what printer and CISS should I get?

[Leonardjohn]

Hi there

Regarding printheads for the #88 cartridge printers.

First of all I have 6 HP #88 style, k5400dtn (my favorite, suggested by Websnail), k550, L7680, L7780, ect...

Printheads can be problematic, I have had new ones right out of the box fail. No problem, HP replaced them.

Take out an extended warranty and replace as needed, and keep an extra set on hand.

We have several companies running pretty high volumes thru these printers, great draft at 37 pages per min.

The HP 5400dtn + CISS and an extra set of printheads works for me .....

I have been lucky and bought the printheads on eBay, for $19.00 - $38.00.

Oh yes, how often.

1 k550 = 8 months
1 k7680 = 6 months

The rest are over a year of constant use

Good luck
LJH

 

[__-_-_-__]

Hi there

Regarding printheads for the #88 cartridge printers.

First of all I have 6 HP #88 style, k5400dtn (my favorite, suggested by Websnail), k550, L7680, L7780, ect...

Printheads can be problematic, I have had new ones right out of the box fail. No problem, HP replaced them.

Take out an extended warranty and replace as needed, and keep an extra set on hand.

We have several companies running pretty high volumes thru these printers, great draft at 37 pages per min.

The HP 5400dtn + CISS and an extra set of printheads works for me .....

I have been lucky and bought the printheads on eBay, for $19.00 - $38.00.

Oh yes, how often.

1 k550 = 8 months
1 k7680 = 6 months

The rest are over a year of constant use

Good luck
LJH

Thank you for your help. But it doesn't tell me much because I don't known how many pages you print.
8months is equivalent to what?



What you think about this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/4PK-Ink-hp-88-K...?cmd=ViewItem&pt=BI_Toner&hash=item3350b6b23a
or this
http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-88-bend-refi...?cmd=ViewItem&pt=BI_Toner&hash=item19bc5bdb05
imo it's better then CISS... cause the "reservoir" is the cartridge itself. no messy tubes etc.
sounds simple.
the first one is also SO cheap. even refills.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bulk-ink-Refill...?cmd=ViewItem&pt=BI_Toner&hash=item3ef343c8ac

I wonder about quality...
dunno about the claims:
"- These cartridges are filled with UV resistant ink.
- This high quality dye based ink will give you the best match compared with HP original ink.
- The ink Systems we sell are of the best quality within the compatible ink market, at the lowest price!
- Manufactured to ISO 9001 standards."

It's SO CHEAP! $0.00161 per colour page!
4x100ml = $16 = 9940 colour pages

 

[Leonardjohn]

Hi there

The page counter on the k550 in 8 months was about 12k increase.

Regarding your links to ebay, the HP Black is pigment not dye, so they (eBay sellers) cannot claim the same results.

I have not tested this companies extended cartridge.

However the one I did test like this did not have the #88 bulb at the base to charge the printhead correctly. (contact eBay seller)

Ink tubes are not messy, as you well know this system has separate printheads so the tubes do not move.

You just have to go forward and test out products and see if they work for you.

LJH

 

[__-_-_-__]

just bought a K550 for about 55 with duplexer and paper tray \o love it.
now I'm gonna buy some 500ml bottles and those large L cartridges. No need for CISS... those cartridges carry more ink then a CISS tank.. lol.

so... can someone tell me if this ink is any good?
http://www.macroenter.com/bulk_ink_for_hp_p/dic9396hp88hp550fpa0211l.htm

also... about filling.. can someone recommend me some good bottles with a needle tip or something like that? or where to get 50ml syringes or larger with a big needle or something like that...

 

[__-_-_-__]

I couldn't believe that I found a store next to me where I can buy nice and cheap inks (from inktec).
I bought refillable cartridges. I had some trouble with them cause they wouldn't reset. After some printer reset I finally got it to work. inks cost me 6.5 each for 100ml. cartridges were expensive for 27 and they were not the long ones as I wished. not a problem.

so it was about 105 printer + inks and cartridges. it will last me for about 7000pages. (not calculating with an inksaver software that I will use to save 25% of ink) which, with the paper cost, is about 2 cents of euro per page. calculating with printheads it's about 4cents per page.

