Epson R1800 cartridge life?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert Lynch
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Robert Lynch

I am considering purchasing an R1800 in the near future. Before I do I want
to get a sense of the operating costs. Epson's figures for 5% coverage are
useless.

Has anyone got any real world experience with cartridge life. If I start
with a new set, how many typical* photos can I print at 8x10 or 13x19 before
I will need to replace at least one cartridge?

*Typical is defined as average, common photos with a wide variety of colors.
 
Robert said:
I am considering purchasing an R1800 in the near future. Before I do I want
to get a sense of the operating costs. Epson's figures for 5% coverage are
useless.

Has anyone got any real world experience with cartridge life. If I start
with a new set, how many typical* photos can I print at 8x10 or 13x19 before
I will need to replace at least one cartridge?

*Typical is defined as average, common photos with a wide variety of colors.
Click to expand...

It seems about 50 x A4, 20 or so 19x13.
If my use is "average" then the cyan goes first, then magenta and
yellow. By the time I changed those three plus GO, the other four (matt
& photo black, blue and red, were at about half full - after changing
the first four (All levels drop when you change one cartridge). So, you
use about 3/4 of your inks on 45 x A4. Calculated out, that works out
to about US$1.60 per A4 full bleed.
That seems to be consistent - perhaps a little higher - than others are
reporting they are getting.
 
Robert said:
I am considering purchasing an R1800 in the near future. Before I do I want
to get a sense of the operating costs. Epson's figures for 5% coverage are
useless.

Has anyone got any real world experience with cartridge life. If I start
with a new set, how many typical* photos can I print at 8x10 or 13x19 before
I will need to replace at least one cartridge?

*Typical is defined as average, common photos with a wide variety of colors.
Click to expand...

If my use is "average" then the cyan goes first, then magenta and
yellow. By the time I changed those three plus GO, the other four (matt
& photo black, blue and red, were at about half full - after changing
the first four (All levels drop when you change one cartridge). So, you
use about 3/4 of your inks on 50 x A4. Calculated out, that works out
to about US$1.60 per A4 full bleed - US$3.50 or so per 19x13.
That seems to be consistent - perhaps a little higher - than others are
reporting that they are getting.
 
One has to consider how often the printer will be used, If on a daily basis
printing photo you will get a good number of prints, note I have not
mentioned how many, this is because you have separate carts for each colour
and some carts will last longer than others depending on the colour used.

A large use is when you replace a cart as the printer when it charges uses
ink from all the carts and not just the one replaced. You then have to
consider, if the printer is used less, I have found to keep the nozzles
clear you should run a nozzle test once a day or perhaps if you can get away
with it every other day, now that in it's self uses little ink but most
Epsons will only allow a couple of nozzle tests then it will purge, and
again it's across all the carts, you then have cleaning cycles which uses
about the same amount of ink as a nozzle purge, if you do a clean then a
nozzle test it will again use the same amount of ink to purge.

So, with a set of new carts installed and a few nozzle tests and a couple of
cleans you will find the total amount left to print those pic's is far less
than first thought. The next area to worry about is with all this waste ink,
how long will it be before you fill the waste pads, knowing Epson it may be
just after the warranty has run out.

The amount of cleans and other uses of the ink other than printing is
measured in the EEPROM and on that printer it's counted in points, the top
is around 60,000 now that may sound a lot but believe me when I say, it
drops quickly to a point when the printer tells you, new parts are required.

Now, having pasted all that gloom there is no real alternative if you wish
to use a Photo Inkjet to print those pictures, I must add that the R1800 is
the best yet from Epson but they still have a long way to go, an example
would be separate cart charging, now, that would be a great improvement.
 
Robert said:
I am considering purchasing an R1800 in the near future. Before I do I want
to get a sense of the operating costs. Epson's figures for 5% coverage are
useless.

Has anyone got any real world experience with cartridge life. If I start
with a new set, how many typical* photos can I print at 8x10 or 13x19 before
I will need to replace at least one cartridge?

*Typical is defined as average, common photos with a wide variety of colors.
Click to expand...

One thing I have found is that it does more cleaning cycles that the R210.

Someone did mention in another thread is that the R800/1800 has a
smaller nozzle than the 2400 which also saved ink.

rm
 
Shooter said:
One has to consider how often the printer will be used, If on a daily basis
printing photo you will get a good number of prints, note I have not
mentioned how many, this is because you have separate carts for each colour
and some carts will last longer than others depending on the colour used.

A large use is when you replace a cart as the printer when it charges uses
ink from all the carts and not just the one replaced. You then have to
consider, if the printer is used less, I have found to keep the nozzles
clear you should run a nozzle test once a day or perhaps if you can get away
with it every other day, now that in it's self uses little ink but most
Epsons will only allow a couple of nozzle tests then it will purge, and
again it's across all the carts, you then have cleaning cycles which uses
about the same amount of ink as a nozzle purge, if you do a clean then a
nozzle test it will again use the same amount of ink to purge.
Click to expand...
In 3 months use I have never had to run a nozzle check or nozzle clean.
Many users make the mistake of holding the ink button on the printer
down for too long (over 3 seconds) and end up running a purge and a
nozzle clean when changing a cartridge - a glorious waste of ink.
So, with a set of new carts installed and a few nozzle tests and a couple of
cleans you will find the total amount left to print those pic's is far less
than first thought. The next area to worry about is with all this waste ink,
how long will it be before you fill the waste pads, knowing Epson it may be
just after the warranty has run out.

The amount of cleans and other uses of the ink other than printing is
measured in the EEPROM and on that printer it's counted in points, the top
is around 60,000 now that may sound a lot but believe me when I say, it
drops quickly to a point when the printer tells you, new parts are required.

Now, having pasted all that gloom there is no real alternative if you wish
to use a Photo Inkjet to print those pictures, I must add that the R1800 is
the best yet from Epson but they still have a long way to go, an example
would be separate cart charging, now, that would be a great improvement.
Click to expand...
There are alternatives in A3 printers. The Epson R2400 is better and
more expensive then the R1800. Canon's iP9950 is a great printer - and
many people will prefer the default vibrant colours and sharpness of
it's output - on gloss papers especially. HP's 8750 produces great B&W
- better than the R1800 at a lower cost for the printer.
Horses for courses.
 
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