How well would Epson 3880 cope with being unused for 6 months?

[wlaidlaw]

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Collected the 3880 printer today and although the previous owner managed to get it to do a perfect test print, that was the last gasp for the yellow, light black and light light black carts, so I will have to wait for the new carts to arrive on Wednesday before I start printing. The whole printer is just like new. I also bought a whole assorted lot of just out of date cartridges (sadly they did not include the yellow and light black). Since they are vacuum sealed, with some gentle agitation, they should be fine. One odd thing is that there are four different magenta carts. Vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, magenta and light magenta. Are there two different series of magenta inks (they all have the same expiry date) and how does that work with profiling? 

 

Wilson

[Edward Louis Marit]

Vivid magenta and magenta should be interchangeable, ditto vivid light and light.

The vivid cartridges are probably newer, as vivid is the current name for them.

 

There is probably no difference except that things sell better when they are "vivid".

Edited April 27, 2015 by Architect

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[Jeff S]

Vivid magenta and magenta should be interchangeable, ditto vivid light and light.

The vivid cartridges are probably newer, as vivid is the current name for them.

 

There is probably no difference except that things sell better when they are "vivid".

Nope, the 3880 accepts the 'vivid' versions, while the non-vivid colors are for the 3800.  There are subtle improvements.

 

The P800 inks are an entirely different formulation.

 

Jeff

Edited April 27, 2015 by Jeff S

[Edward Louis Marit]

Thanks for pointing that out. Can one use the non vivid inks in the 3880, or will the curves be wrong?

[Jeff S]

Can one use the non vivid inks in the 3880, or will the curves be wrong?

Only vivid in the 3880 as far as I know.

 

Jeff

[wlaidlaw]

I will try and resell the non-vivd inks. A bit annoying as it actually makes my purchase of the batch of out of date carts much less attractive to have two out of the six carts unusable. 

 

Wilson

[hoppyman]

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In my experience the cartridges are used up at very different rates too. My 3880, now several years old was a replacement for my 3800 whose heads did fail after a couple of years. Replacements heads and labour were close to the price of the new printer with full ink set, which was unacceptable to me.

I recall that I put all of the partly used carts from the 3800 into the 3880 first and used those up before starting with the provided set. After my purchase I also realised that my professionally made custom print profiles (for the 3800) were no longer helpful either which was an additional expense.

I have never actually printed larger than A3+ but it seemed to me that the larger print cartridges should be 'better' value though. For whatever reasons the prices for them have fallen about 20% here now since the first days of my 3800. 

 

[Jeff S]

 

I have never actually printed larger than A3+ but it seemed to me that the larger print cartridges should be 'better' value though. For whatever reasons the prices for them have fallen about 20% here now since the first days of my 3800. 

 

 

The 3800/3880/P800 cartridges are larger in comparison to the 13" printer ink sets (R3000/P600)….80ml vs 25.9ml…but still small compared to the 4900 and larger machines, which have 200ml cartridges.  Regardless of printer, it pays to shop around for inks, at least in the US, where some suppliers are significantly less expensive than others.  The larger cartridges can be more economical, provided of course print demands warrant.

 

The least expensive alternative is to substitute 3rd party inks, e.g., Cone inks (the same folks doing Piezography)….they supply b/w and color substitutes for various Epsons.  Epson of course tries to make it difficult to use 3rd party inks, but many successfully use them.   I'm not sure if or how Cone might address the new SureColor P series inks. 

 

Jeff

Edited April 28, 2015 by Jeff S

[wlaidlaw]

Jeff, 

 

I don't think my print volumes are sufficiently large to warrant a continuous ink system. Given that at some point I may have to use the local Epson service people, it might be wisest to stick with Epson ink. The cheapest I have been able to find them in France is around €50. Some colours are a bit less (why????). I will be buying  a set of ersatz carts but that will be to fill with cleaner fluid to do my shutting-down-for-the-winter wash out. 

 

Wilson

[Jeff S]

Wilson, I also stick with Epson inks, although a friend has had good success with Cone substitutes…he hasn't gotten any grief from service folks in his area that handle Epson.

 

No idea why cartridge prices vary.  B&H will often discount some and not others, and I stock up if deals are exceptionally good.  My local camera shop owner will also give me a great price on occasion.  

 

After 6 years with the 3800, I'm considering a new printer….maybe the P800 or the eventual P replacement for the 4900….but I'll wait for extended reviews.  I print regularly, but not terribly large.

 

Good luck with the new set-up.

 

Jeff

[hoppyman]

Personally I only want to use the genuine ink products. I have no experience with the 3rd party ones in this particular printer (whether they are more/less likely to clog for example or their longevity in use/storage).
The critical factor for me is that I use custom profiles based on the genuine inks on the specific (Hahnemühle) papers that I have settled on for anything important (bigger prints/portfolio etc).  I'm not suggesting that the alternatives may not work. I want to control as many variables as I can for my colour managed processes.

