Moderator: E.J. Peiker

All times are UTC-05:00

  
« Previous topic | Next topic »  
Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 15 posts | 
by Rocky Sharwell on Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:38 am
Rocky Sharwell
Lifetime Member
Posts: 2994
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Member #:00054
I am currently trying to decide between an Epson 4900 and the 3880 having read several threads here and on other sites. The 4900 has much larger ink tanks. I was wondering what sort of quality issues might arise from using ink that has been installed onto a printer and is not used within the 6 month expiration period for the ink as I could see the issue arising with the the larger tanks of the 4900?

Thanks

Rocky
Rocky Sharwell
 

by E.J. Peiker on Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:46 am
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
Unless you do a lot of printing, even the 3880 inks might take longer to use up. it happens to me all the time. Most of the time you can go about a year longer than the expiration before you will see any real shift. Generally they will dry up before they will produce a serious color shift. My own personal rule of thumb is to swap them out if they are empty or two years old, whichever comes first.
 

by J. DeYoung on Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:00 am
J. DeYoung
Forum Contributor
Posts: 137
Joined: 27 Dec 2009
Location: Holland, MI.
Rocky,

I have an Epson 3800 and have not had any problems with expired inks.(Using them past the 6 month suggested limit) I do most of my printing in batches leaving the printer off up to a few weeks at a time. The longest being about 2 1/2 months. When I start it back up again, I run a nozzle check and if necessary clean the print head. I have had very, very few clogs and I haven't noticed any reduction in print quality.

If I were in the market for a new printer, I would get the 4900 as my production needs are growing and I would like to be able to use roll paper. I have been printing at 16"x24" on 17"x25" paper. In the largest sizes you will be limited in the paper you use with the 3880 unless you manually cut down rolls, Finding pre-cut sheets of paper in the 17"x25" size is almost impossible.
 

by Don N on Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:21 pm
Don N
Forum Contributor
Posts: 6
Joined: 27 May 2011
If you don't have bone-dry humidity (like Arizona, where i formerly lived), the inks last way past their expiration date without drying up. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have ample humidiy (the alt process darkroom humidity monitor says about 50-60% pretty consistently.

If you haven't used the inks in a while (2 weeks or so is what I use as a time period), be sure to open the ink installation access and remove/shake each ink cart. If you don't. you will see a very thin image as pigments tend to settle.
 

by Bill Chambers on Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:14 pm
User avatar
Bill Chambers
Forum Contributor
Posts: 4015
Joined: 8 Feb 2006
Location: Milton, Florida
Probably a dumb question but.... if they're archival inks to begin with, why would there be a color shift?
Please visit my web site, simply nature - Photographic Art by Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Milton, Florida
 

by E.J. Peiker on Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:31 pm
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
Bill Chambers wrote:Probably a dumb question but.... if they're archival inks to begin with, why would there be a color shift?
The archival nature pertains to their colorfastness once they have been applied to an archival paper and dried. this has absolutely nothing to do with the ink being in liquid form which has much different chemical characteristics. Think of milk in liquid form. it goes sour in a couple of weeks. But use that milk to make cookie dough and then bake the cookies and the taste won't change for a long time - the freshness may change but they don't go sour.
 

by Bill Chambers on Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:29 pm
User avatar
Bill Chambers
Forum Contributor
Posts: 4015
Joined: 8 Feb 2006
Location: Milton, Florida
Thanks E.J. - good analogy!
Please visit my web site, simply nature - Photographic Art by Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Milton, Florida
 

by Rocky Sharwell on Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:17 am
Rocky Sharwell
Lifetime Member
Posts: 2994
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Member #:00054
Thank you for all of the responses.....It is a tough decision.
Rocky Sharwell
 

by James McIntyre on Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:42 pm
User avatar
James McIntyre
Lifetime Member
Posts: 541
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Member #:00068
J. DeYoung wrote:Rocky,
If I were in the market for a new printer, I would get the 4900 as my production needs are growing and I would like to be able to use roll paper. I have been printing at 16"x24" on 17"x25" paper. In the largest sizes you will be limited in the paper you use with the 3880 unless you manually cut down rolls, Finding pre-cut sheets of paper in the 17"x25" size is almost impossible.
Some recent NSN threads have discussed the increasing availability of 17x25 paper and the advantages of this size. It is ideal for printing 16x24 pictures of landscapes with a 1:1.5 aspect ration (the native format of most DSLRs). Hopefully this trend will continue. To me it makes much more sense than the 17x22 size, although to my knowledge none of the major paper manufacturers have adopted it yet.

Please see:
http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/view ... a#p2037344
http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/view ... 4&t=217248
 

by jgunning on Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:05 am
jgunning
Forum Contributor
Posts: 311
Joined: 9 Jun 2006
Location: Orlando, FL
Rocky,

I would choose the 4900 over the 3880 for the roll paper option. All of my printing above the 8.5" x 11" size is done on roll paper. When I bought my 4800, the 3800 series printers were not available. Now that I have used roll paper, I would not want to be without it.

