Printer options

[seanECfreeman]

Hi guys, I have a pro-100 which im very happy with, however i have one big problem with it, i don't use it that often so it dose a self clean most times times i use it, Also i have regular power outages so on reboot it dose a ''deep clean'' Add all that together and you have a ridiculous amount of ink ''conveniently for canon'' being dumped into the ink catcher. So, should i buy a third party ink refill set of eBay? or are epson better in this regard, they still seem to be getting good money on local adverts so i might sell it to fund a new printer if that would be of benefit. I do 50/50 B/W/Colour prints, I would like a pigment passed system so i could sell print, but I've hared they clog if not in regular use.

 

[jeffreyg]

I think regardless of the printer it is a good idea to make a print every week. A test pattern or small print should pretty well reduce or eliminate your problem.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[seanECfreeman]

Thats probably right, I still have the problem of high ink consumption tho, I'm not exactly sure why, I suppose due to power outages=reboots. has anyone ever tried these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/8x500ml-refill-ink-for-Canon-PIXMA-PRO-100-Wide-format-printer-/190741164993

 

[nmp]

Buy a battery backup UPS to immediately get rid of the short power outages that gets the printer going all haywire every time.

Secondly as suggested before, just print every so often a small graphic, preferably that has all colors represented so all your heads get the work over.

Finally, what I found that at least in my printer, the HP B9180, the print heads are much more resilient than I was warned about. Left to it own devices, the printer will go through the ink dumping maneuver every 24 hours. So I would try and do a small test print if I am not printing my photographs before 24 hours are up. Then I started keeping the printer in the special tray mode which fools it into thinking a print job is waiting so no maintenance routine takes place. I could leave it in this mode without printing for weeks some times and no clogging heads occurred. When I am away I just turn the printer off and every thing is fine when I turn it back on, sometimes after months. I am sure Canon Pro 1 is probably not similar but but may be the general idea is applicable.

 

[seanECfreeman]

Id be very interested in hearing about your ''tray mode'' if it might work with a pro 100, I heard'd of a Russian guy with some software you could use to edit the printers firmware and stop self cleaning, but i havant been able to find his site. it just really pees me off listening to it pump all my precious ink out,

 

[seanECfreeman]

Dose anyone know of good third party ink? Ive heard good things about ''precision colour'' but i can get evan cheaper stuff online, i can't pay a 100 euro again for canon stuff,

 

[nmp]

Id be very interested in hearing about your ''tray mode'' if it might work with a pro 100, I heard'd of a Russian guy with some software you could use to edit the printers firmware and stop self cleaning, but i havant been able to find his site. it just really pees me off listening to it pump all my precious ink out,

Basically that is just a special paper feed tray that you pull down when you want to feed the paper by hand. At that point the printer is on pause waiting for the paper to be fed and be hit start, which I do not do. The maintenance cycle will not start when the special tray is out. So it is a hardware thing rather than a software thing. I do not know if your particular printer has such a mechanism that you can take advantage of.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I think regardless of the printer it is a good idea to make a print every week. A test pattern or small print should pretty well reduce or eliminate your problem.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

I fully agree;that's my experience too.I have anEpson3880 and it hasn't clogged in two years using that procedure.OF COURSE< A WEEKLY TEST PRINT uses ink too but far less than a deep clean and if you make your test print something useful, such as a print for your portfolio book, you can kill two birds with one stone.

 

[seanECfreeman]

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my pro-100 for now, but i do need to get ink, I'm going to buy precision colour's basic kit, that is if no one has any expireance with the 500ml set i posted earlier, ''dose any one know if there any good?''

 

[seanECfreeman]

500ML............ I think it could cure my compulsively excessive rage rattles when i hear a deep clean in progress.

 

[removed account4]

hi seahECreeman
have you looked into the
continuous inking systems sold
by inkjetarts ?
i still remember my friend when
he was printing out 16x20 and 20x24 ink prints
saying " i have printed out so many of them, and the ink hasn't budged !"
it might be something to think about if you haven't. years ago some of the companies
put a "chip" into the head to make it difficult but its been a long time
and maybe? there has been a work around.
good luck !
john

 

[farmersteve]

I have been using Precision Color inks for a couple of years and no problems with color prints whatsoever. I did an unscientific advanced aging test with some BW prints laying out on my dining room table in bright, but indirect light for a couple of weeks. There was significant fading on a BW print on cheap Costco (Kirkland) brand glossy paper. On Canon paper, much less fading but still you can see fading. I put them side by side with a pigment Epson printer and the Epson had no fading. People suggest that the OEM inks on OEM paper are much more resistant to fading over time and I don't doubt that. For now, I just print all my color prints on the Pro-100 and BW on my Epson r2880. I love the ease of printing color the Pro-100 so it's worth it to me to keep using it.

 

[L Gebhardt]

I have a Pro 100 that Canon paid me to take after the rebates and free paper. It's an excellent printer and with the Canon ink makes nicer glossy prints than my Epson pigment printers. However I found I wasn't using the Canon much since the Epsons are cheaper to print with, and I don't do many final prints on glossy type paper. So I bought the Precision Color inks and decided to use the Canon for proofing and color office jobs. So far it's been working well, but the inks do fade. If I was making final prints on it I'd stick to the Canon inks. They are not that expensive.

 

[seanECfreeman]

Thanks, I going to get the precision colour ink and give it a try, I suppose what I'm asking is what ''if any'' printer would you recommend for b/w plus colour prints on matt paper? from what I've read preseason colour may not be the best at b/w, and canon ink is just too much, would i be better buying a pro-9500 ii? are precision colours pigment inks better?

 

[L Gebhardt]

For black and white prints I use an Epson 3880 with Piezography. I highly recommend it for the quality, but it's not going to be the bargain you seem to be looking for. I also print on an Epson P800 and Epson 7900 with QuadTone RIP. I think QuadTone RIP is the single biggest reason to buy Epson over Canon. With a bit of work you can create the exact image color you desire with linear tonality. Recent Epson pigment inks are very stable, and the latest inkset is the best so far. So to answer your question I'd recommend any recent Epson printer that is supported by QuadTone RIP. I have no experience with Precision Color pigment inks. I find black and white printing using the normal printer drivers to be less than optimal. You will certainly need a way to profile your new inks with any of the aftermarket inks if you want control.