Epson compatible ink

[charzes44]

I am considering buying an Epson L805 Ecotank printer. Does anyone have experience of using Marutt Pro bulk ink as an alternative to the genuine Epson Claria ink? Cost wise it's a no brainier, but is there any difference in print quality?

[ccphoto]

I recently discovered these guys through a friend who swears by their bulk ink delivery system.

http://shop.inkjetmall.com/

[DanK]

You might want to check on sites like http://wilhelm-research.com/ to see if you can find any tests. Unfortunately, there are so many different inks and ink-and-paper combinations that most aren't tested. However, Wilhelm Research has found some aftermarket inks to be markedly inferior in terms of durability. I'm not suggesting this particular brand is--I have zero information about it--but it would be worth checking.

[Manfred M]

The other consideration you would have to look into is that there are good printer / paper / ink profiles for many of the papers out there, whereas this data may or may not exist for third party inks. If this is the case, you are going to invest in the hardware / time to create your own profiles. X-rite definitely markets this technology in their higher end Colormunki and i1 hardware / software. I suspect that Datacolor (Spyder) does as well, but I am not familiar with their product line.

[Ndukes]

In my experience Epson inkjet printers can suffer from blocked jets especially if left unused for a few weeks. It might be worth considering that the manufacturer's own ink should be developed to cause the least problems. I have tried other inks a few years ago and never found them to be satisfactory. I also find I get by far the best results using Epson paper.
Hope this is useful.

[Manfred M]

In my experience Epson inkjet printers can suffer from blocked jets especially if left unused for a few weeks. It might be worth considering that the manufacturer's own ink should be developed to cause the least problems. I have tried other inks a few years ago and never found them to be satisfactory. I also find I get by far the best results using Epson paper.
Hope this is useful.

Neville - I think that depends on the actual printer model as I ran into the same issue with lower end Canon and Lexmark (when they still made inkjet printers) printers.

I've had an Epson StylusPro 3880 (which uses pigment inks which would tend to clog more than the dye-based inks) for over 5 years now and even in the ultra-dry Canadian winters I've never had a clogged nozzle. There was a period a few years ago, while I was recovering from surgery, when I didn't print anything for over an 8-month period. The first print came out perfectly; I didn't even have to run a nozzle cleaning cycle.

The Ecotank series are a high end series of printers, so I would expect the same type of performance as with any of the other high end printers - good, consistent and clog free performance.

[ccphoto]

I've had an Epson 2880 for about 8 years now and never once had a clogged nozzle. I've gone many months without printing and still have had no issues.

[charzes44]

In reply to Neville and Manfred, thank you for your replies.
I know about Epson's blocked nozzle syndrome, as I have owned and used several Epson printers over the years. However, the Epson printers with wi-fi, can be instructed to print via email from almost anywhere in the world, and if I printed a test page on say a weekly basis, the print head would be prevented from drying out? Most useful whilst I am abroad, which I am for up to 5 months of the year. Of course, whilst I am at home, it is no trouble to churn out a test page weekly if I am not using the printer otherwise.
Regarding ICC profiles, Marutt offer a free profiling service to their customers, as do Permajet, whose paper I use. Permajet (gloss) paper is very white, and makes Epson (gloss) paper look positively yellow in comparison in my most humble opinion! Deeper blacks as well.
I would like to say that I have no connection with any of the brand names I have mentioned!

[Manfred M]

Permajet (gloss) paper is very white, and makes Epson (gloss) paper look positively yellow in comparison in my most humble opinion!

Warning: That suggests to me that the paper has a very high level of OBAs (Optical Brightening Agent) used in the manufacture of the paper. These react with UV and give the paper a much "whiter" look. The downside is that these OBAs break down and deteriorate over time and your images will loose that brightness. To make things even worse, the breakdown is not necessarily even and the prints will look look quite patchy.

I tend to avoid papers with OBAs for this reason.

[rudi]

I have an Epson StylusPro3880. End 2013 I replaced the Epson OEM ink by the Marrutt Refillable Cartridge System.

I was told that they could be used alongside OEM ink cartridges. The more colors I changed, the 'duller' my prints came out.

Tried different profiles, standard and custom made. Long story short: The custom profile for my printer/Permajetpaper/Lyson ink combination made by Permajet was by far the best.
For me, custom profile is a must.

Comparing them side by side, OEM and Marrutt ink, I found that the OEM inks were richer, more vibrant than the Marrutt inks.

I have not yet had any problems with clogged nozzles with either ink system. But our printers are in a good insulated room without any windows, without any heat system.

[charzes44]

Thanks for that very useful info Rudi, it's exactly what I needed to know. Genuine Epson ink is the way to go, with an ICC profile from Permajet.
Manfred, Permajet paper doesn't appear to paper at all. More like coated sheets of plastic, just like the Kodak "paper" I used to print Kodacolor negs on many, many years ago. So would this contain OBA's?

[Manfred M]

Manfred, Permajet paper doesn't appear to paper at all. More like coated sheets of plastic, just like the Kodak "paper" I used to print Kodacolor negs on many, many years ago. So would this contain OBA's?

That's the good old RC (resin coated) material. A thin coating of polyethylene on top of the paper base. Yes, these "papers" definitely contain OBAs, if they look super white.

[DanK]

After much fussing, I decided not to worry about OBAs because for most purposes, I don't like the off-white color of papers that lack them. So far, I haven't seen any noticeable problems with prints that have been on the wall half a dozen years, but maybe I have just been lucky. If I sold things or produced work that someone would want to last a very long time, I would worry more.

I wonder about the photo paper I used to use back in the film era. I most often used Agfa Brovira, which was a very white paper with rich blacks. As I remember it, the paper looked a lot like the luster papers I now use. I didn't know enough then to inquire whether the paper had OBAs.

[charzes44]

I think I will go the same route as Dan on this, as my experience is similar. But thanks for the info Manfred, I wasn't aware of OBA's, and it is certainly something to consider.

[Manfred M]

I think I will go the same route as Dan on this, as my experience is similar. But thanks for the info Manfred, I wasn't aware of OBA's, and it is certainly something to consider.

If you find the word "bright" in the paper's description, you can be fairly certain that it contains OBAs.

If you look at Epson and Hahnemuhle paper descriptions (these are the two brands I use), they are fairly good, especially with their higher end papers. Both of these papers contain OBAs

https://epson.com/For-Work/Paper/Pro...aper/m/S042327

https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/digit.../show/8/8.html

[Codebreaker]

I've used both Marrutt and Lyson inks in my R2400 but with refillable cartridges. The colour reproduction is excellent but you do need a custom profile for the printer/ink/paper because the canned profiles give very different results from the Epson inks. If you get the system from Specialist Inks they will provided a custom profile for you foc.

But if you consider refillable cartridges then a word of caution. For a couple of years I had no problems with the supplied cartridges. Then having not done any printing for a while I had ink flow problems - it just wasn't - so I got some new cartridges from the same supplier. They were terrible. Quite a number refused to register with the printer and a few just drained the ink out overnight. Specialist Inks were very good in trying to sort it out by providing replacement cartridges and ink but these still had problems.

I've now gone back to Epson Inks and despite being an occasional printer seldom get any blockages but then I keep the heads and pads clean.

[charzes44]

Yes, I too have had bad experiences with refillable cartridges in a continuous ink supply system. I ruined an almost new Epson XP760 printer with one. At first everything in the garden was rosy, but after a short time one cartridge after another was not recognised, until finally, all of the cartridges were not recognised. The printer wouldn't recognise the original Epson cartridges either! That's why I'd like to try their Ecotank system, with genuine ink, of course!