printer quandries ...

[sarahjayne]

After much thought and research I've decided to forgo the lure of a Ricoh for now - so I've looked and looked and I'm now left with 2 plans ...
I have an Epson B1100 - use refillable carts in this and forgo large inkjet printer and use my old canon ip5300 for printing - cost - the refillable carts and the ink but loose ability to do A3 photos or buy an Epson S22 (I have read the unsupported and profiling issues but seems folks are finding ways around this using other profiles)refillable carts £25 and ink £50 - cost - £100 - can get the printer for less than £20.
Any thoughts? Which way would you go?
I'd prefer refillable carts over CISS I think.
thanks for any advice.

[smitch6]

i have used a smaller epson s21 i think
and found it horrid it was noisy and the print quality wasn't that good
so i got rid of it and bought a B1100 and it's been brill
apart from the odd blocked head that cleared ok it's always printed perfectly

i know some ppl use the smaller epsons and have no problems

you can get refillable carts for the B1100 and profiles are available for it

[JSR]

I'd prefer refillable carts over CISS I think.

The problem with refillable carts in an Epson is that the cartridges are so tiny and only hold a small amount of ink. If you're only going to print infrequently, then they're probably be going to be okay - but if you plan to print a lot, then you're going to forever be refilling them.

I have Epson R1400s here with refillable cartridges in, but I use them very rarely and only for items that won't fit on A4 paper.

[sarahjayne]

i have used a smaller epson s21 i think
and found it horrid it was noisy and the print quality wasn't that good
so i got rid of it and bought a B1100 and it's been brill
apart from the odd blocked head that cleared ok it's always printed perfectly

i know some ppl use the smaller epsons and have no problems

you can get refillable carts for the B1100 and profiles are available for it

thanks - that's kind of got me swayed to the B1100.

[sarahjayne]

The problem with refillable carts in an Epson is that the cartridges are so tiny and only hold a small amount of ink. If you're only going to print infrequently, then they're probably be going to be okay - but if you plan to print a lot, then you're going to forever be refilling them.

I have Epson R1400s here with refillable cartridges in, but I use them very rarely and only for items that won't fit on A4 paper.

I might look at CISS later down the line - right now I'm just messing around trying to get to grips with things and with 2 young kids I'm tied to late night working time only, so wont be churning out in huge numbers for a while. Just want to make samples, try designs, show what I can do and there seems to be a lot of maintenance with a CISS system if it isn't being used regularly. I thought I'd use the carts and try to print just half a dozen mug wraps or t shirt prints a day to keep the ink flowing when it wasn't in use.
Actually can you store the printed wraps or do they need to be used straight away?
thanks for the info.

[smitch6]

no the will keep for ages, don't actually know how long but i'm sure it's indefinitely

have fun and i'm sure if you have any questions this place will answer them for you
CISS are good but they can be messy esp if you forget you put it up higher than the printer while trying to unblock heads
then an hour or so later come back to find ink EVERYWHERE, not good on the boat where i have pine :~ now mulit coloured pine near the printer lol

[JSR]

CISS are good but they can be messy esp if you forget you put it up higher than the printer while trying to unblock heads
then an hour or so later come back to find ink EVERYWHERE, not good on the boat where i have pine :~ now mulit coloured pine near the printer lol

On the other hand, if you remove refillable cartridges to refill them or inadvertently let them run dry, you're more likely to have air in the printhead - a real pain to shift, because you think it's a blocked printhead when it isn't.

Swings and roundabouts, really.

What we really need is for the manufacturer of the "authorised" ink to "support" the industry by working with a printer manufacturer to create a printer designed for their ink. Like that's gonna happen... :rolleyes:

[sarahjayne]

Still thrashing about deciding what to do. I didnt realise a CISS system for a B1100 came in at around £285, even a second hand was out of my league.
Any low cost recommendations? Just to get me started.

[Paul]

Still thrashing about deciding what to do. I didnt realise a CISS system for a B1100 came in at around £285, even a second hand was out of my league.
Any low cost recommendations? Just to get me started.

If you want low cost it has to be "unsuported".

Can you tell whats your budget??

[bms]

Still thrashing about deciding what to do. I didnt realise a CISS system for a B1100 came in at around £285, even a second hand was out of my league.
Any low cost recommendations? Just to get me started.

I know of a B1100 (brand new/ reconditioned from Epson as a replacement B1100 - never had any ink cartridges in it) plus an Artainium EasyFlow system with about 75% of the original ink in it to include a new cartridge and tube assembly. Customer has changed to a Ricoh GXe3300 so this system is available at well below the new cost (new cost around £480 inc vat). As this isn't us that's selling the system then I can't confirm the actual price, but this is what the system is as we saw the customer earlier today.