Digital BW, The Print

> Thanks for the responses about refilling the C88 carts. It was as I
> suspected but hoped was wrong. I do my own refilling on my 1280 with
> MIS UT2 inks and really do get good results from the ink/printer
> combination. Again thanks for the responses, I've ordered the carts I
> can refill for that pinter just before this note.

The MIS website doesn't list refillable cartridges for the C88 yet,  
or offer chips for it.

Am I correct in guessing that the C88 uses the same cartridges as the  
C86?

And what about the chips? Would C86 chips work on the C88?

The ink in the C88 seems to be somewhat different than earlier inks.  
The ordinary black does a very nice job on Epson and Kirkland glossy  
papers: no "bronzing" or sitting on the surface as far as I can tell.  
I don't know whether this difference in ink would require that the  
C88 chips be different from the C84/6 ones.

More generally... the following information about installed ink  
cartridges is reported by the Epson Status Monitor software:

1) manufacturer (Epson)
2) ink type (black, magenta, etc.)
3) cartridge type (standard capacity or ...)
4) cartridge code (e.g. T0601)
5) production date (e.g. '05/07)

Ink type appears to be used by the printer driver. If nothing else,  
it tells the driver which paper choices to make available. Production  
dates seems to be for information only.

How significant is the cartridge code? What do Epson printers do if  
manufacturer, ink and cartridge type are correct for the printer, but  
the cartridge *code* is wrong? Will it refuse to print, or merely  
complain and warn you that the sky may fall?   That is to ask: If I  
were to put C86 chipped cartridges in a C88 printer, what would happen?

Thanks.
Myron