Digital BW, The Print

Bob Frost wrote, in part:
 
> ... As the 1280/90 was designed to work with DYE inks, it isn't the
> least bit surprising that it won't work properly with pigment inks, as you
> and others have found out...

If the 1280-90 were the only samples of dye ink printers that we've used
with pigments, I'd have to agree that maybe dye printers ought to be avoided
for pigment ink use.  Some have great luck with the 1280-90, but my personal
experience is that it is the least reliable Epson I've used with MIS inks.
(Note that many of the 1280-90 problems relate to bad continuous flow
systems and carts, but I'm excluding that discussion here.) 

The 1280-90 problems, however, may not be representative of all Epson dye
printers.  My 3000 and 1160 lasted for years with pigments.  The 1160
finally died, but the 3000 was sold as is probably still pumping pigs with
good reliability.  The 1160 was also used by me as a test bed, where I even
printed with water-color pigments.  So, it had a tough -- but long -- life.
Many high-volume printers have used the 3000, 7000 and probably other dye
printers for years with pigment inks.

Now I'm using an R220 -- another printer designed for dyes -- with complete
reliability with MIS pigments.  

So, while I can imagine that Epson might use finer screens or passages in
the heads of printers designed for dyes as opposed to pigments, I suspect
the problem may be more unique to the 1280-90 than an across the board
problem with Epson dye printers.

Of course the bottom line is that with the third party inks one can simply
achieve better B&W and more lightfast prints for less money even if the
printers don't last as long.  The ink price difference is so dramatic that
it's cheaper to throw away a printer occasionally than pay Epson's prices.

But for those using the 1280-90 with Eboni, be sure to rinse the dyes off
the parking pad.  Eboni and dye are not compatible.  My experience with an
old 1280 and Eboni was that I had to clean the surface of the head off
routinely until I rinsed the dyes out of the parking pad.  Then the 1280
worked for about a year without trouble.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com