The BENEFITS of using SUPPORTED INKS

[AdamB]

Hi all,

apologies for my absence - I had to take some time away due to unforeseen circumstances, but I thought I would update everyone on the problem I had on my last visit to the forum (regarding this post: http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/sh ... pson-B1100 ).

To refresh - I had problems with prints on my b1100 which resulted in blocked nozzles and print outs that could not be used. I had tried many things from replacing the refillable cartridges, filtering the ink through a gauze (a pair of tights) and giving the system a good clean with 'unblocking' fluid - all to no avail.

The printer in question was only 2 months old and because of this I approached the company I had purchased it from, who stated that the warranty was void due to using a ciss system!

This was the second (b1100) printer that had problems and to be honest, I did not need (or want) the cost of replacing the system again (I was using a b1100 as I had the supported set up and inks from Sawgrass).

I then emailed Sawgrass one Sunday night, really for advice and where I could get the printer serviced and was very, very surprised when I had an email back within a couple of hours asking for more details.

What followed then were numerous emails and calls from a gentleman called Nigel Reeve from Sawgrass, who asked for confirmation of the system I was using and where I had purchased it from.

Nigel confirmed that my issue could not be pushed any further with the original supplier of the printer as they were correct in what they had said and the Epson Warranty was invalid due to using a ciss system. Sawgrass, however, do give a warranty for the ink delivery system (where my problem lied) but they were concerned that the printer in question was not purchased from a registered seller and from somewhere else.

I explained at great length that the printer was a replacement for one purchased from a registered Sawgrass seller and they (the supplier) were my first port of call to get a replacement printer - but I was informed that this could not be supplied by itself and was out of stock anyway as the b1100 support is a 'dis-continued' printer (i.e another printer has now taken its place). This was no good to me as I had all the drivers, supported ink and profiles, so I had purchased another b1100 to enable me to carry on using supported ink - this replacement printer was the one that had gained another blockage (the same as the one previous purchased with the set-up).

Sawgrass said that they would look into providing a replacement printer but were having great difficulty in finding one. They asked if I was interested in moving onto the newly supported 'closed cartridge' system and offered to provide me with a full ink system if I purchased the printer.

I explained that I would 'probably' move onto a new system but I still had a great deal of ink left for the b1100. I asked if I could also look into getting a replacement b1100 to which Nigel informed me that whichever system I decided on - they would provide a new ink system for it.

I emailed epson direct to be informed that I could get a refurbished b1100 printer direct from epson for £85 which included VAT and delivery - I ordered one, had it 24hrs later and informed Nigel at Sawgrass that I was back up and running. A new ink system was sent to me (complete ciss system with full inks) and I sent any inks back to sawgrass that were left. The ink was (requested to be) sent back for a couple of reasons, firstly to avoid any further contamination problems that could have been caused by the ink I had and secondly (and most importantly) to show (and prove) that I was indeed using a supported ink system (and inks) - although I had sent photographs in previous emails.

Now, I am back up and running - still with a b1100 and still with supported ink (artainium sawgrass sublimation ink) and everything looks great.

The morale of this story is that yes, inks are available that are not supported and yes, I know that many people have created their own profile for these inks and use them successfully (although this is not part of the post - and unsupported inks should not really be discussed) - but, you could probably guarantee that 99% of those using unsupported inks have some experience in sublimation.

:biggrin:Why do I mention experience? I do so because going the 'un-supported' route means exactly that and finding your own path means walking alone - without the support. I chose the path very early on to use a supported system and inks which paid dividends to any problem(s) I had that were sorted and solved very, very professionally by Nigel at Sawgrass.

If you are not sure which path to take then asking that question surely means that you may not be able to 'problem solve' any errors along the way - and if you are not sure which path to take then there really is only one route - the supported way, where this post proves that a 'supported' system really means what it says on the tin 'support'.

Many thanks to Nigel at Sawgrass who was truly outstanding in helping me with this problem - second to none in support and top marks to Sawgrass

[WorthDoingRight]

Glad to hear your good news, let us all hope that you get better luck with this setup than you seem to have had with the previous setups.

