 20% (see attachment 3).

I have a thermo/hygrometer with datalogger placed in my studio and attached 2 are the results. As you can see in January the RH drops as low as 13,50% which of course worries me.

My studio is centrally heated during the heating season with a good ventilation system with heat recuperation. I am thinking of adding an evaporation humidifier to my HVAC system to up the RH in the heating season to 40%. See attachment 4 for the chosen humidifier.


My question to the owners of the Epson SC-P5000 is:

Do you think the Epson SC-P5000 printer would be OK in my studio under the current enviromental conditions during the heating season if printing twice a week for 2 hours per printing session or you think that adding a humidifier is a must?

Do you have any experience with evaporation humidifiers in regard to printer enviromental conditions?

Thank you in advance, all answers are much appreciated.

 

[Panagiotis]

6. I will print on Sheet and Roll paper, but will focus more on Roll paper due to lower price per print (will of course redefine my borders for roll paper).

A comment on number 6.
Take into account the labor and time for cutting and decurling small prints cut from rolls.
At the sizes you will print I believe cut sheets are preferable despite the potentially higher cost.

[Rand47]

I think the SC P5000 will be perfectly suitable for the conditions you describe, and a great choice.  In my use-case the ambient humidity gets into the single digits in summer.  I keep the humidity in the high 20’s to mid 30’s and the printer does fine.  I use a little Honeywell room humidifier that proves adequate.  It “could” raise the humidity higher, but I don’t like the soggy feeling when it is in the 40% and higher range.  The specs for the unit you posted seem more than adequate.

The only “fiddly” thing about Epsons, from my experience, is the ink-swap between PK and MK and back.  If you do it with some frequency, it works fine and you’ll be in good shape.  If you go “too long” w/o doing a swap, you can encounter problems with blocked nozzles. 

The P5000 is the best printer I’ve ever used.  The output is superb.

I’ll echo the comment above re sheet vs. roll paper.  You may find that using cut sheets will be better in the long run for some things based on “post printing handling” considerations.

Rand

[Alan Goldhammer]

I have a Honeywell humidifier that is similar to the one you propose to use and we use it in out bedroom during the winter.  We have an evaporative whole house humidifier hooked up to our gas forced air furnace but that will only keep the humidity at about 35%.  The small humidifiers need to be filled twice a day and we have to replace the evaporation filter every 3-4 weeks as it gets encrusted with mineral deposits from the water. 

I have an Epson 3880 printer downstairs and never ran a humidifier and never had clogs.  However, after just over eight years the MK/PK switch valve failed.  Be aware that you will need to do frequent switches between the two black inks to keep the valve functioning properly.  In my mind this is the biggest engineering defect in Epson printers.  I was very happy with my 3880 but the cost to repair it right now is not worth it.

[faberryman]

I was very happy with my 3880 but the cost to repair it right now is not worth it.

The P800 is running $895 with rebate at B&H, and that includes $464 in ink cartridges, meaning the printer itself is $431. Makes doing any kind of repair on an old printer problematic. Not that anyone around here services Epson printers, which exacerbates the problem.

[Alan Goldhammer]

The P800 is running $895 with rebate at B&H, and that includes $464 in ink cartridges, meaning the printer itself is $431. Makes doing any kind of repair on an old printer problematic.

That's pretty much my calculation as well.  Decision is really right now between the P800 or the Canon Pro 1000.  I don't need the roll print option.

[Tibor O]

Decision is really right now between the P800 or the Canon Pro 1000.

At first I was also looking at the Pro 1000 due to the fact that the Canons do not clog (or do not clog as often as the Epsons) and can handle lower humidity levels (i.e. below 20 - 30%) but after reading this thread Canon Pro 1000 waste a LOT of ink for maintenance and especially due to the posts of Mark Faber (below) I decided to go with the Epson and take manual control of my studio humidity levels at the same time.

So, based on Panagiotis' calculation of 220ml in a Pro-1000 maintenance tank, 34% of the ink I used in 14 months (including the initial charge) ended up in the maintenance tanks or currently remains in the ink tubes.  I filled 4.5 220ml maintenance tanks and emptied 36.8 80ml ink cartridges.

I reported this indicator of relative ink use elsewhere, but it may be instructive here.  My 3880 (which I've read is comparable to the P800 in ink use) is on its 3rd maintenance cartridge after 48 ink cartridges used, whereas my Pro-1000 is on its 5th maintenance cartridge after 30 ink cartridges used.  This to me (somewhat unscientifically) indicates that the Canon uses substantially more ink for maintenance than the Epson.

I know so much has been written about the Canon Pro-1000, Epson P800, and Epson P5000, but I’m stuck again.

I have used the 3880 happily for over 5 years, and it’s still humming flawlessly as a backup printer in my second location.  When I needed a second 17” printer, I got the Pro-1000 for its presumed reliability, easy of use particularly paper handling, and lack of ink switching.

After 14 months, I’m ready to give away the Pro-1000.

The Pro-1000 is UNRELIABLE.  For the second time in a month, the printer seemingly turned off yellow mid-print.  I got a sharp line on a 17x25 when it switched – like someone went crazy with the white balance slider for the last third of the image.  The first time, one cleaning fixed it.  It did the same thing today, and – after three cleanings, a deep clean, printing a big solid block of yellow, then two more cleanings – the nozzle check print is getting worse, not better.  And the maintenance tank is 20% fuller.  (My 3880 needed single head cleanings 3 times in 5 years.)

And there’s the INK CONSUMPTION that everyone complains about.  Here’s my latest stat: 3880 uses 1 maintenance cartridge per 24 ink cartridges; 1000 uses 1 per 7.  I swap MK/PK about once a week, but I’ll never complain about Epson ink swaps again.

And the Pro-1000 is SLOW.  Same speed as 3880 while it’s printing, but prints per hour is half the 3880 because of all its whirring, clicking, and spitting into the spittoon.  Printing 20 4x6s is painfully slow, because it seems to contemplate and spit after every print.

BUT I’m leery of the P800 because of the delicate and imprecise hassle of loading large fine art media.  My final prints are generally 17x25 (cut from rolls) Epson Hot Press Bright or Ilford Gold Fibre Silk.  Even reading Mark Segal’s and others’ work-arounds, printing 20 17x25s on fine art paper sounds painful.  Even a slightly skewed print or a blunted edge ruins a print in my practice.

AND I’m leery of the P-5000 because I may not print enough – a few times a week, but a half dozen periods per year of several weeks of inactivity.  And, most importantly, I print dozens of 4x6 test prints per month (the new contact sheets), and the P-5000 can’t do that.  And large fine art sheets sound as painful on the 5000 as the 800.

My most common print tasks are: 4x6 tests on Canon glossy (75 per month); 13x19 and 17x25 on Epson HPB or Ilford GFS (5-15 per month); double-sided portfolios on Moab Lasal Matte (30 per month); and 10-50 per month draft prints of various sizes.

I'm seeing the same.  In 12 months with the Pro-1000, I just installed the 5th maintenance cartridge.  In a few days under 5 years with the Epson 3880 (still going strong in another location), I'm on my 3rd.  Usage is about the same, though not measured.

Ink cost per year in my spreadsheet is $1,582 (including one full set in inventory) for the Pro-1000 and $554 for the 3880.  While the Pro-1000 has excellent print quality, I regret the purchase.