Epson Ecotank printer inks

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Does anyone know if there are genuine differences between the inks for 4-colour Epson Ecotank printers?

I am considering buying one as cartridges are just too inconvenient and hope a built-in CISS is less messy than an add-on version. However I have noticed that the bottles of Epson inks seem to be for specific printer models with low initial cost printer having higher running cost inks and vice versa.

For example, Ecotank 104 bottles yield about 2500 pages for £10/colour (0.4p/page/colour), compared to Ecotank 102 bottles which yield 6000 pages for about the same price (0.16p/page/colour). So the 102 bottles work out less than half the price of the 104 bottles.

However Epson say these inks are for different printer models.
104 bottles are for ET-2710/2711/2720/2726 & 4700, while the lower running cost 102 bottles are for ET-2700/2750/3700/3750 & 4750 printers which are generally more expensive units.

Since the lower cost inks go with the higher cost printers this looks like yet another version of the Gillette razor blade sales model, where the low printer prices are recovered with high ink costs. But I freely admit that Epson's (and other printer manufacturers) excessive use of this approach has made me somewhat cynical of their sales methods, so I may be wrong. However both 102 and 104 bottles are 4-colour dye ink systems, so I also suspect they are exactly the same inks.

Can anyone confirm this? Are the lower running cost ink bottles capable of being used on the lower cost printers without specialist printer profiles?
 
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I was looking and wondering the same thing. It could be due to the print heads being used on different models, thicker/thiner inks im not sure. While there is a difference in cost a XL colour cartridge for say a WF series printer can cost as much as £30 and yields only 1900 pages

633 pages for £10 in comparison to the 2500 pages from the Eco Tank 104 bottles. So 4 times cheaper than the old standard home printers
 
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I have an ecotank epson the ET2710 that uses the 104 inks. The epson website says the 102 inks use dye and pigment inks also the black bottle is bigger than the 104 so I think printers that use the 102 have a bigger ink tank for black. (not that it would make any different as once the tank is full you take the bottle off then refill with the rest if needed)

I think pigment ink might be a bit thicker than dye ink. So the ones that use 102 might have different print heads for pigment ink.

I think the also bottles have different notches/fittings on them so a 102 bottle won't fit the notches/fittings on the 104 printers and 104 won't fit 102 etc.
 
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I have an ecotank epson the ET2710 that uses the 104 inks. The epson website says the 102 inks use dye and pigment inks also the black bottle is bigger than the 104 so I think printers that use the 102 have a bigger ink tank for black. (not that it would make any different as once the tank is full you take the bottle off then refill with the rest if needed)

I think pigment ink might be a bit thicker than dye ink. So the ones that use 102 might have different print heads for pigment ink.
Its just the black ink that is pigment, which Epson has used in most of their inks for years. If I recall correctly, that's how they fixed the orange plague issue with the original SP870 series.

I think the also bottles have different notches/fittings on them so a 102 bottle won't fit the notches/fittings on the 104 printers and 104 won't fit 102 etc.
Quite possibly, but just another obstacle they put up. Most cartridge re-fillers have loads of spare syringes around for just these situations. ;)

I think I'll take the risk, buy the cheaper printer and use the cheaper ink, simply on the principle of not allowing myself to be conned by them.

If they had not abused the cartridge market then I probably wouldn't start from the position of thinking Epson were just trying to rip me off. It could take them many years to overcome the damage that did to their reputation.

Thanks for your info, though.
 
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My Canon 475 has recently started chewing paper and the like. Why do printers seem to last about 2 years then go faulty. My wife actually agreed we should have a new printer so I found a ET-2750 Ecotank and liked the idea of how many it will print etc so I have ordered one. The auto double sided print sounds useful too and its actually a smaller footprint than the Canon and immediately I start eyeing up the extra space for an UW monitor.

Anyway seriously I have had Epson printers before and I actually like them better than Canon. Software was okayish on the Epson I had before but the software on the Canon is shocking. Scanning app its like a 5 year old wrote it.
 
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Ive had an epson wf3540 since... well forever. Ive had 2 end of service life on the maintenance box messages, 1st time we did a "fix" on it, this time we have a replacement, (that I actually purchased the first time and managed to find once more, several years later )
Other than that I have had no issues with the printer.
I have had issues with paper, you have to keep it dry, if it gets damp it can cause issues, if its a very cheap paper in small packs that tends to cause issues with jamming, but otherwise I have bought a good quality paper very cheap in boxes of 5 reams , I generally get through 3 or 4 of these boxes a year, and providing the paper is kept nice and warm, or at least not freezing cold, and fla,t and not in a moisture loving atmosphere, ie dont leave your window open all year round in the room you store your paper, you can find that you can print without any problems.
If I have a "printer" issue more often than not its the paper or moisture in the air.
I would also say that in this work force I have never used Epson ink cartridges, instead I have used the really cheapo compatible ones you can find on amazon or eBay, If I remember correctly I buy 5 sets and 6 extra blacks for £12.00
Again never had a problem
But now I have decided perhaps its best to get a new printer, and I have decided to go for the eco tank versions, my hubby is quite insistent we use only Epson branded ink in the printer , me Im tempted to look into it once it arrives and see what oither inks are available. I rarely had any issues with the cartridges before, so I am guessing the same suppliers would be able to provide me with the inks to refill an eco tank as well. But until I physically get the printer I wont be able to tell.

