Refilling with Genuine Epson Ink

[Boatman]

I have been printing with MIS inks and refilling my own cartridges for about three years. While this is highly economical, about 1/30th the cost of Epson cartridges, the MIS ink does fade quickly. I found reports at Aardenburg Imaging that confimed my suspicion - Epson Claria inks are much better than MIS in regards to fading. They are also somewhat brighter in color to begin with.

I have a few folks who are paying me for prints and I feel that I owe them the longevity of Epson inks. But, I still vastly prefer to refill my own cartridges because it is cheaper, and also because it is more convenient. Whenever one cartridge gets low, I fill them all to minimize the number of cartridge parks, and hence head cleanings needed. And, I don't have to worry about running out of ink at 10PM on a Sunday!

I am aware that Cone Inks has a set of pigment based inks that would be a possible solution to the longevity issue, but they may create a bunch of new color tone and clogging issues that I'd rather not get into.

Is there any way to purchase genuine Epson inks in modest bulk, like 4oz bottles, so that I could have the best of both worlds - reasonable ink costs and duarabilty?

[Manfred M]

Short answer is no. Epson only supplies cartridges, not bulk inks. The ink in these are stored in a sponge, rather than in a liquid that sloshes around. The larger cartridges tend to be less expensive on a volume basis, which is one of the reasons I went to the Epson 3880; the 80m cartridges it uses.

I suppose you could try buying a large cartridge and trying to tap it, but that sounds expensive and messy.

[bambleweeney]

Have a look at Fotospeed.com. British based so postage could be expensive but they do two systems for Epson printers (depending on which one you have). I have the inkflow system and buy ink in 125ml bottles (pigment ink, same archival quality as Epson and near as dammit identical in colour) and they've now introduced a refillable cartridge system (same ink) which sounds like an eaven neater idea. I've had my system for a good couple of years now and probably saved a fortune in cartridges.

[Boatman]

brambleweeny:

I took a look at Fotospeed.com. The KlariFine dye inks from them work out to be about $140 US for a set of six 125ml (4oz) bottles. That's about 4x MIS ink costs but still roughly 1/8th the price of Epson cartridges and roughly equivalent to the costs of Cone pigment inks. This could be a good solution.

Is anyone aware of color/fade tests comparing this ink to Epson?

[bambleweeney]

Their colour inks are tested to be archival (85 years if I remember rightly, 100 years for monochrome but tested by who I've no idea). They're actually a really helpful bunch so I'd suggest maybe sending them an email to ask for information.