Dream printer acquired! Epson R2400

[demoeb]

Hi everyone!

I have just arranged to pick up another inkjet.. my dream printer! An Epson Stylus Photo R2400!

I've bought 2 inkjets in past 6 months.. Canon MG2965 - cheap and OK, can be refilled BUT it's very poor quality, wouldn't waste paper on it to do photos. I then bought an Epson Expression XP900, mistakenly thinking I could put a CISS in it but I didn't realise the cartridges are REGION CODED, so the UK CISS I saw would not work on it nor is there one around for Australia, argh! I managed to find some cheap-ish 3rd party cartridges for it that are $20 for all of them which is an OK deal, I would love to get ARC chips for it though but they don't exist yet.

I found a friend selling some great stuff, including the R2400 and it has an Epson Perfection 2400 flatbed scanner with negative and slide scanner and document feeder.

I am wondering from the experts here a couple of things - I am aware the printer is quite old by now but have been told it should last a lifetime IF looked after, kept out of elements etc. Provided it works OK and I do buy it, should I consider checking the waste tank on it, or using an external waste tank? (seen those for sale)

CISS' here are available, and look like they vary in quality. I am thinking it's better to buy one from Aliexpress and put the money I save into ink rather than spending $200 to $400 on one (seems overpriced, I know they help you a lot though) - I can see there's Australian ones for $20-40 on Aliexpress.

What Ink do you experts suggest for refilling? I generally am printing on thicker (180+ gsm) gloss A4 paper for 8X10" photos which I guillotine later, and will need to do same on A3 stock. It needs to be very good quality ink but I'd love to be able to save money if I can.

Does anyone else have one of these R2400's or a similar model? What complaints did you have about it? I hear you have to swap the Matte Black and Photo Black cartridges around, which seems weird to me.

All suggestions welcome and respected!

David PrinterHacker, Australia

 

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I have just arranged to pick up another inkjet.. my dream printer! An Epson Stylus Photo R2400!

Been a while since I heard the R2400 referred to in this way but it was and still is a good printer when not clogged to the hilt.

I am aware the printer is quite old by now but have been told it should last a lifetime IF looked after, kept out of elements etc. Provided it works OK and I do buy it, should I consider checking the waste tank on it, or using an external waste tank? (seen those for sale)

I'm biased but with good reason... Yes, absolutely yes... Oh hell yes. For the following reasons:
1. The waste pads in that unit are almost certainly sealed up with congealed pigment ink that reduces the effectiveness of the pads to absorb new waste so eventually you will see ink backing up into the capping station (printhead resting pad) and soiling/cross-contaminating the heads nozzles.
2. If you're using the printer enough, waste ink it going to be a problem eventually.

Disclaimer: As I said I'm biased, I developed and sell the Printer Potty waste kits... but you can easily fit homebrew solutions as instructions are more than plentiful...

CISS' here are available, and look like they vary in quality. I am thinking it's better to buy one from Aliexpress and put the money I save into ink rather than spending $200 to $400 on one (seems overpriced, I know they help you a lot though) - I can see there's Australian ones for $20-40 on Aliexpress.

My recommendation would be the InkRepublic CIS... minimal ink stored in the buffer above the printhead. Longer explanation of why here: http://www.wasteink.co.uk/service-required/pigment-ink-cis-systems/

What Ink do you experts suggest for refilling? I generally am printing on thicker (180+ gsm) gloss A4 paper for 8X10" photos which I guillotine later, and will need to do same on A3 stock. It needs to be very good quality ink but I'd love to be able to save money if I can.

Inktec Powerchrome K3 inks... They're intended for the later R2880, R3000, etc.. so they have a greater vibrancy, but if you're looking for a CIS system then their formulation and ink manufacturing process provides a massive benefit compared to most other pigment inks. Again I sell these, but you can almost certainly source those closer to home. Rihac may have a good option available (not checked) but the key features are ionically charged pigment particles and resin encapsulation of same. It makes a huge difference to clog reduction and the print results are pretty good too. Note: some bronzing noted but IMHO, more than balanced out by the other benefits.

Does anyone else have one of these R2400's or a similar model? What complaints did you have about it? I hear you have to swap the Matte Black and Photo Black cartridges around, which seems weird to me.

You do but check out how the R3000 and P600 owners complain about the amount of waste ink generated by their printers when switching. Switching cartridges is by far a less wasteful and/or costly approach.

Hope that lot's of some use... Oh and I think Jose Rodriguez did a video on pro-active maintenance of the printhead cleaning system (wiper blade, capping station, etc...) so worth taking a look at that and seeing what you can do to improve the longevity of the unit. Given that I have customers still using Stylus Photo 900, 1200 and similar OLD machines, there's no reason your R2400 couldn't keep going for another few years yet.

Enjoy!

 

[demoeb]

'm biased but with good reason... Yes, absolutely yes... Oh hell yes. For the following reasons:
1. The waste pads in that unit are almost certainly sealed up with congealed pigment ink that reduces the effectiveness of the pads to absorb new waste so eventually you will see ink backing up into the capping station (printhead resting pad) and soiling/cross-contaminating the heads nozzles.
2. If you're using the printer enough, waste ink it going to be a problem eventually.

OK this sounds like something I should get onto. Is it easy to check if the overflow is full?

I did notice the printout is showing a few vertical lines, I let it to some 'print head cleaning' (software initiated) and did a re-alignment.

