Digital BW, The Print

I have only tried Piezography and I am very happy with it. I have the Epson 4000 and I have had to do some cleaning cycles now and then when the printer has been out of action for a while - a week or so - or longer. Not too much trouble. I have used K7 inks on the Epson 1290 (1280) too with little trouble and that printer is known to be rather "cloggy". I think K7 inks must be a good match for printers that might be prone to get clogs. -I have not heard that about the 4000 before this tread - and I would not say that about the one I have.

I do not have any experience with the MIS inksets.

FinnK


Finn--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "lambonick" <BMWNick@...> wrote:
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@...m, "pr_roark" <pr_roark@> wrote:
> >
> > 
> > > I have a 4000 and the clogging can be intensely irritating. ...
> > 
> > That machine does have a reputation for clogging.  I wonder what Epson did differently on it that caused that problem.  The frequency of complaints is like a throw-back to the 1280 days.
> > 
> > I have not used a K7 inkset, but with respect to the MIS offerings and the inks I've used, the matte-only Eboni-6 and my Carbon-6 midtones appear to be clog free.  The Eboni in my 7500 will occassionally need a cleaning cycle, but I don't think I've even had a clog with an ink made with the C6 base, which has a high glycerol content and no binder in it.  (I'm excluding from this generalization problems I've had with carts for the 1800 & 220.)  The HP-C6 dilutions also appear to be clog free, although the 1400 is the only printer I've had those in for an extended period.
> > 
> > So, if I had a 4000, I'd use some combination that used the dilute Eboni (needs agitation) and C6-diluted HP Z3100 PK (more stable than HP's own dilutions).  C6-diluted MIS PK is a warmer version of the 100% carbon approach that is also more stable in suspension than Epson's LK, according to my centrifuge tests.
> > 
> > The C6-dilution approach I'm referring to is described at 
> > http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Ink-Mixing.pdf
> > 
> > Paul
> > www.PaulRoark.com
> >
> 
> 
> Thank you Paul for this very thorough answer.
> 
> I was hoping to avoid DIY solutions, even if it results in better prints because I don't have the time to experiment. I wanted something 'plug and play', but you and others bring up a good point: clogging.
> 
> My print sessions are going to be sporadic, with perhaps 1-6 months between uses. If the printer will clog after say 2 weeks, but even 8 months later it only takes 2 deep cleanings to unclog it then I'm OK with that. But if it means that after 3 days of non-usage I've got permanent clogs then I'll have to find another solution.
> 
> I see my options as follows:
> 
> 1. Use the Epson inks but with QTR.
> I've tried this but I could never quite get the result I wanted.
> 
> 2. MIS UT7 set
> 
> 3. Piezography K7 set
> 
> The response here has favored the K7 inkset, have those people tried the MIS and found it wanting, or did they just try the K7 and were happy enough to not try other solutons?
> 
> Nick
>