Replace my 4900 with a 3880?

[Ned Bunnell]

I had a 3880 it died in 2 1/2 years if you live in  a dry climate or overly wet climate get a canon printer . MY epson had a stuck valve and a blown head. Epson refused to do anything by me even after meeting with them at PHoto Plus stay away far away from Epson. Mine you I have ownd a epson 7600 it draink ink like a vampire a 2400 a 1900 and the 3880. I now own a hp z3100 great on ink and a canon pixma pro 1 and 100

I live near the ocean in SoCal so not an issue with a dry climate. I've had great experience with Epson printers over the years and am not interested in switching brands as I have my inks, paper and profiles all dialed in. Glad to hear you're happy with your HP.

Ned

[Ned Bunnell]

I have two 3880's:  One for K7 ink and the other is dye ink for metallic and more vibrant color.

I try and run a nozzle check every week with them.  I also keep them under a vinyl cover too as I'm in a very dry climate with A/C which sucks the humidity out of the air and I will get a clog if I don't run them weekly.  If you live in high humidity area, it may rarely clog.  I'll also pull the tanks and agitate them at least once a month, preferably twice to keep them from separating out.

I'm somewhat leery of papers over 300gsm with them.  I had a very bad head strike and no doubt it caused some carriage damage.  The paper used is known to have a bad edge curl and when it hit, it actually shoved the paper sideways and I suspect that broke a plastic tab in the carriage assembly (The print head's carriage is in two pieces and the inner one slides up and down via two cams to set the height off the paper.).  Bad part is if one tab breaks, the head can tilt and it is then more likely to encounter another strike (and setting the head/platen distance will not matter as the head is now crooked in the inner carriage!) and do more damage.  Eventually the second plastic tab broke and the head began dragging across the paper leading to a very bad mess.  They sell the carriage unit out of China for $75, but it is a total pain to install.  Always set Wider than you suspect (Round "up" for paper thickness distance.).

When they work they are a nice printer though.  Having tore deep into mine to fix, I have a lot more respect for the designers who built it, although it is a total pain to fix when it does break.

SG

Fortunately I'm on the ocean so have good humidity and it appears the only issue is not taking my 4900 out for a drive more often. Just like my '69 Porsche:) Your comments about paper handling is actually one of the factors for my wanting to keep the 4900 if I can just minimize the clogging.

Ned

[Ned Bunnell]

Ned:

I have a 4900 which is used very infrequently.  I've had many minor clogs which eventually cleared.  I had one major problem which caused me to try cleaning solutions which are placed in the head docking station.  It worked for me and I have been largely clog free since.  I used AIS cleaning solution, which is inexpensive.  I suspect others work as well.  Here's the link:

http://www.americaninkjetsystems2.com/store1/cleaning_fluid_for_all_inkjet_printers.html

I also used the service program for cleaning procedures not accessible from the Epson supplied software.  This may not be necessary, but it's cheap.

http://www.2manuals.com/product_info.php?products_id=1365

Good luck,

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your feedback and positive experience with AIS. I should probably buy some so I have it on hand if I have another major clog. Appreciate both links!

Ned

[Ned Bunnell]

My 3800 has become very clogged and I've been considering a 4900 or a 3880 as a replacement

The reason I'm looking at the 4900 is that I've found my 3800 cannot print an A2 or A2+ sheet exactly straight.

This might influence the OP's decision to make this downward move.

Most of the life of my 3800 I've printed A3 or A3+, but I'm now embarking on more exhibition printing so its frustrating that at the first point I needed the A2 performance it isn't there.

At first I thought it was because I was making borderless prints, but on closer inspection I found that all A2 prints and A2+ prints are skewed 1-2 mm. A small but significant problem for the person mounting the prints, especially if making borderless styles of frame.

