Re: Epson Inks

Jan Alter wrote:
On the contrary, the pigment ink that Epson designed for the C84, Dura-brite, is inappropriate, and causes the printhead to clog to the point of the printer being ruined.
....
What they foisted on the consumer with Dura-brite
inks (not Dura-brite Ultra) was a nastily designed ink that I would conjecture has caused thousands of printers to prematurely become landfill fodder; from my own experience with the first six that died within a two year period when I used their ink in those printers.

Believe it or not, thousands (millions?) of people had similar experiences with the second round of Oki's LED printers. Oki tried to come up with an environmentally-friendly version of their process that didn't work out; the drums self-destructed, often in less than a year, and this could happen in before-sale storage. The process was used for printers, fax machines, etc. My new printer emerged from the box with a dead drum. This is an expensive consumable part at $160; the drum that Oki replaced for me under warranty was good for about three weeks before the image began to break up. This didn't exactly help customer loyalty! However, at least in my case, Oki came through 7 years later; replaced the thing with a newer-process refurb that's nice and stable. I guess that intense competition causes things to sometimes get rushed to market before their long-term performance has been evaluated. Ouch!

As far as my suggestion goes to the OP about refilling I never said I was using dye base ink with the R1800. In fact I'm using aftermarket pigment ink with that particular printer, and it works fine and is a fraction of the cost of buying Epson ink, besides being environmentally friendly in that I can refill the cartridges instead of purchasing new ones each time.
I'm really interested! I've got a used 4600 all-in-one. It uses Dura-Brite ink. I'm going to assume that I'll be able to clean the heads somehow. It came in a 4800 box! So, I assume that Epson replaced the printer with the later model that uses Dura-Brite Ultra ink, and that mine from the thrift shop is neatly clogged up.

I've been looking over a couple of web sites of ink manufacturers (not retail ink sellers -- the people who really make the stuff). I've been impressed with what I've seen on these sites.

So, I'm really interested in knowing what pigment-based ink you've been using successfully. One of the things that attracted me to an Epson was the claim of better image permanence then I've experience with dyes and moisture. Would you be kind enough to tell us what your ink is and where you get it?

Thanks.

Richard
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Epson Inks
    ... On the contrary, the pigment ink that Epson designed for the C84, ... What they foisted on the consumer with Dura-brite ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: New printer
    ... As Zakezuke suggests the D68 would most likely be using the Dura-brite inks, ... C-84 printers that I bought for my kids at home and one C-86 that my ... Epson sent another replacement, ... which uses a new formula ink; ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: Can Epson really do this?
    ... The first is the usual Usenet cry of "class action lawsuit" which has only once been focussed enough to make Epson act. ... Just buy a Canon and use Canon ink. ... You are funding Epson profits when you buy their ink. ... Epson as much as an active consumer reaction would. ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: Can Epson really do this?
    ... The first is the usual Usenet cry of "class action lawsuit" which has only once been focussed enough to make Epson act. ... You can buy Canon or HP and hit Epson's bottom line once as a lost customer, or you can buy many Epson printers and none of their ink, hitting that bottom line harder to the value of many lost customers. ... but it doesn't hurt Epson as much as an active consumer reaction would. ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: Epson Inks
    ... Those durabrite printers are garbage and were garbage when they were made. ... What they foisted on the consumer with Dura-brite inks was a nastily designed ink that I would conjecture has caused thousands of printers to prematurely become landfill fodder; from my own experience with the first six that died within a two year period when I used their ink in those printers. ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)