EU Ink Policy and Warranty

[victor]

Just had my cheap XP-215 Epson Printer fail on me. Text out of alignment when printing. I took the printer to my local epson centre for replacement/repair under the warranty.

They advised me that the printer warranty was void as I have been using a third parties Compatible Ink Cartridges.

I have now returned the printer via where i bought it for repair less the ink tanks to Epson..

Can any one advise me if this is correct with regard to warranties and the use of high quality compatible inks in the EU.

Thanks

[Shadowman]

I think its valid world wide regarding warranties, how were they able to know, did you leave a third party cartridge in the printer?

[victor]

Too honest. Cartridges removed from Printer...

[Manfred M]

I checked with Epson Canada when I was considering a continuous ink system, so the legal issues regarding warranties might be different, but they did confirm that the warranty would be void if I used non-Epson inks. Their logic was that chemical differences in the ink formulations could damage the printhead and other mechanisms in the printer.

I have stuck with the Epson inks and have been running problem free.

[Shadowman]

I checked hp's worldwide warranty and they stated that although using third party inks wouldn't void the warranty, they would charge the consumer for repairs if it was determined that the third party inks were the cause of the damage. Nice way of saying "we got you".

[James G]

Unfortunately, it is an arguably unfair 'get out'. I switched some time ago to Lyson inks and rechargeable cartridges supplied by Marrutt for my Epson R3000. As soon as they went in, I started getting messages via the utility screens telling me I had non OEM inks and continued use would 'potentially' damage my printer and would void warranty.

Needless to say no damage has occurred and I'm paying 20% of the Epson ink costs now.

On another point though, I started getting ink spotting on my prints. I contacted Epson and got no
help beyond a suggestion that I take the printer to an 'authorised' agent for a maintenance check and since the printer had been in use for 18 months or so. (£150 straight of!)

I then contacted John Reid at Marrutt asking if they had any ideas. One e-mail and phone call later, John pointed me to a number of 'maintenance' videos his company produced and placed on their website, showing me how to clean the 'Spit pad', 'Pump Cap', and 'Wiper Blade'.

All three were simply clogged with ink and needed cleaning (with distilled water!)

1 hr later, after an admittedly a fiddly process, problem solved and no £ spent.

Since I had already invalidated my warranty and was technically out of the warranty period anyway , I'm now feeling quite smug.

I should in fairness add that the processes I was advised to use are not universally applicable to any printer, but Marrutt do provide advice on maintaining an interesting range of mid range printers.

The links below may be of interest to some of you....
http://www.marrutt.com/

http://www.marrutt.com/support/lates...pril-2012.html (

[LocalHero1953]

I will have a look at those Marrut maintenance pages.
I bought the Permajet CIS with my Epson 3000. I have had no problems other than a faulty cartridge (it wouldn't prime with ink) that Permajet replaced and a couple of air locks which were easily cleared. I'm happy with the output, but I'd like to do some preventive maintenance.
I can't see any labels on the Permajet CIS and ink bottles other than their own. Does anyone know if the cartridges and inks are actually made/blended by Permajet, or do they buy them in and rebadge them?

Incidentally, my Epson 3000 made no protest at having third party cartridges fitted.

[Mark von Kanel]

i use permajet and have even attended some of their courses, youve got me curious so i e mailed them! ill let you know what they say.

[royphot]

I am also using Lyson inks from Marrutt in my Pixma Pro 9000 Mkll printer. I think they are even better than Canon Ink.

However I would advise anyone about to do the same, to not buy refillable cartridges, because the original Canon ones can easily be refilled and the chips reset. The Chip resetter and plugs for the fill hole can be got from Octoink at very reasonable prices.

Roy

[Mark von Kanel]

Here's the response from Permajet

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your enquiry.

We work with over 10 mills who produce our materials for us and make our own inks in the UK.

So it would seem they have their own inks and papers made exclusivly for them in the UK

[LocalHero1953]

Thanks, interesting. The Permajet dummy cartridges and plumbing look the same as many others.
If they had sourced ink from, e.g., Lyson, then it would have been easy to buy on the open market. I guess other inks may still be compatible, but would need reprofiling.
Permajet colours are fine, and I don't plan to change, but I get nervous relying on one supplier.

[Mark von Kanel]

I would think that the plumbing would be generic but the inks are to their own spec the same goes with papers, i have used various inks with my canon cis and all ive done is to use new profiles a lot of the time i couldnt even tell the difference from one ink to the next, there is no reason why you shouldnt use lyson ink in your cis should you wish to, ive tryed both and am happy with the permajet stuff and its cheaper than the lyson and caries tes certs for longevity.