I did have an Epson 4xxx (forget which) before the 3800 and I would ideally have loved to just keep a 3xxx series printer as it has a number of advantages, but this skewing appears to be a common problem that has no reproducible solution and there are no design changes to fix this on the 3880 the same problem exists. One blogger suggested making a stout support for the left edge of the paper which I did from 5mm millboard, but in my case this did not cure the problem.

Does anyone have any experience with printing A2 or greater, e.g.: 17" wide sheets on the 4900 and know if it can handle large sheets without skew?

Can it do good borderless prints.

I have about 6 rolls of paper from my 4xxx days so there's a financial positive to getting a 4900 as well as I'd get free proofing for few hundred prints.
 

Thanks for your comments. These decisions are never easy. The 3880 clogs less but I really like the 4900's paper handling and realize it's better than the 3880 for large sheets like 17x22.

Ned

[Ned Bunnell]

This service program has helped us several times. A friend of mine had a printer where almost all nozzles had clogged. It took some work, but we managed to get rid of all the clogged nozzles and it is still printing OK.
The reason for the clogs were that the printer had been standing still for a couple of months during the winter. As the room had an extremely low humidity, the nozzles dried out.

That's great to know the service program has helped. Living by the ocean in a mild climate, I know the issue is primarily lack of use. A friend of mine that hosts a pretty popular photography blog sent me an email saying "just use the damn 4900 more and you'll be fine"

Ned

[Ned Bunnell]

I've been using my 3800 for about five years. I'm definitely a "sporadic" printer -- I'll go months without making a print, then make dozens in a weekend.

I've had only two major clogs, both of them when I left the printer turned on for more than a week without printing. As long as I turn it off, I don't have any problems with it.

Thanks, that's good to know!

Ned

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I would suggest trying to set up a schedule of printing something, even a test print on cheap paper, once a week and see if that helps. After a while, vary it to even more frequently, or less often, depending on your results.

Only if that modest extra expense and inconvenience doesn't solve the problem, then go for the 3880.

I've never used a 4900 myself, but my elderly 3800 goes for long unused periods with no clogs. Only when a fresh print looks funny, about once a year, do I even bother with a nozzle check and a head cleaning. My 3800 is almost always covered when not in use, and is kept year-round between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit and between 30% and 50% relative humidity.

[Ned Bunnell]

I would suggest trying to set up a schedule of printing something, even a test print on cheap paper, once a week and see if that helps. After a while, vary it to even more frequently, or less often, depending on your results.

Only if that modest extra expense and inconvenience doesn't solve the problem, then go for the 3880.

I've never used a 4900 myself, but my elderly 3800 goes for long unused periods with no clogs. Only when a fresh print looks funny, about once a year, do I even bother with a nozzle check and a head cleaning. My 3800 is almost always covered when not in use, and is kept year-round between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit and between 30% and 50% relative humidity.

Hi Eric,

Sorry for my delay in responding. I thought I'd set up "notify me of replies" but might have missed yours.

I think your advice on forcing myself to schedule test prints on a regular basis makes a lot of sense. Since I first posted this question, I've been using the 4900 daily to print out a series of images from Cuba and the printer is working flawlessly.

I only wish their was a script or phone app I could use to schedule these test prints when I'm away for long periods:)

Cheers,
Ned

[kers]

....Then when I come back home I’ll want to make quite a few prints. Normal cleaning never seems to unclog the heads and I have to resort to power cleaning (in some cases multiple times) which as we know drains the ink tanks and fills my maintenance tank. I’ve printed only 600 pages in just over a year and have already filled two and a half maintenance tanks.....

Ned Bunnell

Hello Ned, Have considered a HP or a Canon printer?

They have never glogs and therefore do not need a maintenance tank- they are far more economical on ink /money especially when you do not use them every day.
then .. if you choose a 24 inch printer you can use larger inktanks that are relatvely much cheaper.. with the benefit of printing larger as well. Just a thought.
I am on a HP z3100 - 7 years no glogs- hardly any wasted ink..