Reliable CISS & Printer for sublimation printing? Please advise.

[RuthWinchester]

Nothing very helpful to add but I had exactly the same experience with my WF7210 and CIE inks. The guys at CIE were really helpful and even replaced the printer at cost, but when the second one failed after a couple of weeks I gave up on the whole set up, ditched the printer (which felt awful as it was about a month old and HUGE!) and threw the inks out.

I bought an Epson 1500 from inkexpress together with their Inktec sublimation ink and a CISS system about 18 months ago, and have not had A SINGLE problem with it ever since. (obviously it will go t*ts up now - talk about tempting fate!).

I spent a long time trying to get the WF setup to work - all of it a total waste of time and effort..

I love the 1500 but I know it won't last forever (and I think mine must have been one of the last ones sold) so I'll be interested to see what other people recommend you get as a replacement (coz it'll be me soon!).

Good luck, hope you get it sorted. I really do share your pain!

[UK Printed Mugs]

Talk to Alex or Christian who have moved from Ink express to set up www.inkexperts.co.uk

[InkExperts]

Talk to Alex or Christian who have moved from Ink express to set up www.inkexperts.co.uk

Thanks Olly

[InkExperts]

In reference to the original posters question, a reliable A3 printer for sublimation is getting a bit like a unicorn (especially at a low price point), we are personally leaning towards supplying Epson Ecotank printers for sublimation.

The ET-14000 is an A3 printer with an Ecotank; for those that do not know the Ecotank printer range are printers supplied by Epson with a continuous ink system or ecotank already fitted. As such there is no need to retro fit a CISS this removes the issues of firmware updates, ink level readings, issues with the microchips recognising etc etc.

The ecotank printers truly are a plug and play option. Unpack the printer, fill it with sublimation ink, allow it to self charge (have a brew whilst its doing that) and you're ready to print!

Alex

[pw66]

In reference to the original posters question, a reliable A3 printer for sublimation is getting a bit like a unicorn (especially at a low price point), we are personally leaning towards supplying Epson Ecotank printers for sublimation.

The ET-14000 is an A3 printer with an Ecotank; for those that do not know the Ecotank printer range are printers supplied by Epson with a continuous ink system or ecotank already fitted. As such there is no need to retro fit a CISS this removes the issues of firmware updates, ink level readings, issues with the microchips recognising etc etc.

The ecotank printers truly are a plug and play option. Unpack the printer, fill it with sublimation ink, allow it to self charge (have a brew whilst its doing that) and you're ready to print!

Alex

The ET14000 looks to me that it is largely based on the internals of the 1500w ( albeit only four colours). Is that correct?
If so then the build quality and reliability should be second to none in the price range.

I print mainly onto fabric, which by definition is a low resolution substrate ( when compared to hard items) so six colours is far from essential. Having said that, is there any sign of the ET18000 coming onto the UK market yet?

[InkExperts]

The ET14000 looks to me that it is largely based on the internals of the 1500w ( albeit only four colours). Is that correct?
If so then the build quality and reliability should be second to none in the price range.

I print mainly onto fabric, which by definition is a low resolution substrate ( when compared to hard items) so six colours is far from essential. Having said that, is there any sign of the ET18000 coming onto the UK market yet?

Exactly right, the ET14000 is based on the 1500W, and therefore the paper feed and other internal mechanisms are very hard wearing.

It really is the best machine in the price range.

Unfortunately, as of yet there is nothing on Epson's road map to indicate a 6 colour Ecotank coming to the UK.
We have pointed people towards the L1800 from European sellers, but no sign of it reaching the UK marketplace any time soon.

In all honesty, if you are looking at the L1800 you are in P600 territory, and that machine is hard to beat.

[pw66]

Sorry, I meant L1800, not ET18000 - when has epsons' numbers ever been intuitive? I agree that it would need to come down in price for it to make sense.

When you strip out the cost of the Ciss and Ink the ET14000 is good value. The premium over the 1500w is well worth paying for the plug and play convenience.

[InkExperts]

Sorry, I meant L1800, not ET18000 - when has epsons' numbers ever been intuitive? I agree that it would need to come down in price for it to make sense.

When you strip out the cost of the Ciss and Ink the ET14000 is good value. The premium over the 1500w is well worth paying for the plug and play convenience.

I agree 100%, as a reseller of the converted Epson sublimation printers we found some users just couldn't get to grips with a CISS (either fitting it and / or using the printer with it in the long run) so for ourselves the Ecotank printers are a really simple to use, reliable option for customers and we are moving a lot of our product lines over to them

Alex

[Andrew]

How does the print quality compare on the ET14000 to the P600?

[InkExperts]

How does the print quality compare on the ET14000 to the P600?

Remarkably well to be honest. The SC-P600 will naturally produce a slightly better print when you compare two identical prints side by side. But the differences are actually quite small. SC-P600 has improved tonal gradients, and slightly more detail in darker areas (detail in dark hair for example) but overall the print on the ET-14000 is surprisingly good for a 4 colour printer.

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Alex