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  1. #1
    Supplier InkExpress's Avatar
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    Looking into new printer models for Sublimation printing- testing and progress thread

    Hi guys,

    You may remember we did a thread on the testing and development of the Epson Surecolour SC-P600 printer for use with dye sublimation. This proved very popular and helped to show how we decide what printers to work with and the steps we take to ensure they will work well for you in the real world.

    Myself and Christian have been discussing the 'future' of desktop inkjet sublimation printing and where we think things are heading. In a hope to stay ahead of the curve we are looking at various printer models that we can work with for sublimation.

    The printers we will be looking at using are from the Epson Ecotank range. The reasons for this are-

    1) RICOH models are pretty much gone. Stock is pretty scarce and prices are shooting up for the SG3110DN or similar models. Sawgrass still have the SG400 but as we all know (although brilliant) they are very expensive to buy and run, especially using SG inks.

    2) EPSON printers using ink cartridges; the majority of new Epson printer models are starting to use sponge based ink cartridges, (Expression Premium and Expression Photo series especially). I do not like using sublimation ink in cartridges that contain a sponge. The sponge clogs up quickly and easily with dye sub ink being thicker than whats intended for use in the cartridge. We feel this trend is going to continue with cartridge based printers in the future, and this will limit what will 'work' with sublimation ink.

    3) EPSON firmware updates; firmware updates are the latest ploy by Epson to hinder or stop the use of 3rd party ink cartridges. It does not apply to all models but lots of the latest model (and most likely future models) will have automatic firmware updates built in that will stop the use of 3rd party inks and in turn stop he printer recognising a CISS or RIC setup with sublimation ink. These updates can be disabled but if you don't know how to do this its sometimes too late and your printer cannot update.

    4) EPSON microchipped ink cartridges; as with firmware updates the microchip built on to the cartridges is another way that Epson will protect their investment and try to ensure customers use their ink cartridges. Although its common for cartridges to be copied and 3rd party chips to be made we are finding this is taking longer and longer to do - then firmware updates or upgrades are often rendering certain version chips useless, so the waiting game starts again until a new version comes out. This is something that is holding us back on the Epson XP-15000 for example; we have been waiting over 6 months with no products as yet (as of Feb 2019)

    All of the issues above are solved by using an Epson Ecotank printer.

    Benefits-

    1) There are no ink cartridges to worry about- no microchips, no sponge based ink cartridges. Just a purpose made ink tank on the side to pour the ink in.
    2) There are no firmware updates to worry about- even if the software or firmware does update it wont affect the use of 3rd party inks.
    3) No need to retro fit either CISS (continuous ink system) or RIC (refillable ink cartridges)- as the printer comes from Epson with the Ecotank built in it's a very straight forward setup; pour in the inks, charge the printer and print!

    Disadvantages-
    1) Price- this is the only real disadvantage that I can personally come up with. An Eco tank printer is fundamentally more expensive than its standard (none ecotank) equivalent. But do the benefits listed above outweigh that?

    The question really is- if you were looking to buy a new printer for sublimation printing would it put you off paying more money for an Eco tank printer?

    As someone who has worked in the desktop printing market for the past 18 years I have seen lots of products, lots of changes in the industry, both good and bad. I personally think the introduction of the Ecotank printers is a step in the right direction both for the environment as well as for the sublimation print industry.

    I will be updating this thread with progress and testing on a variety of Epson Ecotank printers that we have selected to potentially use for sublimation printing. I hope it will be an interesting read for you guys and give you an insight in what we do and how we test the potential products we sell.

    Any thought comments, feedback on the above please comment :)

    Alex
    Last edited by InkExpress; 01-02-2019 at 11:08 AM.
    Ink Express ltd. Unit 20 Fallings Park Industrial Estate, Park Lane, Wolverhampton. WV10 9QB

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  2. #2
    Administrator Justin's Avatar
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    Funnily enough I've just ordered another Ecotank A4 to experiment with myself. The tanks on these are great and it gets rid of horrible CIS and associated issues so that's a plus. I think any additional cost is acceptable bearing this in mind.

    Always interested in seeing how these tests progress. The last time I tested the Epson ET printer it didn't suit my particular needs but I'm more hopeful this time.
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  3. #3
    Supplier InkExpress's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Justin View Post
    Funnily enough I've just ordered another Ecotank A4 to experiment with myself. The tanks on these are great and it gets rid of horrible CIS and associated issues so that's a plus. I think any additional cost is acceptable bearing this in mind.

