Epson 1900 - When to change multiple cartridges

[Sussex825]

I always have this dilemma when a number of cartridges are getting low. As you can see from the attached image I have four nearing empty. It's guaranteed the they won't require changing in unison, but, if I change one the others will be further depleted by the charging process. I have, in the past, just gone and changed the others and suffered the waste of ink.
So does anyone have a rule of thumb on this. i.e what's the cutoff point to minimize ink loss.

Maybe there is no solution, and it's just a fact of life when using inkjet printers.

Note: I have no interest in switching to a CIS system.

Thanks

[xpatUSA]

I always have this dilemma when a number of cartridges are getting low. As you can see from the attached image I have four nearing empty. It's guaranteed the they won't require changing in unison, but, if I change one the others will be further depleted by the charging process. I have, in the past, just gone and changed the others and suffered the waste of ink.

By coincidence, Wifey's R260 yellow cartridge ran out just after reading this, with two others getting pretty low. So we just put a new yellow one - but the R260 didn't seem to go through a charging process for all the cartridges.

[Manfred M]

I have the Epson 3880, so it may work a bit differently than the 1900 (or not). I only change the cartridges when the actual colour runs out and the printer tells me so. The charging process only occurs with the cartridge I change, not the others, and that makes sense, as the ink lines should still be full in all the other cartridges.

Epson's quality control seems to be so good, that the batch variations in the inks are so minor, you can't tell where the ink change took place, even in the middle of the print.

[Geoff F]

Another problem which I often encounter with the 1900 is nozzle blockage; so I sometimes change a low cartridge before using the auto clean option.

[Sussex825]

Thank you all for the replies.

The 1900 seems to be different to the 3880. When I change one cartridge the charge cycle seems excessive for just one line. Also, I have external waste ink bottles, and the amount of ink that is pumped into the bottles is significant.
Perhaps I should go back to the internal waste system, then ignorance will be bliss. :-)

I also have let a cartridge run to empty and there no noticeable effect on the final print. However, the charge time is still long, and the reduction in the other levels is very noticeable on the Status Monitor.

I guess there is no effective strategy. I'll just have to make a judgement call on whether to replace marginal cartridges.

Ed