Epson R1800 ink OEM vs. CIS

[westwood]

I've been playing around some CIS systems for my Epson Stylus R1800 to
see if I can lower the cost of printing with this amazing printer.
The problem is that I print a lot of glossy brochures for our business
and the printer uses up so much ink that it's impossible to keep up
with it. It uses up a gloss optimizer cartridge for every 30 pages of
8.5 x 11 glossy photo, not to mention the other colors, so this is not
the most cost effective way to print brochures.

So I decided to get a CIS system from eBay. All I can say is that
this was the biggest mistake I made for this printer. Setup was
pretty easy, but getting the right tones is a different story. The
printer wasn't behaving the way it did with OEM Epson cartridges. I
ended up with a clogged up printer head, which cost me about $120 to
fix because my printer is out of warranty.

I am back to using original inks made by Epson. I found a good place
to buy them for much lower than most other places
(www.westwoodprinters.com).

 

[measekite]

I've been playing around some CIS systems for my Epson Stylus R1800 to
see if I can lower the cost of printing with this amazing printer.
The problem is that I print a lot of glossy brochures for our business
and the printer uses up so much ink that it's impossible to keep up
with it. It uses up a gloss optimizer cartridge for every 30 pages of
8.5 x 11 glossy photo, not to mention the other colors, so this is not
the most cost effective way to print brochures.

So I decided to get a CIS system from eBay. All I can say is that
this was the biggest mistake I made for this printer. Setup was
pretty easy, but getting the right tones is a different story. The
printer wasn't behaving the way it did with OEM Epson cartridges. I
ended up with a clogged up printer head, which cost me about $120 to
fix because my printer is out of warranty.

The liars, cheats, and many of the businessmen who post in this ng who
profess the opposite as you are really a bunch of foreflushers.

It is nice that bore out the truth and actually test what I have been
saying for a long time.

 

[Jan Alter]

I've been playing around some CIS systems for my Epson Stylus R1800 to
see if I can lower the cost of printing with this amazing printer.
The problem is that I print a lot of glossy brochures for our business
and the printer uses up so much ink that it's impossible to keep up
with it. It uses up a gloss optimizer cartridge for every 30 pages of
8.5 x 11 glossy photo, not to mention the other colors, so this is not
the most cost effective way to print brochures.

So I decided to get a CIS system from eBay. All I can say is that
this was the biggest mistake I made for this printer. Setup was
pretty easy, but getting the right tones is a different story. The
printer wasn't behaving the way it did with OEM Epson cartridges. I
ended up with a clogged up printer head, which cost me about $120 to
fix because my printer is out of warranty.

I am back to using original inks made by Epson. I found a good place
to buy them for much lower than most other places
(www.westwoodprinters.com).

I've been using our R1800 for about 4 years now and filling spongeless
cartridges with ink from MIS. The colors are very close to OEM and can be
adjusted to give me satisfaction. I have had a few head clogs, but that has
come from disuse and periods of more than a month not using the machine.
Fortunately the head clears after a few head cleanings when I haven't used
the printer for awhile.
I agree with you that westwoodprinters appears to have a very good price
for OEM cartridges for your machine. However, I might suggest you trying the
MIS ink in a set of spongeless cartridges. For the amount of printing you do
it would clearly save you a small fortune refilling your own and save the
landfills from the plastic that is being thrown away. Additionally this
company MIS (www.inksupply.com) has a small $10 kit to allow one to refill
OEM cartridges and use a chip resetter. I haven't used the kit but it could
be worthwhile checking out.

 

[tmonego]

I've been playing around some CIS systems for my Epson Stylus R1800 to
see if I can lower the cost of printing with this amazing printer.
The problem is that I print a lot of glossy brochures for our business
and the printer uses up so much ink that it's impossible to keep up
with it.  It uses up a gloss optimizer cartridge for every 30 pages of
8.5 x 11 glossy photo, not to mention the other colors, so this is not
the most cost effective way to print brochures.

