Epson WF 2010 or a different printer?

[abbie101]

I am a complete newbie so I've got a mug heat press but I need the sublimation printer or a decent printer that will go with the sublimation inks - I have been looking around for days and I've found Epson WF2010 and found the sublimation ink bundle from city ink express just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this printer is it just going to be a waste of money or will it be good?

If not then which printer would you recommend?
Last question ... Are the refillable cartridges better or not?

[ICF]

Hi,

The WF2010 is a budget printer. While it might work okay its not going to give you great results plus the cartridge capacity is very small so you may find yourself refilling the cartridges quite often. The larger Epson Wp-4015 and WP-4095 were very good A4 Epson printers for sublimation but they are now discontinued so stock is scarce. The Replacement WF-5110 works great but unfortunately you have to install Epson cartridges with Epson ink first and then flush it through with sublimation ink which won't be ideal for a newbie.

I am assuming you have already bought ink suitable for Epson printers but have you considered going down the Ricoh printer route?
The SG 3110DN is a great alternative, the cartridges hold a decent amount of ink and runs relatively trouble free.
http://www.printerland.co.uk/Ricoh-SG-3 ... 23312.aspx


As with any of the above printers make sure that you are provided with an ICC profile with the ink you purchase otherwise the colours will not print correctly. There are also big differences in the quality of ink you buy online. Allot of dye-sub inks sold online that look appealing due to the low price often give sub par results with faded blacks and poor colour gamut. There are some very good cost effective dye sub inks out there but its knowing where to look.

If you have a bigger budget then obviously the Sawgrass Virtuoso is the recommended route as its straight forward to setup with a decent amount of supporting documentation to help you get up a running.

In answer to your question about refill carts, assuming the ink is good quality then they are fine to use. We have been using refill carts in our 4 Epson printers for over 2 years now with no issues.

[abbie101]

Thank you for your reply. I haven't got any inks just yet as I'm so undecided with what to go for, I've looked into the Ricoh 3110 but I just can't afford the £183+ for the ink I would love to but just starting up I haven't got the funds for the ink, I did find other cartridges which were cheaper for the 3110dn but I wasn't sure if these would be any good I don't want to waste money on ink but I really can't afford the £183 inks just yet.

[mags1892]

Ricoh printer is SUB 50quid and good alternative inks can be had for £50 ish for 4 x 100ml if you look about

[abbie101]

I have been looking but I never know what to trust when it's online - do you know anything about city ink express inks?

[Mugshots]

I've got 2 wf3010 with the one for sublimation running city ink express ink and they seem fine to me. People with more expensive setups and inks may well blow them out the water but we've had no complaints.

[abbie101]

Thank you _ I'm struggling to decide it will only be for around 15ish mugs a month until I get more customers so I'm not looking for expensive set ups but I'm scared the Epson may get clogged up when I don't use it �� I might go for the Ricoh 3110dn with the city ink inks for now ��

[Mugshots]

All we used to do was print out a test page we had made up with the 4 colours on. Did that in high speed every few days. Only had a problem when the printer was stored in our extension for about a week as it wasn't finished and the temp dropped low.

[abbie101]

Thank you for your advice it hasn't helped me now I'm back to being stuck haha

[Justin]

I have a Ricoh 3110 and also an Epson 7110 running with 'cheaper' inks in them. I'm yet to find an ink that I'd be happy to run production with. I have the Epson running very well but the ink supplier is a waste of space so long term this wouldn't work.

Best advice would be to buy a 3110 with Sawgrass inks, I know you've said this is out of your price range but I would urge you start on this route if at all possible. You will get not only support on the forum but also tech support on the printer and inks. Downtime will be minimal if any and it will soon pay for itself. Then, later on you can look at replacing with a cheaper option if you feel the need