Genie in a Bottle needed ASAP!

Dear Genie,

So, I got myself a RICOH SG311ODN Mac laptop and printed about 20 mugs. No one was interested. I put away the printer almost a year ago as other work came up. Now, I have designed a new mug range customers are ACTUALLY interested in. So I turn on my Ricoh after almost a year - and there is a red light and it says "Ink Depleted". I don't understand how the ink has run out after 20 mugs?! Genuine sawgrass inks, purchased via BMS.
This is going to be a very expensive business if they run out so quick. It's £42 each minimum for just ONE of the four inks I need at Xpres! https://www.xpres.co.uk/p-8376-sg710...-blk-42ml.aspx

Please conjure up a solution! Is there a cheaper way to do this? Am I supposed to refill the cartridges - or use a cheaper ink?

Please help, Sublimation Genie!

Our company and many other companies can supply 3rd party sublimation ink to suit your RICOH, used in conjunction with refillable ink cartridges you can save a fortune on ink costs compared to Sawgrass.

For example we sell a starter pack for £65.00 - this includes 4 x 100ml of ink, 4 x refillable cartridges (GC41 series), 4 x 10ml syringes & needles and an ICC profile. The 400ml of ink equates to 3 each x C/M/Y and 2.5 x BK around £470.00 worth of ink in comparison.

Alex

I use Ink Express ink in my Ricoh and its pretty darn good when used with their profile.

As a side note, the first set of cartridges are always depleted super quick as they are used to fill the tubes etc. The next set will last considerably longer.

Totally get that the first set would deplete quicker than subsequent sets- but after 20-30 mug printings is crazy!! On a positive note, the wonderful folk at Sawgrass are replacing them free of charge since I was able to prove how few prints I'd done - and that the cartridges weren't yet at their expiry date.

They've told me it's best to leave the Ricoh on at all times in future.

All's well that ends well!

Yes, leave your print on 24/7 otherwise you'll use more ink every time you start it up and will have a much greater chance of having blocked heads.