So I decided to get a CIS system from eBay.  All I can say is that
this was the biggest mistake I made for this printer.  Setup was
pretty easy, but getting the right tones is a different story.  The
printer wasn't behaving the way it did with OEM Epson cartridges.  I
ended up with a clogged up printer head, which cost me about $120 to
fix because my printer is out of warranty.

I am back to using original inks made by Epson.  I found a good place
to buy them for much lower than most other places
(www.westwoodprinters.com).

There are reputable 3rd party ink vendors, like MIS. But no 3rd party
ink matches the OEM ink colorwise, maybe close but no matches. The
1800 uses a pigment based ink, most 3rd party vendors don't, or you
have no way of knowing what you get, MIS does have pigment based ink.
Consequently there is no way of knowing what the life expectancy of
the inks may be. None of the inks are scientifically tested for
longevity. So you have some compromises to deal with when using 3rd
party inks. At best you have to profile your ink/paper combinations to
get accurate color with the minimal of wasted paper.
My suggestion, especially if you are printing a lot is to get a larger
printer with larger ink tanks, like the Epson 3800 or Canon iPF5100.
If you are printing brochures maybe a good color laser may be a better
choice.

Tom

 

[measekite]

There are reputable 3rd party ink vendors, like MIS. But no 3rd party
ink matches the OEM ink colorwise, maybe close but no matches. The

I do not think any of them are reputable for a number of reasons. They do
not FULLY disclose of their website EXACTLY what they are selling and
they will not disclose who made it, country of origin or even if they
changed their source if you previously bought before. If someone wants
to accept this and think those things are considered reputable then they
are free to do so.

1800 uses a pigment based ink, most 3rd party vendors

don't, or you have

And many will claim their ink is compatible and will not tell you what
they are selling. And then there is the issue of the gloss optimizer.

no way of knowing what you get, MIS does have pigment based ink.
Consequently there is no way of knowing what the life expectancy of the
inks may be. None of the inks are scientifically tested for longevity.

The only real brand for this printer is Epson brand. You can get it at
various sources and it is a known fixed qualtity where if there was a
problem there is a large universe to draw information from. Like when
they had the problem with some paper where the combo of ink and paper
turned orange a while back.

So you have some compromises to deal with when using 3rd party inks. At

There are posters and of course businessmen disguised as posters in this
ng that will not accept what you are saying. But yes one does have to
make compromises just like those who say the Kodak Instamatic or the old
Polaroid was the best. It was not a compromise for them since their
level of acceptance of quality was low just like here but they either do
not know that or want to admit it.

best you have to profile your

ink/paper combinations to get accurate

color with the minimal of wasted paper. My suggestion, especially if you
are printing a lot is to get a larger printer with larger ink tanks,
like the Epson 3800 or Canon iPF5100. If you are printing brochures
maybe a good color laser may be a better choice.

Those printers that you mentioned are really good.

 

[Michael Johnson]

I see you are still happily filling the role of the Village Idiot for
this newsgroup. All this worthless ranting you are doing about
compatible ink reminds me of your hypocrisy. How is all that compatible
photo paper working for you? You rant about quality and the need to use
OEM ink and then spray all that wonderful expensive OEM ink ONTO
COMPATIBLE PHOTO PAPER!!! You are really putting your money where your
mouth is, aren't you? All but the newest of people here know you are an
idiot and it only takes about 5 minutes of reading your posts for the
rest to know it.

 

[Jan Alter]

I see you are still happily filling the role of the Village Idiot for this
newsgroup. All this worthless ranting you are doing about compatible ink
reminds me of your hypocrisy. How is all that compatible photo paper
working for you? You rant about quality and the need to use OEM ink and
then spray all that wonderful expensive OEM ink ONTO COMPATIBLE PHOTO
PAPER!!! You are really putting your money where your mouth is, aren't
you? All but the newest of people here know you are an idiot and it only
takes about 5 minutes of reading your posts for the rest to know it.

