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by bradmangas on Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:53 pm
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I have been holding off on purchasing a large format printer. Mostly to make sure I can justify the cost. Seeing things like this does not help in pursuing me to make a major purchase. If what is seen in this video was not the case I may have already made that purchase. Epson and Canon need know things like this will not help their bottom line.

I came across this video and found it astounding. Not that it surprises me that much but it seems to borderline on fraud when you think about it. I know that this is not just an Epson issue and have no doubt that if checked nearly every inkjet printer of any brand could be found wasting nearly 20% of the ink we pay for. Why companies choose to take advantage of customers for the sake of money is a sad state of current affairs.

Wasted Ink in the Epson 9900
 

by E.J. Peiker on Thu Oct 01, 2015 5:47 am
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It gets worse, many Epson printers also have a seperate cartridge that acts as a receptacle for all of that wasted ink. This also needs to be replaced at a fairly steep cost when it fills up. So not only do they get you on the wasted ink, they then charge you for a place to put that wasted ink....
 

by jgunning on Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:57 pm
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Actually for a small investment in a chip re-setter, you can clean out the waste cartridge yourself, fill with new packing (paper towels, diaper material, or similar), and reset the chip. I've done this on my 4800 since I bought it. The re-setter costs less than one waste cartridge.

Fixing the ink remaining in the cartridge problem is a lot more difficult. Epson has no incentive to fix something that will allow you to use more of the ink in a cartridge. They make more money that way. Put it down to corporate greed and lack of concern for customers. The excuse commonly given is that having a cartridge go completely dry and start sucking air is supposed to be a real problem. I doubt it. Yes, it would require the lines to be purged again and ink flow restored, but it wouldn't happen that often over the life of the printer when compared against the discarded ink.

My biggest beef with the 4800 is the scheduled cleaning cycles. Some of them cannot be turned off, and the constant flushing of ink wastes a lot of it. Probably something like 20% or more.

All that said, I am hooked on the quality of the prints the 4800 produces. Better than any other medium I have ever used, including over 35 years of color darkroom work with all the available processes except dye-sub.
 

by pleverington on Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:31 am
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Resetters do work on the original Epson carts, at least mine does, so one could reset the cart to eak out all the ink...but risking running things dry and getting air in the line be worth it?? I don't think so. Best to get see through refillable carts, third party inks, and keep the carts filled so running dry never happens, and reset when necessary. You'll save a lot of money in the long run.


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by Primus on Mon Oct 05, 2015 6:40 am
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My printer woes continue, with my 9900 not working at all now. Seriously thinking of replacing it.

I've read some reviews of the new Sure color P9000, not a great improvement technology wise. However, from everything I've read, Canon or HP don't have the perfect solution either. For sheer quality, I hear Epson still reigns supreme.

Considering how much good cameras and lenses cost, these printers (if taken care of properly) are not such a terrible deal. Yes, they make money off the ink because I suspect they let the printers go at or below cost and because they are in the business of making money - as everyone else is.

Let's face it, high end photography still remains an expensive proposition.

Pradeep
 

by jgunning on Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:23 am
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Pradeep,

Here is a link to a YouTube channel for Conde systems, www.conde.com,

https://www.youtube.com/user/condesystems/videos

that has some maintenance videos on the Epson printers. They have hundreds of videos, mostly regarding dye-sub, but if you search you will find the Epson ones. It appears they do maintenance on Epson printers and may be able to help you out. I have used the 4000 series videos to keep my 4800 running well. Maybe worth a look to see if you can find something there to get your printer functioning.
 

by jgunning on Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:31 am
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Pradeep,

Also located this after I sent the post above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8NkgKw7mDw
 

by Primus on Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:23 am
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jgunning wrote:Pradeep,

Here is a link to a YouTube channel for Conde systems, www.conde.com,  

https://www.youtube.com/user/condesystems/videos  

that has some maintenance videos on the Epson printers. They have hundreds of videos, mostly regarding dye-sub, but if you search you will find the Epson ones. It appears they do maintenance on Epson printers and may be able to help you out. I have used the 4000 series videos to keep my 4800 running well. Maybe worth a look to see if you can find something there to get your printer functioning.
Actually, Paul here ("pleverington") and I have been troubleshooting my 9900 for a few months. The initial problem of wandering dropout of nozzles was probably due to the pump assembly being faulty and I replaced that. However, as Paul knows, I tore the ribbon cable from the control panel while replacing the side panel during the process. The printer went absolutely dead and my replacing the cable or control panel did nothing.

