Epson EcoTank ET-8550: Pigment instead of Dye inks

[ioprappas]

Dear friends,
I am planning to buy the Epson EcoTank ET-8550 printer.
As we know, this printer accepts one Epson 114 BK (Matte-Black) PIGMENT ink and five DYE inks.
I'm thinking of using farbenwerk (https://www.farbenwerk.com/epson114-eng) inks and in particular Pigmera ETX pigment inks, which are all pigment type.
For this use (PIGMENT INKS instead of DYE ones) there are instructions here: https://www.farbenwerk.com/epson114-eng
What is your opinion?
Can pigment inks be safely used instead of dye inks in the printer according to the company's instructions?
Thank you in advance!!!

 

[pharmacist]

Hello, you can it use it safely, BUT when you buy the printer fill the system with the pigment ink immediately and keep the dye ink bottles sealed. This way you won't mix the dye inks with pigment ink but start immediately with the pigment inks and the printhead is primed with your pigment ink. You can sell those bottles of 114 pigment inks to people who are using genuine 114 inks.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm currently running an ET-8550 - with dye inks - and will stay with them. But I switched various times between dye and pigment inks on various other Epson printers - like the R265 or the L800/805 or L1800 , I can report that it worked out o.k. when changing from dye to pigment inks - following a kind of similar approach as described in the farbenwerk instructions. I'm running pigment and dye inks alternatively on a small 4 color WF2010W w/o problems. I had more and longer lasting problems when trying to switch back from pigment to dye inks, incl. replacing the dampers in the printhead carriage - the cartridge like replacements in the printhead. And more effort is necessary to clean the tubes and tanks from the smallest leftovers of pigments. I would support the comment by farbenwerk to start with pigments inks directly in a new printer.

Be aware that any change as intended - swapping the inks - will void the Epson warranty so all such modifications are at your own risk.

I tested various dye inks for longevity, the best performing inks are the Epson OEM inks - 114 or 106; I couldn't find any non-OEM inks being close to OEM inks in this respect. I cannot comment on the Pigmera ETX inks by farbenwerk how they perform in regards to gamut size, black level . gloss and bronzing, there are significant differences between 3rd party pigment inks in this respect, which must always be judged in connection with particular paper types.

 

[ioprappas]

Thank you very much for your detailed information!!!

 

[mikling]

https://www.precisioncolors.com/ET8550.html

https://www.precisioncolors.com/ET8550Instr.html

 

[RiverRat01]

https://www.precisioncolors.com/ET8550.html

https://www.precisioncolors.com/ET8550Instr.html

I have an ET-8550 in the box on the shelf. I have an SCP-600 that I may not be able to repair. I need to make a decision about unboxing the ET-8550 in the coming weeks. The P600 has perfect nozzle checks for LLK, LK, and PK (and presumably MK). Thus, I am currently using the P600 for B/W printing while I am trying to bring the color channels back into play. If I must unbox the 8550, I may void the Epson warranty out of the box and charge the ET-8550 with Precision Color pigment ink.
Do you happen to know what results I can expect from an SCP-600 versus an ET-8550, both running Precision Color pigment ink, and both printing on Red River Satin?