Advice please - Epson 1400 or r1900 second hand?

[Antennina]

Just thought I'd post a quick update (plus another conundrum, more to that later)...
@pharmacist - thanks, have taken your advice & ordered the inktec inks from Octoink & they arrived quickly. Am quite happy with the results, good colours using just the standard printer settings (haven't got the tool to create custom profiles). Got the photo black rather than matte and on the cheap glossy paper that I used for testing (poundland's Polaroid paper & Tesco own brand) I do see distinct gloss differential, and printing on matte (on canvas for example) the black does come out weaker than for example the dye ink prints I made. Overall I am quite happy though, so many thanks for your suggestion!
Now the conundrum I was talking about... I had mentioned in my previous posts about having issues with random blotches on printing (I was using refillable cartridges), mostly when printing on paper-backed fabric where I get it most of the time, but I did get it on paper as well (I make a couple good prints, then I continously get ink blotches) . Initially I thought that I got the wrong ink or the print head may be faulty, but then switching to some cheap non refillable non oem dye cartridges I found I got perfect prints even on fabric. However switching to the refillable cartridges I kept on getting blotchy prints, be it using dye or pigment. I wanted to try pigment inks others had success with, so went with inktec, but using refillable cartridges I again got blotchy prints & got disheartened. I do however also have a ciss system that came with the printer but contained sublimation inks, so I had not used it. On a whim, I decanted the sub inks, cleaned & flushed the system with distilled water (now that's a job and a half!!) and refilled it with the pigment inks, and lo and behold... I get perfect prints, even on fabric now!! So I assume that my problem lies with the refillable cartridges - I searched around to see if there is anything I'm doing wrong with refilling, & made sure I did not overfill them, so tried 3/4 & 1/2 full, doing a few cleaning cycles on install & then do a few full coverage colour prints (also I make sure that the airflow plug is removed when printing & I let the cartridges settle for a while before installing) . I may get a couple of good prints on paper and then blotches & I have never so far had a clean print on fabric using refillable cartridges.
Have uploaded some of the blotchy prints in case any of you may have an idea as to what I'm doing wrong or if the problem really is the cartridges. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[pharmacist]

Hello, this is definitely a cartridge problem. Check sealing (leaking). Yes there is a gloss differential (especially the shiny PK). You could choose perceptual with BPC to use composite black to lower this glossy shine. The overall printing quality is quite good.

I had this problem, because one of the cartridges could not be properly sealed.

 

[Antennina]

Hello, this is definitely a cartridge problem. Check sealing (leaking). Yes there is a gloss differential (especially the shiny PK). You could choose perceptual with BPC to use composite black to lower this glossy shine. The overall printing quality is quite good.

I had this problem, because one of the cartridges could not be properly sealed.

Hi, thanks for advising re. cartridges, don't seem to be able to spot any issues on the seals - I just find it odd as on some prints within the same set the one time get black /cyan blotches, and then the next they appear appear to be multicoloured, so looks like the whole set is affected. In addition I have about 6 sets of cartridges bought from the same supplier, divided up between 4 different types of ink (including coralgraph epson 1400 dye and the inktec ultrachrome pigment) and every set presents the same issues. I get a couple of good prints, then blotchy ones... Has been driving me mad! Think I 'll just stick to the ciss system for now, but it isn't a top feeding one so assume in the long term I may encounter issues with pigment ink...

@pharmacist - can I just check if the cartridge sealing issue you had was with the coralgraph cartridges you bought (when you did your claria compatible dye ink experiment)? I am currently liaising with them and they state they never had such a problem with these products.

 

[Tudor]

I got an Epson 1400 running on Inktec Powerchrome K3 inks (photo black) and find the black has too much gloss compared to the other colors. Is it possible to mix Photo Black with Matte Black to tone that down a bit? Would this mix clog the printhead? Anyone tried it?

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Tudor,

I notice that "problem" too. Maybe it must be replaced by some less gloss black like Image Specialists PK. Anyhow: the overall gloss is very good, sometimes too good .

 

[The Hat]

I got an Epson 1400 running on Inktec Powerchrome K3 inks (photo black) and find the black has too much gloss compared to the other colors. Is it possible to mix Photo Black with Matte Black to tone that down a bit? Would this mix clog the printhead? Anyone tried it?

Hi Tudor,

You could try mixing in some I.S. Photo black, start with 20% and see if that reduces the gloss any, if not then keep on adding the same amount until you can see the change taking effect, you may need to remove some ink as you go..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I would consider some other areas to look into - I guess the paper is touching the printhead, so do the blotches appear as well when you print on a smaller format ? Can you watch the paper during the printing - is it bending upwards ? Would the problem disappear with another, stiffer type of paper ? There is always some ink at the nozzle plate, and there should be a wiper at the cleaning station wiping the printhead after a printcycle or even interrupting a print job if that one is pretty long. If there is something wrong with the wiper, a small rubber lip, then too much ink residue will remain on the nozzle plate.