When to change ink on Epson 3800

[DaveCurtis]

A question for the 3800 gurus.

When I get a 'low ink' 2% flashing warning should I change the ink then or wait until the cartridge is completely empty?

If I wait until the cartridge is empty and change mid way through a print job would this effect the quality of the print?

I recall somewhere Michael stating while using one of the larger pro Epsons that he waits until the cartridge is fully empty before changing with no ill effect. Is this possible with the 3800.

Thanks
Dave

[AFairley]

You can change the cart in the middle of a print and quality will not be affected, at least if you have a cart handy and swap it out right away.  At least that's my experience with the 3800.  I do order a cart once I get the low ink warning so I will have it on hand when the old one finally runs dry.

[DaveCurtis]

thanks Alan

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Yes! Absolutely! Wait until it quits printing before you change a cartridge. I almost always have to change in the middle of a print, and I've never been able to see afterward on the dried print where the cartridge change took place.

I generally order replacements for the two or three lowest cartridges whenever one gets down to 2%, and I get lots of prints still when the lowest says 1%.

On my old 2200, which had tiny cartridges, a couple of times I ran out on a Saturday evening after the local stores were closed and had to wait until Monday before I got replacements. On that printer I eventually started keeping two complete sets of cartridges on hand. The 3800 is much better about drinking ink, but I do keep spares of the two or three lowest at all times.

IMHO, the 2% flashing warning simply means "order a replacement now, as you'll need one fairly soon."

Eric

[langier]

On all my Epson printers from the 2200 and 4000 to our latest 3880 and 9900, I simply wait until it stops to change the cart. However, you'll want to keep a full-set of spares handy for when you need to run a cleaning cycle. Low carts seldom have enough ink to run the cycle and it's ok to swap out for full carts for cleaning then go back to the nearly empty carts afterward using them until they run out.

In ten plus years, really never could see a difference once the cart was changed in the middle of a print and sometimes I've had to change 2, 3 and even 4 carts to keep the printer "fed" with ink!

Simply use the cart up and then change it!

[madmanchan]

I also do as Eric M does:  order more carts when the warning indicators come on, but I always wait till a print job stops before actually popping in a new cart.

[BarbaraArmstrong]

When you experience how much printing you can do after the low ink warning comes on, or after the maintenance cart warning light (I don't do borderless), you will be even more inclined to wait until the thing is actually empty.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

When you experience how much printing you can do after the low ink warning comes on, or after the maintenance cart warning light (I don't do borderless), you will be even more inclined to wait until the thing is actually empty.

Right. It seems to function much like some automobile fuel gauges that let you drive quite a few miles while the gauge reads "empty."

[louoates]

My Epson 9800 always printed perfectly when I waited until the printer stopped before adding a new cartridge. There is enough (old) ink in the line to mix with the new ink so there is no time when there is no ink at the printing head. I was unable to see any variations on that print even in the large blue sky areas right where the printer stopped.
But every one has a HOWEVER... moment. The last time I had a horrible print it was near the end life of a Magenta cartridge. It simply stopped laying down magenta. I put in a new one and it printed fine.

[Schewe]

When I get a 'low ink' 2% flashing warning should I change the ink then or wait until the cartridge is completely empty?

As others have indicated, there's no reason to replace a low ink cart early...except (there's always an exception) a low ink cart can interfere with an black ink swap (even though not much ink is used in swapping) or doing a power clean. If you encounter that, you can replace the low ink cart with a full one, do the swap or clean and then put the low ink cart back in and run it all the way down. Note when you do that, you should prolly keep the full cart in a baggie and realize the ink membrane has been punctured. So I would not have that cart sitting around a long time...just long enough to fully use all the ink from the low ink cart...