Compatible Inks for Ink Jet Printers

[telsave]

Hi M8's

I recently bought a Epson SX515W all-in-one printer and after the initial supply of inks ran out replaced them with compatible links. The first thing the printer did was to go in a strop, report unrecognized ink cartridge and the magenta cartridge refused to print.

I cleaned the heads a number of times to no avail, so reluctantly paid £35 for a set of genuine cartridges. After cleaning the heads again and checking alignment all appeared well until 15 pages later when again the printer reported unrecognized cartridge again the Magenta appeared to be at fault. Again I cleaned the heads a few times to no avail the error still being reported even though they were genuine parts.

I phoned Epson and they again suggested I clean the heads then when it did not work suggested I return the printer from whence it came (sorry forgot to mention to them I had tried compatibles - I am naughty)

Changed the printer and again all appeared well except that the black ink cartridge reported being low on ink after 17 A4 pages. Then when I changed the inks for compatibles (new ones) everything worked until about 25 pages later when the Magenta and the Yellow stopped working and no amount of head cleaning changed the situation. Again I phoned Epson who told me they were concerned that the same supplier (Tesco) had two printers (the only ones they had) with the same fault. I gave them serial numbers and they said they were quite old stock so suggested the printer was returned and I bought one from another supplier, which I have done.

Question is has anyone any bad experiences using compatible inks in their printers and is there a way of curing this.

I am printing off copies of my latest book to send to Joint Venture partners around the world and need to print 3000+ pages. If I get 17 pages from a cartridge that runs out at around £1800 for printing alone I think a professional printer would do it for less and I would need to borrow money from my son!!!!!!!

Any advice appreciated.

cheers

 

[The Dentist]

To be honest mate 2 things here. I have been using compatible inks on my Epson R360 for a number of years now and I have not had any problems. Out of each box i get around 200 pages give or take 50.

Secondly, for the job you want done, i think if you are going to print 3000+ pages and its gonna be in constant use, then it will be cheaper for you to just get a mono laser printer or go to a local printers as using inkject will cos you too much. Even if you get 150 prints from a box of cartridges which cost around £30 (on the expensive side), you are looking at £600 worth of ink which is rediculous.

 

[telsave]

To be honest mate 2 things here. I have been using compatible inks on my Epson R360 for a number of years now and I have not had any problems. Out of each box i get around 200 pages give or take 50.

Secondly, for the job you want done, i think if you are going to print 3000+ pages and its gonna be in constant use, then it will be cheaper for you to just get a mono laser printer or go to a local printers as using inkject will cos you too much. Even if you get 150 prints from a box of cartridges which cost around £30 (on the expensive side), you are looking at £600 worth of ink which is rediculous.

Hi M8

Appreciate your answer maybe you are correct I will ask my son to buy me one for his birthday

:Clap::banana:

 

[techquest]

I've know lots of folks who have had problem with non standard inks, also know lots that have not. The problem is once you have done that on a printer still in warrant the manufacturer will not touch it as you have negated the warranty by doing so, something a simple test by them will always prove.

 

[Captin]

If you need to print out a large amount of pages that I would look at a cheap laser printer, you can get mono laster printer from around £50.

Most cheap lasers come with a temp or half full toner which lasts around 1500 pages, full toners can last upto 3500 pages.

I have a Samsung colour laser (mine has a scanner and cost £130, but you can get just the printer CLP300 for around £80).

Each of the 3 colour toners lasts 2500 pages, and the black lasts 4500 pages and it costs £25 for a full set (with chips) from ebay.

Lasers are much better quality, and cheaper to run than any inkjet.

I also have a canon inkjet which I use for printing on CD's and photo's which I use with compatible carts (39p per colour) and I find it a lot better than the Epson I had before it.

 

[stihl260]

I ditched Epson Printers along time ago, due to problems with compat carts.
Went on to use canon Printers, which are far less fussy with regards to using compats.
The only reason i changed to my Current HP officejet J6410 , is that i needed a WIFI printer and Canon have got mixed reviews and lots of problems with certain models.
MY HP has been faultless, just over a year on.
I have tried compatibles and you just dont get the same quality of print or the same yeild from the carts i tried.
So i have gone back to genuine HP carts.
They were on offer at Play.com for £25 for a twin pack HP 50 & 51 .
So i stocked up !
My old Canon MP760 is now at my parents house, still going strong and happy running on seperate inks at £6 for a full set inc the black.
As palready mentioned if you print large volumes then Laser is deffinately the way to go as the print, speed & quality if far superior to inkjet.
The toner carts may seem dear to start with but when you think that its possible to get 4,000 pages out of a Toner cart then it make it alot cheaper than inkjet.
hope this helps.