Any one 3rd party inks on an Epson Stylus Photo Printer: The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer.

IvanL

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

What does your warranty say about the use of third-party ink?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

I just tried 3rd party inks on a Canon PRO 100, literally destroyed the printer, replacing the clogged printhead costs more than a new printer. (Trashed it)
I also have a 2007 model Epson Stylus PRO 9600 and have ALWAYS used factory inks in it, colors are always perfect and never a minute of down time. I print commercially for customers so proper color as well as dependability is critical. Cheap ink is not worth the risk in my opinion.

Bill MN Loc: Western MN

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

I have a Canon 8 ink tank Pixma ip 8500. Don't remember how old it is. I've been using the cheaper inks for many years with no problems. It was not a cheap printer I remember that. I believe higher end printers take the cheaper ink better or maybe I'm just lucky. I use about 20 to 30 ink tanks a year. I wish they still made that printer.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

I have been using 3rd party ink in my Epson printers for 20 years now; all from the same supplier. Never had a problem once. The colors are good and I am looking at a 20 year old photograph right now and it is just as good as the day I printed it.

The only reason I ever replace one of my printers is either because I upgraded or simply wore the thing out mechanically, never because of a print head or clogging problem.

Oh, and it roughly costs me about 33 cents a cartridge to refill. I use refillable cartridges and do it myself and it is not messy. The refillable cartridges have more capacity also.

Walt C

I tried 499Inks and would not recommend them. Stuff leaks, refills don't work and even if you purchase new cartridges they won't stand behind them.

wemagee

Printcountry.com I have been using them 5 years Ink is just as good as OEM epson $5.49 per cartridge $56 for 13 I have an Epson 837

The Watcher

I've seen some good reviews for this ink. They also have paper profiles.
http://www.precisioncolors.com/E9A.html

kitcar Loc: Liverpool.Merseyside. UK

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

Re' your enquiry regarding 3rd party inks, I have been using compatible inks for years.
Besides being less than a 3rd of the price of the branded inks I have found them pretty stable.
I will-not purchase a printer unless it will take cheaper/compatible inks & I have had a few (different makes) all-in-one printers over the years.
My latest purchase (1year ago) Epsom XP-305. The retailer (reliable) added a free set of compatible inks & was advised to load them, ignore Epsom pop up warnings & to keep the supplied Epsom inks to insert in the printer in case of printer faults under the warranty..
Also advised not to download Epsom updates.
The amount of money I have saved has been more than buying a new printer.

jesse1dog Loc: Afon Fathew

I've used compatible inks in my Epson Stylus Color 880 for years now - no problems at all.
However the same make of ink in a Canon printer was OK to start with but then print head problems. The issues might not have been ink related, but they might have been.

Shoeless_Photographer Loc: Lexington

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

I once worked at an Epson repair depot. I don't recall anyone ever talking about how to spot cheap ink in the returned printers. I do know they don't recommend off-brand because they say they're oily and can cause problems. If we had issues with print heads, we'd just replace them, calibrate them, and ship them back to the customer.

I use the cheapy refillable ink you can get at Wal-Mart in my Stylus Color 980. Seems to work.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

IvanL wrote:

The cost of an ink cartridge on my R2400 is not $19, but much cheaper from a 3rd party. But I'm afraid of damaging my printer. Has anyone used 3rd party ink cartridges and would they please share their experience?

I used to try different 3rd party inks, but it was always hit or miss. Luckily, I never had any damage, just bad results. I now buy only OEM ink.

Michael Hartley Loc: Deer Capital of Georgia

If Seiko, makes Epson inks, wouldn't that be kinda using 3rd party inks?

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

Michael Hartley wrote:

If Seiko, makes Epson inks, wouldn't that be kinda using 3rd party inks?

No.

Blasthoff Loc: Life halved NY and IN

Michael Hartley wrote:

If Seiko, makes Epson inks, wouldn't that be kinda using 3rd party inks?

If you didn't know, Seiko and Epson are the same company, different title.