Low cost re-fillable?

[enduser]

The Epson L850 uses bottles of Epson's own Claria dye inks. I think there's a code system to prevent using other makes of ink in the printer. I can't however see what would stop someone using the ink bottles to refill cartridges from other printers.
It looks as if neither Canon nor HP inks are aything special. The Canon ones don't use Canon's Chromalife 100+.  As for HP, we get less fade with good 3rd party inks than we do with HP dye.

[Peter McLennan]

I love my L-850. *correction* Mine is an L-805. I've not tried it, but other users report success in charging the new printer with third party pigment inks.
I see no fading in over two years with prints stuck on my fridge.  (an extremely scientific test )

[nirpat89]

Not sure I understand how the printer can figure out whether ink you are filling the bottles with is Epson or third party. 

[Paul Roark]

Although I am mostly interested in high end black and white, I also do print some color.  I never use the OEM solutions.  I've used MIS Associates (www.inksupply.com) for years as a source of empty, refillable carts.  I also now purchase from STS Inks.  Frankly, if I were in the market for a printer, my search would start with the question of which Epson printers were supported by good refillable cartridges from these suppliers (or other suppliers who are going to be around for a long time). 

Note that I favor Epson printers because the piezo heads are compatible with the most third party inks.  I've also formulated (and published the formula for) a generic dilution base for the Epson printers.  The color toner I use to neutralize the warm carbon inks in my B&W systems is, for example, composed of Canon color pigments diluted in the generic base.

FWIW,

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

[unesco]

The Epson L850 uses bottles of Epson's own Claria dye inks. I think there's a code system to prevent using other makes of ink in the printer. I can't however see what would stop someone using the ink bottles to refill cartridges from other printers.
It looks as if neither Canon nor HP inks are aything special. The Canon ones don't use Canon's Chromalife 100+.  As for HP, we get less fade with good 3rd party inks than we do with HP dye.

L850 does NOT use Claria inks. Claria would be 10x more expensive. The inks used in L series (similar by Canbon and HP) are of special weak quality, hard to profile.

[Peter McLennan]

I never use the OEM solutions.  I've used MIS Associates (www.inksupply.com) for years as a source of empty, refillable carts.

As do I.  My Epson 9800 ran MIS refillable carts and MIS inks for years, saving me a lot of money on large canvases. Zero problems until a (not untypical) head failure put it out of service.  The cost to replace the head nearly exceeded the cost of a new HP Z3200.

[enduser]

I was wrong. It's not Claria ink, I was misled by a reviewer. El cheapo dye instead.