[Jeff S]

I would trust Jon Cone's inks…he knows as much or more about Epson machines, and clogging…as Epson's own folks.  He has a loyal following based on his long and successful track record, even embraced by Epson until some eventual legal battles.  Having said that, I just stick to what's most convenient, not necessarily what's less expensive (estimated at upwards of 65% less, and more environmentally friendly).

 

Jeff

[wparsonsgisnet]

Unfortunately, I ran a Photo Black cart dry and really screwed up the printer.  I have just ordered flushing carts from Jon Cone and will see if I can revive the printer.

 

Like Geoff, I only use Epson inks.  I have been thru a couple of iterations with substitute inks and when I took into account ALL the PITA involved, in fact I didn't save any money because Epson brought out another, better ink set and blew away my 'savings.'

 

Also, I use ImagePrint from Colorbyte for printing and it has perfect color rendition for the Epson inks.  A couple of people recommended this software to me and after choking on the price I bought it and it has made my life really easy for about 10 years.  Sleeping now....

[Jeff S]

My friend who uses Cone inks also uses and appreciates ImagePrint…not mutually exclusive.

 

Jeff

[wlaidlaw]

One point about folks not have trouble with the Epson service folk for using non-Epson ink is that experience was in the USA, where there is a customer service ethic. My 3880 is in France, where a customer is treated like something you scrape off the sole of your shoe. Any excuse to be difficult and obstructive is never to be missed. I have had no proper internet for the last 10 days and am using a 3G dongle to get a service that can just about deal with emails and forums but nothing more. This arose from trying to upgrade from ADSL-2 to VDSL-2, as our village now has fibre to the telegraph poles. Orange could not have screwed it up more extensively. When I finally got through to a manager and lodged a formal complaint about the idiocy, in reply and to punish me for being difficult, they switched my phone off for three days (the local telephone repair man told me that this is standard for anyone who lodges a complaint). Even the Orange dongle is useless as you have to unplug it every time you stop using it or it chews through the capacity you have purchased, continually doing handshakes. 

 

Wilson

[Guest]

I suspect that setting up an iPhone as a  Personal Hotspot would work better than the Orange dongle. Quite fast when connected to the computer with a USB cable.

[wlaidlaw]

I suspect that setting up an iPhone as a  Personal Hotspot would work better than the Orange dongle. Quite fast when connected to the computer with a USB cable.

Tethering is very expensive in France and you have to buy it specifically even if my iPhone has 4G for itself. I was using this system when in Taiwan earlier this year and it was brilliant (4G in cities 3G outside all for less than $20 unlimited for a month). I can also tether in the UK at no extra cost. The dongle is supposedly free as it is Orange's fault that they switched off my Internet by mistake instead of upgrading it to VDSL. I will see when I get my next bill from Orange. Luckily at my local Orange shop yesterday I got a guy who shared an interest in classic car rallying, so he seems to have done his best by declaring I am a doctor and need the internet for discussing patients. It might be back on later today but I will believe it when it happens. Like most monopolies (Orange is part of France Telecom), it does not work very well and seems to be run for the benefit of the employees not the customers. BT in the UK, although a quoted company is an equally incompetent monopoly, if not worse than Orange. 

 

Wilson

[pop]

Orange is the salt of the earth. No kidding, I just got an SM stating that Orange Switzerland has changed its name to Salt and period. It might be an European thing, too, as the web address they sent with it is located in Germany.

[Jeff S]

One point about folks not have trouble with the Epson service folk for using non-Epson ink is that experience was in the USA, where there is a customer service ethic.

 

Comcast excluded, which deals with cable TV and internet….continually voted the most hated company in the US.  I have my own stories.

 

Jeff

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[Guest]

...Like most monopolies (Orange is part of France Telecom), it does not work very well and seems to be run for the benefit of the employees not the customers...

My own story with France Telecom: a few years ago I had to call their customer service. Although my French is good, I was being polite by saying that my French wasn't that good...unknown to me, the person I spoke to switched my account to English. After that, a few months later, every time I called France Telephone called I got a recording in English that all their agents were busy — and I just couldn't get through. Eventually, I had to go to a France telephone store to get them to reset my account to French.

 

The 3880 is a wonderful printer, but I ran into trouble with it: last year I bought it for use in the Washington DC are, where the summers are hilt and humid. I was printing 12x18 inch image on 13x19 inch paper (A3+). On about one of four of the prints, the paper slipped on the last inch of the print and that last inset was offset by about ¼ of an inch. Epson customer service sent a new (but refurbished) printer — same problem. And the same problem when they sent me a brand-new printer. Then, they wanted to send me a third printer — but there was no point and they gave me a full refund. 

 

Had I been printing with a larger margin there would not have been a problem. The little plastic wheels that hold a printer just don't have a good enough print, at certain humidity. I was using Epson Exhibition Paper, which I like a lot. The 4900 has a vacuum system for holding the paper in place, but it does have the problem of the ink drying out frequently. I'll try the new  SureColor P80,

Edited April 29, 2015 by not_a_hero