    Always interested in seeing how these tests progress. The last time I tested the Epson ET printer it didn't suit my particular needs but I'm more hopeful this time.
    Good to hear you are following my thinking Justin. The price of the printers are a bit higher than I'd like but it does solve all the issues of chips failing ,CISS not being fitted right, firmware updates etc. So for me I think its a step in the right direction.

    Got an A4 and A3 in now to start testing with. Just sorting the ICC profiles so will be updating very soon.

    Alex
    Ink Express ltd. Unit 20 Fallings Park Industrial Estate, Park Lane, Wolverhampton. WV10 9QB

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  4. #4
    Senior Member webtrekker's Avatar
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    Hi Alex. Full marks that you are thinking ahead. Just wondering which ET models you are considering?

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    Supplier InkExpress's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by webtrekker View Post
    Hi Alex. Full marks that you are thinking ahead. Just wondering which ET models you are considering?
    Thank you! Current thinking and currently in being tested are ET14000 and ET2700 / 2710

    ET14000 - for A3; ideally I would have offered L1800 (6 colour) but they aren't available in the UK. ET14000 is basically a 1500W chassis and mechanics with a 4 ink channel printing head (2 channels of black and CMY) print quality we expect to be good but not fantastic it should fall somewhere in the middle of our range being a good quality printer offering real ease of use. It also can print A3+ media which most the 'A3' eco tank printers can't so that was another reason for choosing it.

    ET2700 / ET2710; we currently sell ET2600 which has been a good printer, ET2710 is its replacement and going from our distributor will be a model that will often fall into promo pricing so hoping the price of the printer will be attractive and its on the Epson 'road map' pricing structure for the next 18 months so it will have plenty of life within the market.

    These two are the first we will be testing, going forward we may well look into ET7750 and various others, but the two above seemed to tick the boxes we needed for now.

    Alex
    Ink Express ltd. Unit 20 Fallings Park Industrial Estate, Park Lane, Wolverhampton. WV10 9QB

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  6. The Following User Says Thank You to InkExpress For This Useful Post:

    webtrekker (01-02-2019)

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    Before these Ecotank printers were introduced, I thought I had read that a code from the side of the genuine Epson ink bottle had to be typed in when refilling? This would have eliminated third party inks. So for years, I thought that these printers were unsuitable!! I would have bought them a long time ago and sold off the Epson ink to recover the expensive printer costs.

  8. #7
    Supplier InkExpress's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoonerGary View Post
    Before these Ecotank printers were introduced, I thought I had read that a code from the side of the genuine Epson ink bottle had to be typed in when refilling? This would have eliminated third party inks. So for years, I thought that these printers were unsuitable!! I would have bought them a long time ago and sold off the Epson ink to recover the expensive printer costs.
    This was the case when they very first came out, but it quickly was dropped after the codes got cracked. So became useless, no codes are required to use 3rd party ink in the Ecotank printers, been that way for a long time now.

    It does make them a real viable option, we think so anyway...

    Alex
    Ink Express ltd. Unit 20 Fallings Park Industrial Estate, Park Lane, Wolverhampton. WV10 9QB

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    Mystery solved!

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    Has anyone tested the ET3700? We use the Epson Workforce printers (WF4015 and WF4095) but they are now obsolete and we need to find alternatives. The issue with the ET2600 is that it is quite a slow printer. Looking at the specs of the ET3700, it has similar print speeds to the 4xxx workforce printers. My only concern is that it has a precisioncore print head and I'm not sure if it is compatible with dye sub inks.

  11. #10
    Supplier InkExpress's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ICF View Post
    Has anyone tested the ET3700? We use the Epson Workforce printers (WF4015 and WF4095) but they are now obsolete and we need to find alternatives. The issue with the ET2600 is that it is quite a slow printer. Looking at the specs of the ET3700, it has similar print speeds to the 4xxx workforce printers. My only concern is that it has a precisioncore print head and I'm not sure if it is compatible with dye sub inks.
    Not tested the ET3700 myself, the ET2600 is an entry level printer so print speed is affect, same with the ET2710 we are testing. ET14000 appears to be a little faster but not by much. If things go well with the two we are testing we will be branching out to look into other models within the ET range.

    When used in an ET printer the PrecisionCore head is fine with good quality sub inks (from my experience)

    Alex
    Ink Express ltd. Unit 20 Fallings Park Industrial Estate, Park Lane, Wolverhampton. WV10 9QB

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