Alternative Printers??

[simonj]

Can anyone suggest an alternate printer or CIS solution.

I started out refilling carts on Canon iP400's - I burned through at least 10 of them in a 2 year period.

I was very happy with Epson R220's and a CIS from printonadime.com. They worked great but I do a TON of color printing and wear them out. I run 3 printers none stop 8 hour a day. Usually the 220's stop picking up paper. Now R220's are getting very hard to come by.

I tried an Epson C88 - it was slow and photo quality was poor. I have an Epson R340 its OK but slow.

I moved on to R280's. They are lightening fast, but so far I haven't had one that has lasted a week! Usually one or more colors stop printing. I have now had 12 (YES TWELVE) R280s. Epson has replaced them up to now but now they are getting snarky.

I have not tried HP printers with a CIS - anyone use them to do alot of printing???

The real problem is that most of the CIS systems are for older printers - and Epson/HP/Canon keep bringing out new models to subvert our ability to refill etc. As soon a s find a printer like the 220 that great they are discontinued and start getting hard to get.

What I would really like is a printer that is MADE with a refillable INK system. I can't really afford an offset printer but there has to be something better than the flimsy deskjet made for home use.

I have looked at more expensive Xerox solid ink systems etc but the price per page with a small Epson/CIS is very very low.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you
Simon

 

[Tin Ho]

Have you tried Canon ip4500? It is lightening fast too. But keep in mind that it is a thermo-bubble-jet printer. Its print head will not tolerate ink shortage for too long. If you install a CIS you will run into ink feeding problems sooner or later. If you do not watch out for ink feeding problems the print head will be clogged and burnt sooner or later. If you refill Canon OEM cartridges instead of using a CIS you will have a much smaller chance of having ink feeding problems (not 0 chance but smaller chance) and it may work pretty reliably for you. You can set up a few sets of OEM cartridges. Each time you just take an all on and all off strategy, replacing all cartridges each time. You then take some time to refill all that are taken out and put aside waiting for next time to be used again. I know a realtor myself who did that. He printed hundreds of flyers at a time in a matter of an hour non stop. His ip4500 (may have been an ip4300) has been up to the task for something about a year at least.

 

[simonj]

It's a possibility although I don't like changing cartridges or refilling in the middle of print jobs. I used to refill Canon carts but sometimes got subtle color changes which naturally my nasty picky customers picked up on right away!

I assume that if refilling you need a chip resetter?

Thank you

 

[Tin Ho]

You don't need a chip resetter. But if you have one you will have ink level status for checking ink level. This is not much different from Epson ink cartridges.

 

[websnail]

I have not tried HP printers with a CIS - anyone use them to do alot of printing???

Reading between the lines on your original post I think you're probably not going to be overly happy with HP CIS kits as the ARC's (Auto reset chips) require user intervention to get them to reset which given your spec of LONG hours of operating is going to p*ss you off after a bit.

In addition photo quality on these isn't as good as it could be...

My considered advice would be to invest some time in the iP4500 unit and see if a Rihac CIS unit (talk to Sam Cahir) would do the job... Canon CIS's are difficult but it sounds like you have some experience already so you could do worse...

I'd also consider whether it's worth installing a waste ink kit to them as well.. I have a user who installed a kit on their iP4500 but I've yet to chase them for a "How to" guide on how they've done it... I do have all the necessary tubing, fittings, etc... to handle it but this is a side issue.

Epsons now are a no-no because they too are requiring user intervention to reset... Not quite so bad as the HP printers but still an annoyance... If you do go that route then look at Ink Republics kits for the ARC's but maybe consider abusing them in another CIS kit that has greater volumes or capacities.

Also a hot tip... Epson are bringing out an HP Officejet killer in the form of the B-300 and the BN-500 Business Inkjet units
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/...efjcgemcfjgdfljdfon.0&cookies=no&oid=63076600

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/...efjcgemcfjgdfljdfon.0&cookies=no&oid=63076601

Needless to say that there's no ARC's or kits currently available but these printers are definitely attracting attention from folks like myself and I know a few suppliers looking at ways to expand and extend on these printers.

 

[simonj]

Thank you for the info - I'm not surprised at the HP's.

I do put waste ink tanks on all my printers - it's AMAZING how full they get.

What do you mean by user intervention on the Canon 4500?

On the Epsopm R260 & 280 theres a white reset button on the CIS cart. When the ink indicator shows empty you hold down the white button for 30 seconds - I can live with that.