My Epson Whoas

[cleveprint]

So we have been trying to get started on using an inkjet for our films. We have an old Xante laser that has been great to us, but putting a diffuser in it every year is getting expensive and films sometimes do not register perfect from the shrinking velum.

My question is, we have a rebuilt 4800 that is new to us. Bought it from a service center around us. From some advice I found here, we purchased refillable cartridges from inkjetcarts. Also their hybrid screen positive ink. Well Im all excited to start using it, fill em up, pop them in, do some test prints..... nothing. Ink heads clogged, nothing doing. I call the service center to complain that they sold me a bunk printer. They send two techs up, they do a whole bunch of stuff. Last try, they throw some regular Epson colored ink carts in there. They do a test and boom, perfect squares all across the test print. Ink heads are not clogged. Pop our refillable ones back in, clogged. The service guys are telling me the inks are too thick to get through the heads. Seems like black water to me.

I guess my questions are has anyone ever had a problem with refillable carts or inks on an Epson? Anyone had luck with inkjetcarts products in the past? This is driving me nuts!

[JBLUE]

That is strange. What happens if you run a cleaning cycle with the new cartridges? Does it do it for every head? Are you trying to run all black in every cartridge?

[cleveprint]

ive power cleaned the heck out of it. lots of ink comes out in the waste tank. regular cleanings the same. and yes, i have black ink in every cartridge. thats what inkjetcarts told me to do with their ink and cartridges. but i cannot get anything to come out of them.

[Rockers]

You are not supposed to run pigment and dye ink on the same printer.
the guys at ink2image explained me that this will sooner rather then later freak up the print head as it all forms into a gel like structure.
And clean your capping station and wiper blade at least once a month. There a good YouTube videos out there that explain the whole process.

[ZooCity]

Couple of things:

Forget about running "all black", there is no benefit other than maybe speed but you sacrifice fine detail doing this.

Instead, run refillables in all slots but black ink in the printers "matte/photo" black (or any other one of your choice if your rip allows this).  Fill the other 7 carts with cleaning solution.

Leave the printer on at all times.  It will auto clean it's heads and waste tons of ink but, if you did #2 above, it's wasting cheap cleaning fluid and keeping your other color heads fresh and clean. 

When you switch ink brands/types you must purge the system.  I won't get into it here, google it or ask your seller but it's just what it sounds like and yes, will take up a lot of ink and fluid to complete but you only need to do it when you switch.

The 4800 works fine with either pigment or dye based inks.  I'm not real familiar with "hybrid" inks but have heard of it. I recommend dye based.

It does sound like the ink you purchased is not compatible with your printer. Epson inks and some aftermarket brands have a chemistry designed to clean out clogs built into the ink.  If you were able to pop in the Epson ink carts without doing a purge and all of the sudden print a good nozzle check it's probably just those solvents cutting through the other ink.  You don't need to run Epson ink, although it does work fine but you may need to run a different black in there.  I use the black ink and cleaner from Filmdirect in our 4800.

http://www.filmdirectonline.com/

[cleveprint]

i have done all the purges and charged the printer with the new black ink. it takes it up just fine. here is the ink that i am using at the moment.

http://store.inkjetcarts.us/screen-positive-black-hybrid-ink-p4487.aspx

it was sold to me being used for epsons. but obviously its not working. i can see why they have you use it in all heads, just have to buy more later!! once i get it working, if at all, ill give the cleaning solution in the other cartridges a try.

[Sbrem]

You do not have to use it in all heads, as Chris (Zoo) explains. Maybe, it's just that brand of ink. Chris mentions Filmdirect, and I've been using dye ink from inksupply.com for a couple of years with good results. I've just done this and except for a small firmware problem, it's working. Charlie Facini from AccrRIP is going to help me with that this morning. By the way, I bought my refillables from inkjetcarts too, but my cleaning solution and ink from inksupply.com

Steve

[Homer]

You do not have to use it in all heads, as Chris (Zoo) explains. Maybe, it's just that brand of ink. Chris mentions Filmdirect, and I've been using dye ink from inksupply.com for a couple of years with good results. I've just done this and except for a small firmware problem, it's working. Charlie Facini from AccrRIP is going to help me with that this morning. By the way, I bought my refillables from inkjetcarts too, but my cleaning solution and ink from inksupply.com

Steve

as soon as UPS arrives today, I'll have the exact same set up you have here, I'm hesitant about using this hybrid ink from ink jet carts, maybe I should use the dye from ink supply first. what type of issues are you having with accurip? I hope I don't have the same.....I'll leave one of my 1400's set up in case this doesn't go smooth...

[Sbrem]

Until I finish Homer, our 1400 is printing the films. You can leave it set up anyway, and switch them around in AccuRIP. I was testing the 4800 yesterday, and left it that way. When our artist went to send a film this morning, she chose the 1400, but because AccuRIP had the 4800 chosen, the print came out of there instead of the 1400. You can still use both, just remember your settings.

Steve

[IntegrityShirts]

Are you venting the refillable carts or do you have them completely plugged on top?  I leave my carts with the smaller plugs popped so the carts can take in air to replace the ink going to the heads.

Off topic, but not really, what settings are you guys using in Accurip when you only print from one head?  I tried it the other day and it was no where near dark enough, but maybe my droplet weight or ink coverage settings were off.

[Shanarchy]

Very interested in this thread. I bought refillable cartridges and ink from inkjetcarts a little while back and had the same experience as the OP. I assumed it was either a bead product or I did something wrong. I've been using Epson OEM inks lately as the cartridges I was getting from 4inkjets suddenly stopped working.

I was actually just about to put a post up asking what everyone has been using or if there was a good bulk system I should look into.

I use an Epson 1400.

[Frog]

Haven't used them yet, but will soon

http://cobraink.com/index.htm

[cleveprint]

well a mid-day update. kept farting around with it this morning when i got in. cleaned out the spots where the ink goes in, made sure everything was fully vented up top, removed the plugs. ran some test prints and all of a sudden..... lots of printed test blocks! not sure if i had air in the lines or the cartidges were messed up at the ends, but it seems to be working just fine now. 2 weeks of screwing around.....

either way, ran a few test prints and i still have some issues with two of the cartridges not pulling ink. a regular cartridge prints fine, but not the refillable. i am getting a nice dark black though on the waterproof films though.

a few quick questions about the cleaning fluid filled cartridges. does that not water down the ink when it prints? or is your rip telling your printer which head to pull from? just downloaded the free trail of accurip so i guess we will find out. all new to us. using a set it and forget it Xante laser Postscript printer and now switching to inkjet.

[JBLUE]

It will only print out of the channels that you tell it too. The clear ink is just to keep the head from drying out. If you run a cleaning cycle then it will cycle some through.

[Sbrem]

Very interested in this thread. I bought refillable cartridges and ink from inkjetcarts a little while back and had the same experience as the OP. I assumed it was either a bead product or I did something wrong. I've been using Epson OEM inks lately as the cartridges I was getting from 4inkjets suddenly stopped working.

I was actually just about to put a post up asking what everyone has been using or if there was a good bulk system I should look into.

I use an Epson 1400.

Hi Shane, I use the dye based ink from inksupply.com. It's the replacement for the original All Black that wanted $25.00 per cart for refills, I saved a fortune. Preston turned me onto it, and it's always worked fine.

Steve (ps, I bought my 1400 empty carts from them too)