Thinking of switching to epson inkjet

[Leonardjohn]

Just upgraded from a HP k550 to a new K5400, also bought a set of L-Cartridges from Macro and a CIS by Merax for the 88 cartridge.

You have tested the L -Cartridges and the pumping system doesn't work and they leak????

What refillable cartridge would you suggest for refilling.

After reading the posts, I am going to return the L-Shaped Cartridges...

Thank you

 

[ZenMasta]

Snail you have really tried that design? Unlike other CIS carts I have seen, those appear to be the only ones that have a tin/rubber nozzle. The others I have seen are just a plastic nozzle with a peice of cellophane over the hole. Once punctured they leak if they are not in upside down or atleast in position in the printer.

I am thinking of ordering them since they are the same size as HP 11/HP10 I could jsut replace the chips with oem maybe.

What's your suggestion on OEM's I haven't had the time to try and revive my previous project of hooking up OEM carts to my CIS.

Leonardjohn
Did you order that same part number or similar, is the picture correct in that the nozzles are just like the OEM carts?


Bottom line for me is I need to figure out something really fast because even if I were to have all 6 of my printers replaced by HP right now, they'd probably all be broken down again in just a couple of weeks. It is getting increasingly difficult to find new or used units for the models I have.

The price I am paying to buy new printers and time spent dealing with tech support or trouble shooting on my own is probably close to what it would cost if I just had a local print shop do them for me.

I can run 10k batches of each of my flyers for only 8.5 cents each and that is full color, full bleed, 2 sided, glossy paper and folded, including shipping.

I actually think inkjets may be costing me more at this point.

 

[Leonardjohn]

Regarding the L shaped cartridges, I haven't received them yet, but doubt they provided enough gravity feed to keep the printhead charged. I will report back when I get the order. Tested a Uni-Kit CIS, so far the black cartridge chip has gone out twice, the service dept at 123refills.com replaced the cartridges at no charge, and gave me a 15% discount on future orders. I tested their ink and it holds up nicely to the OEM ink.

 

[Leonardjohn]

Has anyone tested out this modified k5400 from SoHojet, print engine mod.

Here is the link.

http://www.sohojet.com/store/p/191-...Ink-System-Installed-High-Speed-Graphics.html

 

[Leonardjohn]

I called SoHojet today and ask them about the photo in their ad ( see link above), the photo is incorrect, it is not a modified k5400 with a built in CIS.

The CIS is a standard external unit.

 

[websnail]

Sorry for the delay in responding folks... Been off to weddings and showing off the growing baby bump to expectant great grandparents, etc..

Right... I'll keep this brief as it can get confusing.

3rd party HP88 cartridges
In my experience pretty much every 3rd party cartridge that I've played with has a poor design incorporating a poorly sealed or even, removeable nozzle that connects to the printer. Invariably these leak like crazy and create numerous problems. When using they seem to be a case of install and NEVER remove otherwise you end up with Niagra Falls.

This issue with pulling out the cartridges is a massive problem when you go to reset the cartridge ARC's because you have to remove the cartridge and then plug it back in to get it to reset.

L-shaped cartridges
Whilst I've never seen these to comment they seem to use the same design as the other 3rd party carts and as a result have the same issues. I wouldn't use them.

Sohojet
It's just an external reservoir like all the other "CIS" systems...

CIS?
It's worth noting that the Officejet printers (1100, 2300, 2850, K550, K5400, L7X80, K8600, K850, etc..) already has a built in CIS system and all you're doing with a "CIS" on these is expanding the capacity whilst removing the reliance on OEM cartridges and inks.

What works?
Honestly, the only thing I've found to work are as follow:
- Use of the OEM cartridge, re-manufactured to use some form of external ink supply
- A positive pressure reservoir that uses the reman'd OEM carts
- dyebase black ink in most environments

My own system described here uses a high mounted box that contains 250ml bottles of ink. These in turn feed some converted OEM cartridges which I've modified to accept ink via the original fill port. In truth you could easily just get some High Capacity cartridges, drill and flush them and then refill with very little trouble. All my kits have done is provide the expanded reservoir so you have 250ml per ink instead of 60ml or 17ml. Resetting the ARC's is easy too, you just pull the cartridge out an inch, wait 5 and then push back in.



Anyway... the design that was suggested on contink, is a good one but perhaps a bit too fail-safe for me... Using standard dip-tube reservoirs is easier to build but it's definitely an interesting design.

Anyhoo... I'm just waiting on a small improvement to my own design before I start selling my kits again so if anyone is waiting, they're up soon... and yes I appreciate that calls into question my bias

 

[websnail]

My own system described here uses a high mounted box that contains 250ml s

What height is optimal.

I'm not sure that there's an optimal height but you will want to ensure that your ink still flows from the reservoirs to the cartridges so my own suggestion would be to have the lowest reservoir level to be just above the highest point of the installed cartridges.

Can you just mount a well sealed CIS on top of the printer, and forget about it....

Pretty much... I've done this with a couple of K550's and had few problems other than the pigment black ink clogging (which is a different issue)... For myself, most of my kits are mounted so that the ink reservoir lowest point is approximately 2" down from the top of the printer.

Congrats on the baby

Thanks... it's just starting to make its presence felt although it keeps hiding whenever I put my hand on Beckys belly to feel it moving around. Seems to enjoy the cat lying on there and purring though

 

[Leonardjohn]

My intention on this project was to save money on printing, after my testing was concluded, several of my business associates wanted systems, printers and continuous ink.

So now we all have these giant HP Pro Officejets k5400dtn and continuous ink systems. WOW

Printing for pennies for the first time..... Thanks to great forums like this.

Here is the list of printers tested, first two were bought as test systems.

HP k550 $ 5.00 plus $30.00 shipping (ebay) Printheads replaced (seller just wanted to get rid of this huge printer)
HP k550dt $60.00 (Craiglist) Printheads replaced (drove 150 miles to get this deal)
HP k5400 $99.00 free shipping (HP online store) New, great printer, (Thanks, Martin for the suggestion)
HP k5400dtn $79.00 $42.00 shipping (Amazon) New, no software, no cables, no manuals , Spanish instructions on box, warranty thru HP
HP l7680 $139.00 (UNCLEVIC) Re-certified, works nicely
Epson Artisan $149.00 (Frys Electronics) New, perfect little printer, great photos, Wifi

Test results

Uni-Kit: CIS, Cartridges not recognized, two cartridges leaked, color fair, replaced this unit twice. $139.00

ebay: CIS, ink tubes kinked, cartridges did not seat correctly, color off, cellophane seals, (cartridge leakage in one week) $49.00

Austrian firm, good size tanks, color good, cartridges did not leak, $130.00 plus shipping, expensive after shipping. (no US distributor, yet)

Piano Book CIS: Cartridges did not leak and seated correctly, rubber inlet seal with metal caps just like the OEM ink inlet tubes.
Colors good, Pigment black, I am now using OCP ink as I refill, nice deep dark black, finally printing for pennies.

This project has been fun and a little messy.. Recommend getting a supply of Dye-Gone II hand washing cream and wearing gloves, never had such colorful looking hands before.

Thanks to everyone for their help!