[purpledragon]

I have to agree with you Adam re the service at sawgrass , i too have had serious problems with 2 of my printers recentluy a b1100 and a 1400 and both problems centred around the cyan ink id be interested to know if this also was your issue as i believe there is an issue with cyan inks particually in the b1100 for some reason. I have to admit sawgrass were second to none in sorting me out, over a period of 2 weeks they replaced the entire ink system for my 1400, my b1100 unfortunatly didnt survive but sawgrass did replace this as this was from a sawgrass dealer and i was just inside the warranty (by 2 weeks) during this period i also had no choice but to by a ricoh 7700n so i was still up and running (2weeks is a long time to be without a printer with orders backing up) sawgrass even sorted installing this for me also as this was causing problems (good ole vista 64bit) so i really cant complain or indeed praise them enough. However i think your experiances and mine have thrown up some important points exactly what do you do if you have a shed full of inks and ciss for a particular printer when your printer goes down ? Sawgrass take over the warranty of the printer if bought from a sawgrass approved dealer eg BMS but even martin wasnt aware of the restrictions on the warranty until recently my 1400 is only 3 months old i bought it from amazon not a sawgrass dealer for the same reason you didnt buy the b1100 set up again as you had the inks etc and although the ink system is under gaurantee the printer isnt so what do you do if the printer breaks? its not exactly economical to by a complete set up everytime and the sawgrass approved suppliers are unlikly to sell you a printer on its own so how do we get round this? . for example take the wide format epson which according to sawgrass isnt wide format, i can shave a whole grand off the set up price if i bought the printer from elsewhere but bought the inks etc from a sawgrass approved dealer but as the sawgrass dealer pointed out to me i would have no gaurantee on the printer as its not from a sawgrass dealer. I stress once more that sawgrass have been excellent in their tech service but i wonder how long this can continue if as i suspect theres an issue with b1100's or cyan inks its also odd that sawgrass are pushing the gel inks so much (i did get an offer of a coupler of sets of ink rather than a new printer but i prefer the quality of epsons prints) are they attempting to move away from epsons and the liquid inks we all are so fond of ? your morale still stands though there are substantial savings to be made on inks who can not be mentioned but is it a false economy as when it all goes wrong and it will , where you going to go for help i doubt they have a support line in china !!!

[socialgiraffe]

Excellent post AdamB. Obviously sorry to hear you had so many problems but at least it is all sorted now.

Definately think anyone using unsupported inks, or is thinking of, should simply be directed to this thread. If they ignore this thread we should ignore theirs

[GoldRapt]

Indeed an excellent post.

[AdamB]

its not exactly economical to by a complete set up everytime and the sawgrass approved suppliers are unlikly to sell you a printer on its own so how do we get round this?

Direct from Sawgrass's mouth.

If you have purchased a supported set-up then your first port of call, even if the printer is out of warranty is to approach the approved seller that you purchased the set up from.

They will then advise as to how to replace your printer (even if the printer is out of warranty) to enable you to carry on receiving the support. Of course, if your set-up is out of warranty then you will need to purchase another system, and this may be a little more expensive but by dealing with an 'approved seller' for this will keep the support available. Breaking away from this and trying to replace your own system from someone else 'could' void any support for the future.

(as I say, direct from Sawgrass in one of the emails I had)

[purpledragon]

at no point in my post have i suggested using unsupported inks so its the printers which are in question
if to have the advantage of a warranty you must buy your printer from an approved supplier this raises an issue the issue is an approved supplier will be unwilling to sell you a printer on its own so to get a printer with the back up of support sawgrass are saying (according to your post adam ) you must buy your full set up from a sawgrass approved supplier
you yourself pointed out that as you already had plenty of ink and a ciss system that buying all this again just to get a working printer was an expensive way of doing this in wouldnt call £300 plus (the cost of an ink system and ink) a little more expensive infact its a very expensive way of obtaining a working printer. I think my point may have been misunderstood.

I bought a printer and ink system from an approved supplier
the printer broke down and was over a year old so out of warranty
i however have plenty of ink and the ciss system
the approved supplier is not willing to sell the printer on its own this did happen to me i was infact advised by the supplier to buy a printer off amazon or somewhere similar
the second i use sawgrass inks in this printer epsons warranty is invalid and sawgrass will not honour the warranty because the printer is not from an approved dealer
so what choices are left ? either buy a complete set up from an approved dealer even though i already have the inks and system previously bought from an approved dealer
or buy a printer from another source use the sawgrass inks in this printer and hope the printer lasts more than a year
to my mind this is a potential issue that i felt needed pointing out especially with so many newbies on the scene i did also agree that sawgrass support is excellent and on that note i think ill return back to my corner and give up altogether on posting and just read from now on.

[AdamB]

.............. on that note i think ill return back to my corner and give up altogether on posting and just read from now on.

Have I missed something there Brett?

Not sure if my reply was misunderstood or I didn't read your post fully and I misunderstood?

Either way - not sure where this is going and it's not intended to go any direction apart from advise to others

[purpledragon]

Have I missed something there Brett?

Not sure if my reply was misunderstood or I didn't read your post fully and I misunderstood?

Either way - not sure where this is going and it's not intended to go any direction apart from advise to others

Hands up to this one Adam i read the post totally the wrong way my apologies

[AdamB]

Hands up to this one Adam i read the post totally the wrong way my apologies

No problem Brett - it may have also been the way I typed it - but I blame fingers like bratwurst sausages for that