From some of our bloggers come some very good questions and suggestions:
Mark Albert asks:
“I have had severe problems with clogging print heads on Canon and would like to learn if Epson has similar problems. Thank you.”
Jill Webber from “Down under” reports:
“I used to have an Epson printer and had very bad ink clogging problems. Finished up ditching the Epson and purchasing a Canon. Haven’t had any ink clogging problems with the Canon but the print quality isn’t nearly as good as the Epson. I wish now that I had just gone out and purchased another Epson as I knew the print results were good.”
And here’s an interesting tidbit from Ronnie Waide:
“I have used Epson printers for years and just recently bought another, the R1800 to go along with my R800. These are excellent printers and produce great prints.
I have had one machine with clogging problems, a 925, but realize one problem was that it was not being used often enough. We travel quite a bit, but I have had no problem with ink clogging, even after 4 weeks of idle time on the printer. I read to place the printer in a garbage bag and place a glass of water partially filled with water in the bag. It works in our area with our low humidity levels and thus very dry air. The printers have never failed to print immediately when we return home.”
And lastly, from an email I received from Gerry Pang here in San Diego:
“Your most recent blog is talking about printers and I’m wondering
about the difference between the Epson 1800 and the Epson 2400. Seems
like the major difference is that the 2400 makes better b&w prints.
They both print the same size so I’m wondering why the 2400 costs
almost 50%-100% more in cost?”
Ok, let’s start with how I answered Gerry – Here is what I said:
Here is Epson’s website comparing the two – – The difference is, as you say, in the inksets – the 1800 uses the Ultrachrome Hi-Gloss inkset and the 2400 uses the Ultrachrome pigment inkset – – The 2400 inkset has a slightly larger color gamut, and is definitely better for B&W …
If you are just using the printer for everyday use, and your B&W and Fine Art work would be limited, I’d stick with the 1800 – – Properly profiled, I’ve seen excellent prints out of it – – and even though the inkset is “Hi-Gloss”, it makes wonderful lustre prints (such as the Epson Premium Lustre, by far my favorite inkjet paper)…
If, however, you are planning on doing a lot of B&W work, or printing to fine art papers such as canvas and photo rag, I’d definitely go with the 2400…
And on the “Clogging” issue:
ALL inkjet printers are prone to clogging – that’s just the nature of the beast, some brand and models more than others, perhaps – we’ll all have to live with it. That said, there is no rhyme or reason as to why one printer clogs more than another, other than the one factor: how long your printer sits unused.
I like Ronnie’s suggestion above – keeping the printer “moist” for extended travel – you are basically “humidifying” your printer and inks. The other suggestion is one I use on my Epson 9500 – I try to run a nozzle check about once a week, even if I’m not printing, just to keep things “flowing’, so to speak…
Thanks to Mark, Jill, Ronnie and Gerry for the great questions and comments!
So, what do YOU think?