Confused Noob - Test refurb printer with OEM inks or not

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

Hi,

I am a confused Noob to the world of Digital Negative/B&W printing. I am waiting for delivery of a refurbished R3000 printer, and I’ve already received my Deluxe set of Piezography2 Digital Negative and Print System. And I was able to find the chart in the forum on how/where to load the different inks.

My confusion however is in two different instructions for first loading the inks into the never used before printer.

The install procedure given on the web page: http://www.piezography.com/support/2010support/R3000_ink_change.html highly suggests to load OEM inks first, test the printer, flush the printer, then install the Piezography inks.

The instruction sheet that came with the Deluxe kit: “Insert #104, dated 11/10/2014” States in bold print “If using Piezography inks in a new R3000, we recommend NOT installing color to test the printer because it is difficult to eliminate color staining in BW prints”.

So, I am unsure at this point how to proceed.

Also, compounding the issue is the fact that the kit only contained 1 set of carts instead of 2. I have an email in to sales about this. This will make it impossible to flush with PiezoFlush until I get a 2nd set of carts.

I am hoping that Tech Support can recommend the best way to proceed.

Thanks!

Steve

2

The testing with OEM is to make sure everything is working as expected. Since you want Piezography, assume your printer is good to go and just install the refillables. If things DON’T work, you can always insert the OEM carts to test that before sending it in for repair. I didn’t even bother with the OEM carts in my R2880 and went right to refillables from the get-go. I was able to sell the unopened carts for a decent amount.

Since the R3000 has long ink lines and dampers, it would take a significant amount of ink (and therefore money) to get colors out, especially for the dense colors (Y, VM, C). Probably upwards of 100mL total.

So tl;dr, install refillables, but hold onto the OEM carts until you’re sure everything is working.

3

Hi Steve,
I have a R3000 and inserted the Piezography carts without first using the OEM carts. I then ran a linearization to confirm everything was in working order. I had no problems. As they say, your mileage may vary.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Piezography. You’ll be glad you made this choice. Just make sure you read the manual, follow the suggested maintenance routines regarding shaking carts and ink bottles and printing regularly. Oh yeah, and purchase a humidifier for those drier months. I’ve been following this forum for about a year and folks seem to have many more problems during the winter months.
John

4

Hi Steve,

The reason this was recommended originally was because of color staining being a hassle to chase out of the system, unless you have Flushing carts, which your deluxe set is sold with, for this exact reason, to eliminate color staining and allow you to start your system with OEM cartridges to verify it’s operation.

Your 2nd set of cartridges were shipped out yesterday and you should be seeing them tomorrow.

We always, and I mean ALWAYS start our NEW or Refurbished printers with OEM inks to verify the operation and output before switching to our inks. I have absolutely experiences failure with heads right out of the box and Epson is very good about shipping replacements if reported in a timely manner.

Here is a recent post that relates to this one directly http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/showthread.php?1998-R2000-carts-draining

5

Hi Kelly,

Got the 2nd set of carts today. Thanks to Wells and everyone for getting them out quickly!

Thanks too for clearing up my confusion. I will start with the OEM carts and run some tests, then do some prints to make sure all is OK with the printer. Then it’s off to making digital negatives, I can’t wait!

Thanks everyone for your input.

Steve