Previously since 1993 ish I have had the following printer makes

HP the ones that had a single paper tray , these were very exposed to the elements and the paper would often jam due to dampness , it didn't do a lot of fancy stuff, like double sided etc, it was an early desktop printer after all. I got annoyed with the amount of times I had to chuck out the paper as it got damp and thought I would go for a printer that held paper in an enclosed tray instead, and preferably hold a greater amount of paper
so I chose a Lexmark.... it must be said I found this to be satan spawn, it forever played up and after that I changed to Epson and have never had a problem since, I have a seperate printer I use for photograph printing Epson photo PX710W which has a better quality ink and this I do use genuine ink cartridges on, mainly because I sell my prints, and don't want them to fade away, and the Epson I believe gave a guarantee that if u use their paper and their ink they gave me a 100 or 200 year guarantee the print would remain fast, how they can say that I will never understand but so far its been working brilliantly, I've had it since 2011 no issues. Ive run fine paper through it, tissue paper as well had to do some sticking to a backing paper to keep it flat and uncreased but it printed beautifully.

If anyones got any advice on using the Epson Eco tanks I would much appreciate it.

Thanks
 
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Just bought one of these, happy so far and ink cost looks really low.

I've read a few articles online and can't decide if I should just leave the printer powered up all the time, or turn it off via the power button at the end of the day (but still plugged in).

Some articles seem to suggest that if left powered on the heads may dry out (it says they park and cap themselves when powered off to stop this). Others suggest the heads will cap themselves after a period of non use even if left powered on.

Are there any peeps in the know as to what is best to do - I'm quite happy leaving it turned on all the time (printer is used by multiple laptops and PC in different rooms, so more convenient if on rather than having to get up each time before use).

We shouldn't have an issue with the heads drying out from non-use, will probably be used at least a few times a week, and at the moment is being hammered due to home schooling.

Model is an Epson Ecotank 2710 - any peeps on here with any knowledge of best way to look after the printer - am I best leaving on constantly, powering off at night time, or powering off after each use/session?

Thank-you.
 
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I've read a few articles online and can't decide if I should just leave the printer powered up all the time, or turn it off via the power button at the end of the day (but still plugged in).

Some articles seem to suggest that if left powered on the heads may dry out (it says they park and cap themselves when powered off to stop this). Others suggest the heads will cap themselves after a period of non use even if left powered on.
I've had a few Epson printers over the years and leaving them powered up and unused is a sure fire way of blocking the head. I've heard the same claims that they should cap themselves, but experience has taught me that they don't. Leave it plugged in and switch off with the switch on the printer (which isn't a direct power switch, but starts the shut-down/start-up procedures).

I took an old SX-515 apart to fix it a while back and that definitely didn't cap the heads when it was left powered overnight. With the lid off you could actually see that. It moved the head to the parked position after about 5 minutes without printing, but only capped the head on the drain when it was switched off. OK, that's quite an old model and they may have changed the procedure on more recent models, but I doubt it.

I would try leaving it switched on overnight and then switch it off before it gets any use in the morning. If you hear mechanical movement when it is powering down that is likely the head being parked and capped - so it wasn't capped by itself after a few hours of inactivity. If it just switches off without a sound then it probably capped itself during the night.
 
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I've had a few Epson printers over the years and leaving them powered up and unused is a sure fire way of blocking the head. I've heard the same claims that they should cap themselves, but experience has taught me that they don't.

I took an old SX-515 apart to fix it a while back and that definitely didn't cap the heads when it was left powered overnight. With the lid off you could actually see that. OK, that's q

Thanks for this - that's what I thought!

Perhaps I'll just turn it on before a session of use when we are going to use it over a few hours, and then power off (rather than power off after each use, that might be 3 or 4 times a day).

But most certainly powered off when not going to be used for a number of hours.
 
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It will use a fair bit of ink every time you switch it on, just to flush the nozzles through. The ink may be cheaper than cartridge based printers, but it isn't free so switching on and off multiple times through the day isn't recommended.

With Epsons there are usually two power up nozzle flush cycles: a short one when the printer has been switched off at the printer switch but left plugged in and a longer one, using more ink, if it has been disconnected from the mains power whether switched off or not.
 

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Soldato
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I have just got a Epson ET2750, for the wife and when bought direct from Epson you can get two years unlimited ink for £39, which is the same sort of price an set of original refill bottles are.
It will mean that the colour laser printer usage will drop significantly, with a full set of replacement toners every six months at present, it might even work out cheaper for the amount of printing we do here.
 
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I have a epson eco 2600 trouble is i left mine with no use for months at a time last year, i've run through nozzle clear a number of times and it will not clean the black proper so now i've given up with ink jets.
 
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