Epson 2200 refilling question

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Matt

I'm getting mixed answers from ink suppliers on this--do the 2200
carts (T034..) contain sponges or not? Has anyone sawed one open to
find out? One of the problems refillers have with recent Epson carts
is that these newer sponges deteriorate or harden quickly, limiting
the number of refills and also the amount of ink that can be
re-introduced. The sponge problem does not exist for 3rd party
cartidges intended for refilling. This could be seen as another
attempt to thwart refilling (in addition to the chip). But I'd also
heard that internal sponges and pigment-based inks were not compatible
because of the pigment's tendancy to adhere to the sponge material.

I came across this site:
http://www.refillinstructions.com/Epson/E13.htm
It shows that these carts (not specifically 2200 types) do not contain
a sponge, but I'm not sure about the ones that are now in production.
I see no reason why the popular inks used for the various CFS systems
intended for the 2200 wouldn't be OK for refilling.
 
Matt said:
I'm getting mixed answers from ink suppliers on this--do the 2200
carts (T034..) contain sponges or not? Has anyone sawed one open to
find out? One of the problems refillers have with recent Epson carts
is that these newer sponges deteriorate or harden quickly, limiting
the number of refills and also the amount of ink that can be
re-introduced. The sponge problem does not exist for 3rd party
cartidges intended for refilling. This could be seen as another
attempt to thwart refilling (in addition to the chip). But I'd also
heard that internal sponges and pigment-based inks were not compatible
because of the pigment's tendancy to adhere to the sponge material.
Click to expand...

Well that last bit has to be wrong because Epson 2200 inks ARE pigment inks.

For info Pantone say they will soon be selling ink for the 2200. Check their
web site.

There are also CIS systems available for the 2200 and that's probably the
best way to go rather than refill carts. After all if you can afford the
printer you can afford a third party CIS kit.
 
WOW!! $350

I seriously doubt that you would ever save money when you pay $350
plus the cost of refill ink.

The heads would wear out before you got even half your money back on
this system. What a ripoff.

PJ
 
WOW!! $350

I seriously doubt that you would ever save money when you pay $350
plus the cost of refill ink.

The heads would wear out before you got even half your money back on
this system. What a ripoff.

PJ
Click to expand...
The MIS system is in wide use, however I'd be hesitant to install this
for hobby-level printing because of the pigment ink's finite life
expectancy. It tends to settle, and maybe other worse things--unlike
dye-based inks. You'd have to be doing lots of large prints on a
continuing basis to justify such a system, but the savings in that
case could be enormous. I've heard no reports of Epson heads wearing
out from such use, but I suppose it's possible.

It does provide us a clue as to the viability of refilling 2200 carts,
however. They appear to simply modify existing carts to include a
filler port to which the tiny hoses connect the ink reservoir bottles.
This implies that buying their bulk pigment-based ink and refilling
2200 carts could be a practical solution. Digging around, there's
some info available as to where to drill and how deep, etc. They hold
about 12ml apiece as I recall. They also reset in a similar manner to
other Epson chipped carts.
 
Try the link below.

http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/cfs_2200_new.html
Click to expand...
Don't know if you noticed, but there's a disturbing item in the PDF
instructions for this kit. Evidently when you install these "always
full" carts, the printer identifies them as non-Epson, than asks you
if you wish to continue. If this information is stored in the EEPROM
(and we could assume this to be the case) it might alert a serviceman
to the fact that you were using "un-approved" carts and thus give
cause to nullify the warranty if the printer were brought in for
service. For this reason it might be a good idea to reset the EEPROM
beforehand. This could be why this (reset) information is not
provided to the user.

Evidently Epson is putting up several layers of defense to thwart the
use of non-Epson inks, especially since that's where the big profits
are. Hmm...didn't they put through some kind of ruling (in Europe)
that such practices were now considered illegal?
 
http://www.businesswire.com/webbox/bw.110503/233095554.htm


Rumors surrounding this issue began in July 2003 when Consumentenbond, a
Dutch consumer organization, alleged that Epson misled consumers by
prematurely warning them to replace ink cartridges because they use an
integrated chip to prevent the use of all of the ink. Upon further
investigation, the Dutch consumer organization publicly retracted all claims
and issued an apology, concluding that all brands of ink cartridges have ink
remaining when consumers are advised to replace cartridges. In addition, the
organization confirmed that Epson cartridges confer a technological benefit
in order to maintain the life of the printer.
 
Look into this web site. It has detailed pictures and how the carts
can be refiled. Very informative.

http://www.digital4to.com/

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
It certainly does, this guy really appears to have done his homework.
Evidently the only sponge used in these is a very small, round one
used as a filter, and not as an ink reservoir. These 2200 cartridges
do not appear difficult to fill, provided you pay attention to where
things are internally when drilling fill ports. Sounds like a real
good idea to sacrifice a cartridge to science in order to view exactly
how the ink circulates. This individual claims to have saved $1000
over the past 6 months alone by refilling his 2200 cartridges, in
spite of his getting his ink the expensive way by buying large Epson
cartridges (500cc) for the wide-carriage 10600 machine:
http://www.jondokken.com/Epson2200/a2200Epson.htm

Looking around, I found that InkGirl appears to have the UltraChrome
series of inks (in bottles) for about half the price of the large
Epson carts, see:
http://inkgirl.com/1570.htm
 
PJx said:
WOW!! $350

I seriously doubt that you would ever save money when you pay $350
plus the cost of refill ink.

The heads would wear out before you got even half your money back on
this system. What a ripoff.

PJ
Click to expand...

I agree! there are much cheaper sources and the guy points to the most
expensive one. I paid $64 for the CIS for my Epson Stylus Photo 900
 
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