(I can't work out this quote stuff, sorry. You mentioned InkRepublic CIS)

As far as the CIS, that sounds good *BUT* is there region locks on these Stylus Photo R2400's or is that an evil idea conjured up in accounting department much later? (as you know, R2400's are kinda old)

I think in my hours of googling options I looked into Inktec. Are they the same USA ppl who do the "6 tank Black and White printing option" for R2400? I will look them up, thanks

You mentioned Jose Rodriguez - will look into that, thank you so much for all these suggestions. I think I will give it a good clean as much as possible, print out onto decent media and scan the printout to show if there's any issues. I believe the cheap ebay ink that it was running on could have been the cause of those intermittitent vertical lines but they are really only noticable to someone who has seen decent printing - I still have my Expression XP-900 and although that has a less tanks it IS a good printer, but it isn't possible at the time of writing this to buy either ARC's or a CIS. You can buy black ink chips now but the cost of them is very prohibitive, even though UK region has CIS with ARC.. Region coding, argh.

I'll check out your links you've suggested and the ones in your signature. Thanks a lot!

 

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OK this sounds like something I should get onto. Is it easy to check if the overflow is full?

You can open up the side of the printer and look in towards the pads... You'll know if they're getting soaked.

I did notice the printout is showing a few vertical lines, I let it to some 'print head cleaning' (software initiated) and did a re-alignment.

That's unlikely to be an indicator.. more likely just general ink clogging and/or air bubbles in the nozzles...

As far as the CIS, that sounds good *BUT* is there region locks on these Stylus Photo R2400's or is that an evil idea conjured up in accounting department much later? (as you know, R2400's are kinda old)

You got me there... I had to go back and check but pretty sure they were released before Epson got into the region locking malarky so you should be ok. More I think about it, the more sure I am... Just having to dust off some old, unused grey cells there.

I think in my hours of googling options I looked into Inktec. Are they the same USA ppl who do the "6 tank Black and White printing option" for R2400? I will look them up, thanks

You're thinking of "inksupply.com". No, that's the company that originally started doing CIS systems before the Chinese got in on things and the company has long since been sold on (customer reviews are worth checking if you ever consider purchasing from them). Inktec is an ink manufacturer based in South Korea but they do have an Australian web store here:
https://store.inktec.com.au/collections/ultrachrome-ink-refill

You mentioned Jose Rodriguez - will look into that, thank you so much for all these suggestions. I think I will give it a good clean as much as possible, print out onto decent media and scan the printout to show if there's any issues. I believe the cheap ebay ink that it was running on could have been the cause of those intermittitent vertical lines but they are really only noticable to someone who has seen decent printing

Your hunch is probably right... It could also be spatter or other soiling on the timing strip along the back of the printer, running behind printhead (some searching on the forum will help explain that one).

I still have my Expression XP-900 and although that has a less tanks it IS a good printer, but it isn't possible at the time of writing this to buy either ARC's or a CIS. You can buy black ink chips now but the cost of them is very prohibitive, even though UK region has CIS with ARC.. Region coding, argh.

You could look at Aliexpress and see if that situation has changed... Personally I've not had much in the way of success with CIS/refillables on XP series printers, particularly with the pigment black carts. Those are the biggest pain in the proverbial rear end... but I digress.

I'll check out your links you've suggested and the ones in your signature. Thanks a lot!

No problem... Let us know how you get on.


PS: To learn how to do the quoting and other tricks in the forum this may help.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode

[quote]This is a quote[/quote]

 

[demoeb]

Great! I looked up Inktech.com.au and have bookmarked it. Have been busy lately, still need to check if the waste ink needs replacing.

Will get back to u about this. Thanks again.

 

[demoeb]

Hi bud, it's been a little while and some stuff changed, so I thought I'd key you in on some of them

My girlfriend said "don't buy one of those ink things!" and I could tell why, and my hunch was right.. she got me a CIS from Rihac for the R2400. It arrived today and in the instructions, rihac said to print out a nozzle check page first as proof, in case of need to use warranty - so I did the nozzle cleaning manually on the ports with warm water and after putting the cartridges back in the check page is 90% better but still not perfect, so I've been flushing the ports out with warm water in a syringe. I will wait overnight for any water that leaked out (not much, I'm certain.. I vacuumed it back up into the syringe but just in case...).

You can open up the side of the printer and look in towards the pads... You'll know if they're getting soaked.

After I flushed the ports with a syringe of warm water I checked the waste ink pads.. they were pretty dirty but considering the age not too bad. I don't think this got much use.

On the R2400, is there a ink waste pad counter in firmware? Can I buy a 3rd party replacement? If so, where and how much?

That's unlikely to be an indicator.. more likely just general ink clogging and/or air bubbles in the nozzles...

I am still interested in the ink you suggested - I wish my gf ordered the empty CIS for me but oh well. Hope I've done the quote stuff right this time!

D.

 

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After I flushed the ports with a syringe of warm water I checked the waste ink pads.. they were pretty dirty but considering the age not too bad. I don't think this got much use.

If they're dirty they're getting saturated and then the problem becomes one of waste ink solidifying and clogging up the waste tubes, particularly in really old pigment ink printers like the R2400... It's something to watch out for rather than expect though.

On the R2400, is there a ink waste pad counter in firmware? Can I buy a 3rd party replacement? If so, where and how much?

Yes... Depending on your operating system version you can go the route of the SSC utility (with Windows 7 or earlier) or WICReset (with a purchased key)... The latter is simplest but costs around $10.

I am still interested in the ink you suggested - I wish my gf ordered the empty CIS for me but oh well. Hope I've done the quote stuff right this time!

You'll be fine... just keep in mind that the CIS may need some preventative maintenance as per my article
http://www.wasteink.co.uk/service-required/pigment-ink-cis-systems/

... and you'll be away...

Good to hear it was a win all round