Dye ink in printer that is designed for pigment

[crexas]

I've searched around but haven't found a topic here about such scenario. As I am planning on buying the Epson R2880 I need to figure out some stuff before I do. R2880 originally uses pigment ink which costs much more than dye based. While searching for ink suppliers for that printer I saw that CityInkExpress sells dye based ink for this printer. I have contacted them and asked for information regarding this ink used in that printer. I asked whether it could cause any problems to the printhead in the long-run and they said many of their customers buy that ink and they don't complain. But as honest as they may sound, I never trust suppliers 100% with the info they give because their first priority is to sell the product.

I would like to know from someone who has any experience with Epson printers using dye ink instead of pigment that the printer was originally designed for. Does the different type of ink cause more clogging? Can it damage the printhead? Is there any other downside that I should know of? How could it possibly play out for me in the long run if I use dye based ink?

I understand the basic differences between pigment and dye ink. My questions are specifically printer related. Not the print output

 

[ghwellsjr]

There shouldn't be any problem using dye ink in a printer designed for pigment ink, as long as the higher viscosity doesn't cause the ink to leak right through the print head, but that would be obvious if that were happening. But I wouldn't buy a printer designed for the more permanent pigment ink and then fill it with dye. Why do that? Why not buy a printer designed for dye ink?

 

[stratman]

ghwellsjr:

Do you not mean lower viscosity of dye inks as compared to pigment inks?

 

[thanhhuy123]

BTW, kist one stupid question: is there any circumstance when dye ink has lower viscosity than pigment?

I think pigment should always has higher viscosity than any dye, since they are much thichker!

 

[rihac support]

There shouldn't be any issues with running a dye through a pigment based printer such as the R2880. I work at rihac in Australia and we also have sold dye systems to customers in the past and we even had one in the back of store we used occasionally. As long as the ink he is selling isn't bad you should be fine.

 

[The Hat]

ghwellsjr:

Do you not mean lower viscosity of dye inks as compared to pigment inks?

You guys have got the viscosity thing ass about face.
The lower the viscosity the thicker the liquid and dye ink has a higher flow rate than most pigment ink..

 

[PeterBJ]

The Hat wrote:

The lower the viscosity the thicker the liquid and dye ink has a higher flow rate than most pigment ink..

A low viscosity means the liquid is "thin". A high viscosity means the liquid is "thick". Probably pigment inks in general are "thicker" than dye inks and so have a higher viscosity than dye inks have. But surface tension also has an effect on flow rate, see this thread. It certainly deserves the term "Oldie, but goodie": http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1010#p1010

 

[The Hat]

The Hat wrote:

The lower the viscosity the thicker the liquid and dye ink has a higher flow rate than most pigment ink..

A low viscosity means the liquid is "thin". A high viscosity means the liquid is "thick". Probably pigment inks in general are "thicker" than dye inks and so have a higher viscosity than dye inks have. But surface tension also has an effect on flow rate, see this thread. It certainly deserves the term "Oldie, but goodie": http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1010#p1010

Well I must have been doing it wrong for 40 odd years and yet still managed to get the colours right..

 

[Lucas28]

There are dye inks that are specially made for pigment printers. I think the manufacturer already has adjusted the viscosity, so it works perfectly on pigment printers. Ive experienced that with an Epson durabrite printer.

I wonder if the surface tension can be improved by adding a drop of dish-washing liquid. Or has the ink manufacturer already done that?

 

[PeterBJ]

Lucas28 wrote:

I wonder if the surface tension can be improved by adding a drop of dish-washing liquid. Or has the ink manufacturer already done that?

I think that if you are using a good quality refill ink, properties are already optimized by the ink manufacturer, adding something will only degrade the ink.

Dish washing liquid will decrease the surface tension and probably increase ink flow. But if you are having problems with ink flow, it is better to solve these than trying to change ink properties. I also think that surface tension is what keeps the ink in the sponges in Canon cartridges, a lowered surface tension could then reduce the capacity of the sponges or cause the cartridges to leak.