Digital BW, The Print

>... can someone explain WHY third-party inksets seem to
>have much worse clogging problems than the Epson inks?
>...

I'm not sure I know all the factors, but here are a few that come to mind.

Of course, all inkjets occasionally clog, but there are reasons you hear
about them more here.

Pigments clog more than dyes, and most people on this list use pigments.

CISs cause clogs, and only third-party inks are used with them.  I've never
had a serious clog that was not the fault of a CIS.

You hear from the people who are having trouble, and most people on this
forum are using third-party inks.

Third party papers tend to be dusty and cause clogs (according to Epson).

People printing graphics are sensitive to the problem.  My HP that is used
for letters looks great for that, but it is seldom firing all of it's jets.

It may be that Epson has marginally better base/carrier for its pigments.
The Epson dye cartridges are often found to be excellent cleaning carts.

The co-solvent base used in the PiezoBW inkset and the MIS FS and VM blacks
are more volatile and can cause clogs.

I'm not sure that the Epson inks would do much better in the clogging
department if all the variables were equalized.  I'd guess Epson would win
such a contest, but not be much.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com