Canon vs Epson Ink Agitation

[Gryphon69]

I may have mentioned a while ago that I used to have a Canon Pro 1100 and then after going through three of them, all affected by banding, I eventually gave up a few months ago and replaced it with an Epson P5370.

One feature that I found pretty neat in the Pro 1100 is that it will agitate the ink in the tanks on its own according to its own schedule (off the top of my head, I seem to remember that it does it every few weeks, maybe once a month or so).

Epsons do not have that feature. Which makes me wonder: do Epson users (particularly those with printers that use larger cartridges) pop out the cartridges at given time intervals and gently shake them themselves or nobody bothers? And if they do, is there any concern of the gaskets in the cartridges becoming loose after popping them in and out a few times (or other kinds of concerns in doing so)?

I have searched the archives and saw that the topic has been discussed now and then more than 10 years ago, so I thought I would ask what the consensus is based on today’s Epson printer and UltraChrome ink technologies. Thank you in advance to those who are willing to share their experience.

[Czornyj]

While Canon relies on retention sub tanks to prevent air from entering the system, Epson uses pressurized ink carts - I'll leave it up to your imagination whether taking out the carts is actually a good idea in this case.

[Gryphon69]

Thank you for weighing in, this is helpful.

[digitaldog]

Which makes me wonder: do Epson users (particularly those with printers that use larger cartridges) pop out the cartridges at given time intervals and gently shake them themselves or nobody bothers? And if they do, is there any concern of the gaskets in the cartridges becoming loose after popping them in and out a few times (or other kinds of concerns in doing so)?

Only time I've done so is when installing new, but out-of-data (expired) inks, which have worked just fine afterwards. Otherwise, I leave them alone.

[dgberg]

Of the 3 printers we have that use 700 carts the only ones we pull to agitate are the s80600 solvent carts as that printer only gets used several times a month.

[Gryphon69]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences: there appears to be consensus among the three of you that once loaded into the printer, modern Epson ink carts do not require any further “shaking” and should be left alone.

[lithprinter]

I have Piezography Pro inks in a P900. Jon Cone recommends that you agitate these cartridges every 2 weeks. It may not be important for OEM inks.

https://shop.inkjetmall.com/an-opinion-about-the-maintenance-of-pro-printers