Finalyy: refillable cartridges for the Epson Pro 3800 !!!

[pharmacist]

Go for the Epson Pro 3800, because you have the advantage of much bigger ink cartridges, so cheaper ink even with original Epson ink and you can print A2 format and with a special tool you print up to 6.5 metres long. You won't have any compatible refillable ink for the Pro 9500 and the chips cannot be reset. And with the 2880 changing matte to photo black and vice versa is cumbersome and forces you to spill the ink of other cartridges as well.

 

[SpartanWarrior]

Go for the Epson Pro 3800, because you have the advantage of much bigger ink cartridges, so cheaper ink even with original Epson ink and you can print A2 format and with a special tool you print up to 6.5 metres long. You won't have any compatible refillable ink for the Pro 9500 and the chips cannot be reset. And with the 2880 changing matte to photo black and vice versa is cumbersome and forces you to spill the ink of other cartridges as well.

Ok if i get the pro 3800 there is a standard also that is cheaper is that the same one? also i see the specs on it but is it a really big printer compared to my ip4500? and can it also print A4 size? thanks.

 

[pharmacist]

No there is no "standard" version of the Pro 3800, but it is only moderately more expensive than it's smaller A3+ R2400/R2800 printer. A4 size, no problem, even small A6 (10x15 cm) can be printed and even borderless.

Some Pro 3800 printers are bundled with Epson's own RIP software making them a few hundreds of dollars more expensive, but I do not think this is worth the money. More professional users demanding RIP software will actually buy larger more sophisticated printers like the Epson 9880 or the 11880, but these are huge car sized printers.

 

[SpartanWarrior]

No there is no "standard" version of the Pro 3800, but it is only moderately more expensive than it's smaller A3+ R2400/R2800 printer. A4 size, no problem, even small A6 (10x15 cm) can be printed and even borderless.

Some Pro 3800 printers are bundled with Epson's own RIP software making them a few hundreds of dollars more expensive, but I do not think this is worth the money. More professional users demanding RIP software will actually buy larger more sophisticated printers like the Epson 9880 or the 11880, but these are huge car sized printers.

Ok thanks,, but since you have i think the ip5200 what is the size comparison with the 3800?

 

[pharmacist]

The Epson Pro 3800 is about 1.6x larger in all dimensions. So for a A2 printer it is quite small and only slightly larger than it's smaller A3+ version the Epson R2400/R2880. The Canon IP5200 is 42 cm......

 

[SpartanWarrior]

The Epson Pro 3800 is about 1.6x larger in all dimensions. So for a A2 printer it is quite small and only slightly larger than it's smaller A3+ version the Epson R2400/R2880. The Canon IP5200 is 42 cm......

Ok just 2 more questions is the R2880 as good in printing than the 3800? and if you print an A4 size on your ip5200 and then the same print size on your 3800 and same picture do you see a big difference? thanks again

 

[pharmacist]

The Epson Pro 3800 is very similar to the R2880, which uses vivid magenta and vivid light magenta instead. These 2 versions of magenta should increase the gamut, but it seems that that the effect is not so pronounced as one could expect as the same result can be obtained by using a well tailored printer profile on the Epson Pro 3800.

Prints are similar on the IP5200 and the Epson Pro 3800 as i used custom made printer profiles, albeit the gloss factor is better with the dye-based IP5200 or my Canon A3+ i9950 printer. On matte and semi-matte papers the Epson Pro 3800 is superior to any prints I have ever seen and the "Pro" for Professional is reallly well deserved. But the best results are for neutral B/W prints thanks to the famous Ultrachrome K3 inkset using 4 types of dedicated black and grey inks. Even the Pro 9500 and the HP B9180 have only 3 types of black and grey inks, forcing them use light magenta, light cyan and yellow to compose the very light grey teints, whether the Epson Pro 3800 has an extra light light black (or light grey) to overcome this limitation.

Don't forget you can print canvas and stiff printable cardboard as well on the Pro 3800.

 

[SpartanWarrior]

The Epson Pro 3800 is very similar to the R2880, which uses vivid magenta and vivid light magenta instead. These 2 versions of magenta should increase the gamut, but it seems that that the effect is not so pronounced as one could expect as the same result can be obtained by using a well tailored printer profile on the Epson Pro 3800.

Prints are similar on the IP5200 and the Epson Pro 3800 as i used custom made printer profiles, albeit the gloss factor is better with the dye-based IP5200 or my Canon A3+ i9950 printer. On matte and semi-matte papers the Epson Pro 3800 is superior to any prints I have ever seen and the "Pro" for Professional is reallly well deserved. But the best results are for neutral B/W prints thanks to the famous Ultrachrome K3 inkset using 4 types of dedicated black and grey inks. Even the Pro 9500 and the HP B9180 have only 3 types of black and grey inks, forcing them use light magenta, light cyan and yellow to compose the very light grey teints, whether the Epson Pro 3800 has an extra light light black (or light grey) to overcome this limitation.

Don't forget you can print canvas and stiff printable cardboard as well on the Pro 3800.

I will also buy the 3800 within a couple months,, but i am going to keep my ip4500 as it is a great printer, but i set my Canon 450D to Adobe RGB, and CS4 is also set to Adobe RGB 1998, when i print through CS4 what should i set the profile printer at because when i set it to the paper i am using the colors don't match what i see on screen as they look more dull, i have CS4 Print set to photoshop manages colors and i make sure i set printer to none, rendering intent to relative colorimetric, black point is checked and the printer profile i have set to the paper i am using SP2, just wondering maybe set the profile printer to Adobe RGB 1998 thanks

 

[gary]

@pharmacist:
The link you posted earlier: http://www.refill-cc.biz/cartridges.htm has no info regarding the 3800 Pro. I emailed Robert and am hoping for a reply.
I viewed your youtube vid and I am impressed.

Questions: ( I still have the OEM cartidges)

1) You do need a chip resetter?
2) Is there another source for the refillable cartidges? In case Robert does not reply?
3) have you tried any other pigment inks i.e. http://www.ink2image.com/
4) do you have any complete instructions?

Kindest Regards

 

[pharmacist]

Gary,

The first time even if your original Epson chip is empty or low, you do not need the chip resetter. The next time your refillable cartridge is empty, you'll need to reset the bridge chip with a proprietary chip resetter.

The ink from Lyson you are referring seems to be very good indeed, however I do not have any experience with them. I use Image Specialists K4 ink, which is just marvellous and very archival.

If you could be patient: in a few weeks time I will make another video how to refill the cartridge in detail. Please note: there are some ebayers (Hong Kong and Canada) probably selling "refillable cartridges", but watch out. The problem is these cartridges seems to use the original Epson chip only. But resetting them is another thing: it is impossible !!!
They cost a fortune and they won't work, so equivalent as throwing your money directly into the shredder.......

There is another working alternative, but still to expensive according to me, but the refilling system is quite annoying. The refilling is done through the same hole where the ink should come out. Very dangerous as any dirt or small dust particle will come out too into your delicate and expensive printer. The best way is to use cartridges where the ink is first filtered through a micro-filter before the ink enters your printer. You maybe have seen the better quality refillable cartridges for the Epson R2400: they all have a special micro-filter built into the cartridge to take out any harmfull small particles.