Perhaps to take measkite's ranting at face value we should not be using OEM
inks either since Epson has not disclosed what's in it. Heck, it might even
be the same materials in the same mixture as the third party inks we've been
using.

It's been about two years now since I dropped measkite's postings from view.
Reading this NG has been a lot more rewarding since that decision.

 

[Joel]

You don't say what CIS system you purchased. Jan Alter's suggestion
re: MIS inks is right on, altho if you do a lot of color printing,
look into their CIS systems. I bought one some time ago & have been
very happy with it, altho you do need to calibrate and profile your
monitor, printer, etc. Don't wast time & mess refilling cartridges. As
Jan suggests, go to the MIS Website & select the CIS system that will
work for your printer without problems. BTW, I have no official
connection with MIS. I'm just relating my positive experience with its
products.

I would say most CIS should work or they are pretty much the same, except
the bottle, the bucket/basket to keep the bottles, the price etc.. else they
all use the exact same ink catridge from same manufacture(s), same ARC
(probably older/newer version depending on when they order theirs).

 

[Joel]

There are reputable 3rd party ink vendors, like MIS. But no 3rd party
ink matches the OEM ink colorwise, maybe close but no matches. The
1800 uses a pigment based ink, most 3rd party vendors don't, or you
have no way of knowing what you get, MIS does have pigment based ink.
Consequently there is no way of knowing what the life expectancy of
the inks may be. None of the inks are scientifically tested for
longevity. So you have some compromises to deal with when using 3rd
party inks. At best you have to profile your ink/paper combinations to
get accurate color with the minimal of wasted paper.
My suggestion, especially if you are printing a lot is to get a larger
printer with larger ink tanks, like the Epson 3800 or Canon iPF5100.
If you are printing brochures maybe a good color laser may be a better
choice.

Tom

If I am not mistaken, the 3rd party has pigment it not more then it could
be close to a decade before Epson offers their first pigment based ink.

They not only have pigment based ink, but they also offer Back Inks for
one who likes to print B&W only, and it too was available nearly or more
than a decade ago. Their ink, I haven't lived that long to confirm it, but
they were talking about their ink will last for something like 100-200
years. Of course they showed all kind of samples how the ink would fade
after 1-2-4-10 and 50+ years etc..

 

[IntergalacticExpandingPanda]

I do not think any of them are reputable for a number of reasons.  Theydo
not FULLY disclose of their website EXACTLY what they are selling and
they will not disclose who made it, country of origin or even if they
changed their source if you previously bought before.  

Measkete is being a liar again.

There are a number of aftermarket pigment ink solutions from websites
that FULLY disclose what they are selling.

http://www.inksupply.com/imagespec.cfm

Oddly enough Epson like all other OEMs does not disclose ink
manufacture, only country of origin.

What he describes "might" be an issue for some retailers, but in
practice it doesn't really happen. It helps to get feedback on these
companies before you buy from them.

As someone else pointed out, if you are doing commercial level
production, you shouldn't invest in a desktop printer. HP business
jet, Canon imageprograf, or an Epson wide 3800 or above are really
what you are after if you're going to go for OEM ink.

Mediastreet has been Wilhelm tested. I'm 99% certain Mediastreet is
just rebranded Image Specialist ink but offer a paper profiling
service.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Many people have good success with better quality CIS, but they require
both good quality CIS design, a proper installation, and well color
balanced and properly formulated ink.

Almost all ink clogs on a R1800 printer can be resolved at home with a
bit of time and some cheap cleaning supplies.

I notice Jan is providing some information about use of refillable
non-sponged cartridges and MIS bulk inks. Those same inks will work
well in a CIS.

New Republic is one example of a company that seems to make some good
CIS from reports I have received. I haven;t personally used one, but
the people who have seem overall pretty happy with them.

Art


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