Digital BW, The Print

Jim, THANKS SO MUCH for the detailed explaination. I just printed it 
out to keep as a referance. I did purchase a few months back the CIS 
from nomorecarts because I had heard about problems from the MIS CFS.

Thanks again
Vinny
htpp://www.wulfsden.com 

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "jim hayes" <jimhayes@j...> 
wrote:
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Vincent Orlando" 
> <orlandovl@h...> wrote:
> > 
> > Jim, I am not quite sure of the difference between a CIS and CFS, 
> > Maybe you can help me with the difference
> > Thanks in advance
> > 
> > Vinny
> >
>  
> Vinny,
> 
> Mainly just made by two different sources with somewhat different 
> features.
> 
> Most (used to be all) CIS that I know of are made by 
nomorecarts.com 
> who used to sell directly from their website; now they only sell 
> through distributers who name them things like "Niagra". The recent 
> Niagra II system I think it is- I don't know if nomorecarts makes 
it 
> or if it is a copy with improvements. If you go to the nomorecarts 
> website you will see enough pictures to get an idea.
> It is called the Continuous Inking System.
> 
> The CFS ( the Continuous Flow System) is made by MIS. I don't know 
of 
> anyone else but MIS that sells them.
> 
> If you were to take a poll, most people would say they prefer the 
CIS. 
> I posted a few opinions on the virtues of each a week or two back. 
> I'll highlight a few here:
> 
> 1) If you have a chipped printer (1280/1290/1270) you will find 
that 
> the CIS has a special chip that always reads full- you don't have 
to 
> reset it. It is expensive though, and for a time recently could not 
be 
> bought seperately (see the We-Ink site to buy these seperately). It 
> adds $90 US (for two chips) to the cost of the CIS. The CFS uses a 
> chip which has to be reset with an approx $45 device- the f16 
> resetter; the chips themselves ($5 each) can be DOA or can blow out 
> when handling them or installing them (tip: install a CFS with a 
chip 
> with power to printer off and unplugged and avoid static charge 
> buildup by touching ground before picking one up).
> 
> 2) the CFS is not as polished as the CIS, has less complete and 
> updated instructions, and is more mess and effort to install.
> 
> Gee, so why even consider a CFS? Well...
> 
> 3) The CFS is much less expensive, and all the parts- tubing, elbow 
> joints, carts, bottle caps, adhesive to glue cart to elbows- can be 
> bought seperately. You can buy it in pieces and make it yourself 
(save 
> about $10 over assembled CFS). Or buy just the carts/tubing and 
> replace your currrent CFS quite cheaply. So switching inks or 
renewing 
> with fresh ink every 6 months if you think your old ink is bad is 
$$ 
> feasible. It costs about $38 (+ ink cost)to do this- the same cost 
> roughly of buying new carts and flushing tubing on a CIS. So it may 
be 
> less work to replace a CFS because no tubing/elbow/flushing work is 
> involved other then trimming to length- you get a new set to thread 
> thru the bottle caps. And new tubing with no ink deposits to flush 
> out.
> 
> 4) The plastic arm that holds the tubing on the CIS and is 
velcrowed 
> to the printer top can sag and give you a really bad day when the 
> tubing crashes into the head. The tubing clamps that perform the 
same 
> purpose on the CFS are not going anywhere, although on the 1280 you 
> have to remove the cover, at least when printing.
> 
> 5) A real big plus is MIS offers optional cart clamps that have 
been 
> chewed out by them to allow clearance for tubing. The cart clamps 
are 
> the hinged tops on the print head that push the non CIS/CFS carts 
down 
> and lock them in place. You remove them to install a CIS or CFS. On 
> the CFS, you can replace them with these modified from MIS for an 
> extra $10 for the k and color carts both. They firmly lock down the 
> carts and solve the problem that the CIS/CFS would otherwise have 
of 
> riding up over time, off the nipple. This is a serious problem not 
> only because it causes air to get into the head (bad, very bad), 
but 
> because if it is a chipped printer, it can cause a red light to go 
on 
> because the chip has ridden up a fraction above the mating 
connector.
> 
> I don't know if these cart clamps will work with a CIS; they are 
> chewed out to accomodate a CFS. The CIS AFAIK still relies on felt 
> pads to give friction to prevent riding up- not a perfect solution 
> IMHO. I hear some people in the past have added tape or other 
things 
> wrapped around the head to hold the CIS carts down. On my two 
1160's 
> with CIS units I found the riding up did occur but as long as I 
> pressed down carts every so often routinely I was okay. I don't 
know 
> how well the read only chips on an 1280 CIS would take a 
misalignment 
> though.
> Jim H.