I really dunno about the printer lifecycle. but I estimate about 150k pages.

(I'm already in the process of buying another k550, printheads cost more then second hand printers... some slightly used and of course internal parts are not wasted)

for 150k pages it's about 6000.

a good investment considering the lowest cost per page here at a typography is about 20cents which is about 30000

of course costs can get even lower if I buy gallons of ink instead of just 100ml bottles and loads of paper at once.
now I just need to find some more k550 printers for sale.
printheads are a pain. they are patented and costly and cost a minimum of 40 each (printer needs 2).

Tell me what you think about my deal.

 

[__-_-_-__]

my K550 saga has ended. I bought 2 printers and printed about 240000 A4 colour flyers (colour front and back) before the printers start malfunctioning.
It gave me an average total cost of 0.012 per page which is super great. 2880 vs 30000.
I tried inktec and imagespecialists inks. Inktec gave me better results, more vivid colours. Though I assume this can be different with another types of inks (I only tested inks for HP 88).

I also had an opportunity to try the new hp 8500 (I seam like a fanboy but I really hate hp) and print quality was great. Pigment ink really makes a difference to me.

Since I get a 3 year extended warranty I don't have to care about the printer malfunctioning since they will keep replacing them Also I hope the same for printheads.

Things I've learned:
-always use gloves...
-syringe refill is a pain. specially using 20ml ones. I ended up with blue and black hands. (hard to remove)
-octoink SquEasyFill bottles are a must
-always maintain your printer, nozzle cleaning, alignments etc. it will improve printer life a lot

Now I don't known what brand, imagespecialists or inktec, to get since for me they cost the same 25 per litre of pigment ink. Any opinions?

 

[ghwellsjr]

I would stay away from Inktec pigment ink.

I used to use their ink for BCI-3eBK cartridges and over the years, every one of the dozen printers I refilled for developed clogs in the purge system and eventually that ink was taken off the market. I don't know if the same problem exists for any of their other pigment inks but I wouldn't take the chance if there is another choice.

BTW, some day, I plan to test several pigment black inks to see if they have the same problem as the Inktec ink had.

 

[Tin Ho]

I would stay away from Inktec pigment ink.

BTW, some day, I plan to test several pigment black inks to see if they have the same problem as the Inktec ink had.

Make sure your test method is scientific and your opinion of the test result is not based on subjective thoughts of yours. I have used Inktec's black pigment ink and it was above the average of many cheap inks out there on ebay. Honestly I do not understand why you repeatedly bad mouthed Inktec's ink. At least its black pigment ink is very dark and it is truly waterfast. Try some cheap inks from ebay. You will feel fortunate that Inktec's black pigment ink is available.

 

[The Hat]

Tin Ho:- Make sure your test method is scientific and your opinion of the test result is not based on subjective thoughts of yours.

I have never used Inktec black pigment ink, but if any ink clogged up the heads on my printers I wouldnt hesitate to say so if asked.
Also expressing ones own personal experience (in my opinion) is not bad mouthing, its called honesty where I come from.

 

[Tin Ho]

You really want to be careful in giving your opinions when in fact what you say can make a serious dent to the company. I have used Inktec's black pigment ink. It was a decent ink in my opinion which is very different from what ghwellsjr repeatedly reported. It seems now Inktec is regarded as a bad brand of ink. That's not true in my opinion and if Inktec goes under because people bad mouth about it with completely subjective opinions it will only leaves us with fewer choices of ink supply. Are you sure you are not subjective in your own test procedure? You don't want to make any conclusive comments about anything if you are not sure you may be biased.

Inktec is a fairly decent brand name. Before you bash on it you want to be fair and objective. I have used its ink and I had good experience with it. It did not clog my print heads (ip4000, MP780, ip4200, ip4300, ip4500, etc.). Never had problems with any purge unit. Their black pigment ink is waterfast. What else can you ask for? The only problem is they only have a central distribution unit in USA and they do not serve retail customers well. It is beneficial to all of us if it is around and well. It keeps everyone's price down.