I have often used ink well past the marked expiration date. I don't recommend this, but right now I have three 220ml tanks with a date of April 2011. These are nearly empty and I keep waiting for them to quit, but they nozzle check and print just fine. (I am test printing them periodically to make sure) This is the longest I have gone with a set of tanks in the printer. I haven't kept careful track of this, but I would say that most tanks are past Epson's expiration date before they are empty. I normally do use the 110ml tanks to avoid the older ink problem. The drawback is higher cost. The 4900 apparently only has 200ml tanks available (after the starter set), so the smaller tanks are not an option.

I do remove all the tanks and agitate them periodically to insure that the pigment stays mixed and does not settle out. Also, I don't let the printer set idle for long periods of time. At a minimum, whether I'm printing or not, I turn it on each week and at least run a nozzle check and a small test print. It does waste some ink, but probably less than several cleaning cycles would.

I live in humid Orlando, FL and the printer is in a relatively cool, air conditioned environment at all times. I don't know if that makes the difference on whether the ink will dry up, or I just got lucky. If I lived where EJ is, I suspect it might be more of an issue. Other than the occasional clog needing a few cleaning cycles, which happens with either old or new ink, I have had no issues.

Jim Gunning
 

by Rocky Sharwell on Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:27 pm
Rocky Sharwell
Lifetime Member
Posts: 2994
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Member #:00054
I placed an order for a 4900 w/ free shipping Friday evening but cancelled it today when Atlex called to see if I wanted to spend $50 extra for a freight truck with a lift gate--Apparently w/o the lift gate I have no guarantee the driver will help me get it off the truck. I was planning on a weight of 115 pounds but in box they said it was 150 pounds. Getiing said box up to the second story did not sound like a good thing for my almost healed sprained rotator cuff.
Rocky Sharwell
 

by jgunning on Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:47 pm
jgunning
Forum Contributor
Posts: 311
Joined: 9 Jun 2006
Location: Orlando, FL
Rocky,

The box the 4800 came in was large, but not totally unreasonable. It was strapped to a small wood pallet. If delivery at your location is a problem, I think you can talk to the freight company and arrange pickup at their dock. The box should fit into any pickup or van. It will not go into any car I'm aware of. As I recall, the driver helped me get the box onto the ground. I put it on something with wheels and took it into the garage. Then I took it out of the box to get it inside. The printer itself is smaller then the box. I did enlist my neighbor to help me carry it in. It will be too heavy (and awkward) for one person. With fresh surgery, you may want to talk two friends into helping you. Carrying just the printer up-stairs should not be a problem for two people.

Jim

By the way, the box can be collapsed and will store flat should you need it in the future to ship the printer for repair or a sale to someone else.
 

by dbostedo on Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:20 am
User avatar
dbostedo
Forum Contributor
Posts: 1593
Joined: 24 May 2007
Location: Fairfax, VA, USA
James McIntyre wrote:To me it makes much more sense than the 17x22 size, although to my knowledge none of the major paper manufacturers have adopted it yet.
Unless most of your images are in the 4:3 aspect ratio. In that case you can print 15x20 with a 1 inch border all around on 17x22 paper. With u43 getting more popular, 17x22 might as well.
David Bostedo
Vienna, VA, USA
 

by James McIntyre on Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:47 am
User avatar
James McIntyre
Lifetime Member
Posts: 541
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Member #:00068
dbostedo wrote:
James McIntyre wrote:To me it makes much more sense than the 17x22 size, although to my knowledge none of the major paper manufacturers have adopted it yet.
Unless most of your images are in the 4:3 aspect ratio. In that case you can print 15x20 with a 1 inch border all around on 17x22 paper. With u43 getting more popular, 17x22 might as well.
17x22 paper is already popular, as all the major manufacturers offer it. The principal advantage of 17x25 IMO is its flexibility. It will allow you to print pictures with a range of aspect ratios from portrait to landscape: 16x20(4:5) to 16x24(2:3) - all from the same box. See the links I cited above for details.

And you can print pictures with the old standard TV format (3:4) at larger size (16x21.3), providing a significant 13.8% increase in area over 15x20.
 

by nash30 on Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:22 am
nash30
Forum Contributor
Posts: 19
Joined: 13 Oct 2011
J. DeYoung wrote:Rocky,

I have an Epson 3800 and have not had any problems with expired inks.(Using them past the 6 month suggested limit) I do most of my printing in batches leaving the printer off up to a few weeks at a time. The longest being about 2 1/2 months. When I start it back up again, I run a nozzle check and if necessary clean the print head. I have had very, very few clogs and I haven't noticed any reduction in print quality.

If I were in the market for a new printer, I would get the 4900 as my production needs are growing and I would like to be able to use roll paper. I have been printing at 16"x24" on 17"x25" paper. In the largest sizes you will be limited in the paper you use with the 3880 unless you manually cut down rolls, Finding pre-cut sheets of paper in the 17"x25" size is almost impossible.
bigger production can really be supported by 4900.. I might be tossing out my 3800 and get a new 4900.. thought i am very satisfied with it and the only problem i had was the vertical streaks i have been getting on my prints lately but the print quality is really superb...
someday you will find me,caught beneath the landslide......
[url=http://www.inkjetsuperstore.com/][size=50]http://www.inkjetsuperstore.com/[/size][/url]
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
15 posts | 
  

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group