QTR-Quadtone RIP

>I have a R1800 I want to convert to black and white only. 
>I saw the option for UTBO at inksupply.com and it looks 
>nice but to me it looks like its just using 3 of the same 
>black inks. Is this true?

Yes, for a full write up see http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/R1800.htm

The point of that inkset was to obtain a relatively neutral 100% carbon
inkset.  The "blended" inksets (where color inks are mixed with carbon) are,
in my view, a compromise I'm no longer willing to make in my work.  The 1800
was the first printer with the 1.5 pl droplet that made reasonably smooth
prints.  There is a comparison of smoothness in my write-up.  Still, of
course, it's not going to be as smooth as an inkset that uses dilute inks. 

>Is there an option out there that you can buy that uses 
>7 or all 8 carts to get a really nice good black and white print? 

The problem with dilute 100% carbon is that it gets warm.  However, what I
found is that it's the base as much as the version of carbon used that makes
the image warm.  So, taking the most neutral carbon I could find -- MIS
Eboni -- I searched for a base that could keep it at least somewhat neutral.
The results of this search are the Eboni-6 and Carbon-6 inksets.  See
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Eboni-6.pdf and
http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Ink-Mixing.pdf 

I've "moth-balled" my 1800 and now use these two inkset exclusively.  You
can see in my write-ups the tones that I'm achieving.  It's very dependent
on the paper used.  As a practical matter, while there is always an increase
in Lab B relative to the paper base, however, with a brightened paper the
Lab B can be held down to near 0 -- depending in part on the printer and
profile.  The smaller the droplet, and warmer carbon gets.  So, with an
1800, using the most "neutral" paper -- Premier Art Smooth BW -- the Lab B
can be held to about 1.  (On my 1400, which also has a 1.5 pl droplet size,
Lab B with Eboni-6 is 0.74 at 50% and peaks at 1.26 at 65%.)

The Carbon-6 wetting agent (Photo Flo) is not good enough for the 1.5 pl
printers, but the Eboni-6 wetting agent is.  Also, some have experimented
with other wetting agents that produce very smooth prints in an 1800.  See
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/message/9293
0 on the Yahoo B&W digital print forum: "...I tried a 50-50 mix of Ecover
Rinse Aid and Nature Clean Rinse Agent bought at local grocery store. ...
Banding is now gone. Zero. Nothing. Even under a magnifying glass."  This
was on an 1800.  I've used some strong Dow surfactants and obtained smooth
results also. (The author of the B&W Digital Print forum note might be
willing to share his profiles also.  I don't have any for the 1800 with
dilute carbon inks.) 

Bottom line, with QTR the 1800 can make very good 100% carbon prints -- if
Eboni-6 or a powerful enough wetting agent is used with the Carbon-6
home-brew approach.

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com