I ordered...

[berserk]

http://shop.inkjetmall.com/ConeColor-Pro-ink-220ml-HD-Photo-Black.html

...cheap ... isn't it.............he..he..

Nowadays I have Cone Piezo Flush in MK-cart because of frustration of clogging and unintended change of sort of black in the printer driver.(3880) I hate Epson "black" expensive and time consuming blacks-changing routine when You are just up exited to print "just that very print" and did not notice the big sign on Your wall "CHECK - BLACK TO PK". Changing PK to MK is like an half of an hour and have costs with it - and then back again to PK... is like hell for me.

Real black is very important for me - perhaps this is a good solution?

Someone that can comment that?

 

[The Hat]

I would never think of calling that ink Cheap, at least with OEM ink you’re getting the best quality.

Try putting the same ink in both channels and the unintended switch won’t cost you an arm and a leg, not to mention the time saving...

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

unintended change of sort of black

Why would you call it 'unintended' ? The choice of ink by the driver goes by the type of paper you have selected - glossy papers use the photo back and matte papers use the matte black. You can try one thing - select 'Glossy paper' and print with the photo black onto matte paper as a test and check whether you see differences and you can live with those . I do that on an old Pro 7600, it is more than a nuisance with Epson printers since a long time that you have to change cartridges and/or switch between matte and photo black. The photo black of newer K3 HD type inks for the P600/800 and alike give me a good enough black level on matte papers as well and I don't use any matte type paper setting since a while anymore.

 

[martin0reg]

If you are looking for cheaper UCK3 HD ink, why don't you take the original ink out of a bigger cart?
For example https://www.druckknopf24.de/epson-c13t824100.html?sPartner=geizhals (there may be smaller ones..?)
I don't like the switching either, but it seems a bit over rated.. You only have to organize your print jobs, to avoid switching every day. I even use to switch once a month intendedly (!) in order to keep the switch active and both inks flowing.

And regarding the black d-max, I can NOT live with the difference, PK is really not as black as MK on matte paper.
I once have tried some HD PK (compatible farbenwerk) in a pure B&W ink set for epson 6-channel for glossy paper... will try it in 3880 too. But I don't expect the new PK to be so much "blacker" than the old PK, that it would come close enough to d-max of MK on matte.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I wouldn't be able to postpone particular prints by weeks and collect them for printout, it's all a matter of the personal preference what to consider acceptable and where to pay a premium - for the blackest inks - the time and ink waste for the ink switching process etc. And don't forget the paper which impacts as well the black level. And I recommend some testing in this case. I only can report that the black level between an OCP K3 photo black and the Lyson HD black dropped from L=9(%) to L=5 on the same glossy paper which is directly visible, and from L=13 to L=9 on a matte inkjet paper which is as well visible, this with the photo blacks. Since I'm not interested in switching inks I didn't test matte black inks and cannot report how much better they would be , and I don't have a comparison either to genuine Epson inks in this case. If you do B/W prints with the widest possible contrast this may not be good enough so again - only testing the inks on your papers will let you make the correct decision .

 

[berserk]

OK!
I'm a casual printer and a casual photographer. I started in the fifties when my father gave me a pretty good Kodak-camera (24x36 Retina 1b with a damned good Schneider-Kreutnach lens) - in those day we called them a "small-format" camera. Nowadays they say FF....Ever since then I have photographed or more right "token picks" trying to be good and used my whet darkroom and joining some photo clubs. Let me say that today a have cameras and surrounding outfits that easily exceed my knowledge to take full advantage of it. So....when something goes wrong.. it's totally me to blame.

However ... I want to make it as simple as it was in the fifties and sixties. For the camera itself it' just ISO, exposure time and lens opening. Whet darkroom, ok, - there was the magic (hardware here forgotten) to listen to others choosing the right chemicals for either BW or color and chose working routines that gave you the expected results. For me that worked.

2001-2002 I bought two Epson 1290s - one for BW and one for color-printing.
Paul Roark and MIS delivered the inks - the BW's was just fantastic the color ones, yes acceptable.

BUT - as I'm having more interests here in life - the printers was left during other activities - ending up with me having long long intensive sessions unclogging when I was in the mood to use them. Ending up - in the end - buying a new printer. I have learnt the hard way that printers need GREAT care - even so, they might clog up. If I printed every week - I think I have had less problems.

Now to the 3880 - reading around this place I noticed that more than one had problems with the blacks and pigment residue clogged the shifting valve also clogging the printhead itself.
So my solution was PK-only - I can live with that. I believe that is the pigments themself - MK is I believe the most dense ink when it comes to ink density. MK is a good ink...but but but...So I replaced the MK-cart with a cart filled with Cone Piezo flush. So far everything is allrigt - no clogs no nothing.
When something went wrong as described above - MK (here Piezo-flush) is coming in the channel. it has the good thing i think thou - it cleans the shifting valv and the black channels in the print head.
I like the performance of MK - one cart is sitting next to the printer for use when I really want it.

Now I'll answer Your response.

The Hat:
I like what you propose with having two black PK-carts - shall think about it - but then I must have one MK-cart and one Piezo flush cart next to the printer - that is more maintenance in a way.

Ink stained fingers wrote:
"Why would you call it 'unintended' ?" My eager to print is sometimes so big that it hinders me going through my boring checklist.

martinOreg: I agree - PK is not what I really want - but if You are not too picky - it works, but just that.

Ink stained fingers:
"And don't forget the paper which impacts as well the black level." True! Some papers printing BW in special are not at all fitted for PK - I have taken that in consideration.

But - now back to the "super hight density PK" (the expensive Cone one).
I'll test it- and will report back here what my feelings are about it.
I have a feeling that the Cone-people had the above in consideration when constructing that very ink.

Let's see if he managed....

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

the blackest blacks ever - as claimed by Vermont Ink

http://shop.inkjetmall.com/About/About-ConeColor-PRO-High-Density-Blacks/

 

[berserk]

We will see how it perform. Darker black earlier meant more pigment per volume-unit - that was more black pigment in the printhead and by that was prone to more easily clogg. They are the professionals - I hope they do it right - darker black pigments and also smaller in size??