I got Decision One involved and it turns out that my little mishap resulted in a shorting of the main board. Fortunately I had a spare (long story), but unfortunately, what with my travels and delay in getting D1 to come in (another long story), the printer sat idle for almost eight weeks. 

Now the yellow and part of the magenta channels have permanent missing nozzles and I am afraid my head is gone. I am doing the usual "Windex-soaked paper under the head" trick but don't have much hope. I've read and looked at most of the reports on the net about this issue and nothing really has helped. I would hate to throw more money and time (which is even more precious to me right now) at it.

The only thing to say is that the local guy from D1 was very nice, professional, helpful and honest, which is completely the opposite from what I had heard and feared. 

Given the time and expense put into this already, I am inclined to just pull the plug on it. The machine is now six years old and while I could replace it with another 9900, they are about the same price as the new P9000, so with the approval from 'she who must be obeyed', I will probably get the latter. The logistics of moving a 250lb machine out of my home office and getting another one in its place is quite daunting and is the biggest objection I am getting from my wife.

Lots to think about......

Pradeep
 

by jgunning on Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:44 am
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Wow, you have had a time of it. Didn't realize you had much deeper mechanical issues. Certainly if you can afford it, a newer printer would end the misery. My only problem personally is I hate the throw away of very expensive equipment. Hopefully you can get sort of a trade in from D1 or where ever you buy the P9000.


Last edited by jgunning on Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

by signgrap on Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:54 am
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I find that Distilled Water works as well or even better than Windex. No harmful chemicals and very aggressive at absorbing inks. Use in basically the same manner as Windex but just keep the paper towel wet/saturated.
Dick Ludwig
 

by Primus on Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:12 pm
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signgrap wrote:I find that Distilled Water works as well or even better than Windex. No harmful chemicals and very aggressive at absorbing inks. Use in basically the same manner as Windex but just keep the paper towel wet/saturated.


Dick, must try that one. Will do. 

I don't think anybody is willing to offer trade-ins for these old machines nowadays. Does not hurt to try though.

Pradeep
 

by jgunning on Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:01 pm
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Conde Systems referenced above recommends a 50% solution of Simple Green and water. I'm sure lots of fluids work as long as they don't damage the print heads.
 

by Larry Shuman on Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:33 pm
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For the last year I changed from Epson ink to John Cone ink at inkjetmall.com. I use a Epson 7880 with all John Cone ink in reusable carts. My ink cost have dropped from $79~120 to $45 per color and I have had ZERO problems. When I print 36x24 and show them to folks the first word from them is WOW. So I know I'm on the right track. If I lose 20% ink to cleaning I don't care because its just so small from the 220ML carts.
 

by Mark Picard on Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:03 pm
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I use both the 4880 and the 9900 and feel that even with the ink loss it is still, to me, a very affordable system for each printer. I think both printers are very efficient in their ink consumption. I do an automatic cleaning at every startup. I too use a chip re-setter for the waste tanks (both printers use the same waste tanks, 4880 one, 9900 two) which solves the waste tank problem perfectly. I use paper towels in the tanks. I typically will run each ink cartridge down to 1%, then replace it. Occasionally I will drain out the ink cartridge (by mistake) to zero ink, but when that has happened (sometimes mid print) I change out the cartridge and the print then finishes like nothing ever happened. I suspect when you run the ink out completely, the lines still contain some ink, so there isn't any air in the lines even when the printer says 0 ink left. . Oh, and I'm thinking of switching to the Cone inks in the future, now that my warranty for the 9900 is over . 
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