Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "kd7mw" <pklein@2...> wrote:
> Jim: Thanks very much for the info on refill cartridges vs. CIS.
> 
> At the end of your message, you mention that even though CIS in the
> long run costs less than refilling cartridges, there are still
> reasons to go with refills.  Would you elaborate further?

I can't ever make an argument for carts being more convienent or 
cheaper. In situations where you are testing different inks and want 
to switch quickly from one to another, carts are better than CIS. If 
you are having trouble with one inkset, and you want to run printing 
test, merely filling up carts instead of using a CIS/CFS is of course 
wise too.

There are a couple of issues with CIS/CFS that you don't get with 
carts. One problem is that the CIS "carts" can work themselves up over 
time since they are not held down by the grey cart clamps. MIS has 
addressed this with modified cart clamps for $10 that exert downward 
pressure on the CFS yet still allow tubing to clear the grey clamp. 
The other problem that some people report is that the tubing is 
permeable, and the k ink especially is prone to evaporation and so 
drying up.

My own personal take on all this is that I'm probably going to go CFS 
in a month or two, and use the cart clamps and MIS's new f16 resetter 
which is roughly 1/2 price of the read only CIS chips. Since MIS CFS 
is so cheap and parts are available, I'll toss the tubing/cart/ink 
every 4-6 months, and replace, along with ink.


  
> 
> Also, how many times can you refill a cartridge before you need to 
> discard it and buy a new one?

On the We-Ink site they think refills are possible. MIS doesn't 
recommend it. I have never refilled, I've always used virgin carts so 
I'm not qualified to comment.
Jim H.

> 
> Thanks,
> --Peter Klein
> 
>