In praise of the Epson P600...

[jsrockit]

This printer has allowed me to do something that no other inkjet printer has allowed me to do... which is, not use it for long stretches of time and then use it without issues. I didn't use the printer for 9 months. The other day I wanted to use it, so I removed the ink carts, shook them up, and them put them back in place. First print was perfect. Prior to that, I didn;t use it for 2 months and had the same results. Very happy with this printer. 🙂

 

[Calzone]

This printer has allowed me to do something that no other inkjet printer has allowed me to do... which is, not use it for long stretches of time and then use it without issues. I didn't use the printer for 9 months. The other day I wanted to use it, so I removed the ink carts, shook them up, and them put them back in place. First print was perfect. Prior to that, I didn;t use it for 2 months and had the same results. Very happy with this printer. 🙂

I've been beating the snot out of my printer, an Epson 3880. Been printing for 1 1/4 years and only once had to do a power clean to deal with a clog.

Glad to hear that Epson is building work horses.

Anyways I think printing has definitely made me into a better shooter.

Cal

 

[GaryLH]

Good to know.. I went to a Canon printer because I was third of fighting ink jet issues.. I've had 4 Epson printers starting from the days of the 1200. All of them eventually clogged so bad on me, I had to get rid of them (btw tried all the usual unclog methods). The Canon so far has not clogged but I've only had it fr about 1 year now. Most of my clogging issues n Epson came after 2 years.

Gary

 

[sojournerphoto]

The other week I switched my 3880 on for the first time in 3 years, ran a single cleaning cycle and it printed perfectly. I was expecting it to be scrap to be honest, so both relieved and impressed.

I have no interest in shooting unless I'm printing - probably my age and history, but the end product is a document.

Mike

 

[jsrockit]

Right, with consistent usage (or snot beating)... they generally give you no issue. However, once dormant, these printers usually give problems. Are we just lucky? I was thinking maybe something was different in the P series, but Mike's response leads me to believe I've just been lucky.

 

[sojournerphoto]

The x800 series was suppoed to have improved matters with coated heads and stuff, and the x880s have a new inkset. However, I was pretty staggered with my experience and am simply grateful.

 

[Calzone]

I do maintenance like cleaning my capping station. Some people use Windex, but I use Piezoflush.

I really beat the snot out of my printer. Some would call the heavy-heavy use abuse.

It is important for the capping station to seal well to prevent clogs. The wiper blade also collects dried ink that I clean off with a Q-tip wet with Piezoflush.

Cal

 

[robert blu]

A few days ago my HP 9180 (about 11/12 years old!) stop to print anything related to red!
I checked the usual things, replaced a couple of cartridgeI already had home, tried to clean what was possible...with no result. Ok, after so many years it was expected!

After a few thinking and research I bought the P-600, placed in my studio, installed and started to print.

Absolutely satisfied ! By the way I found this article by Ctein quite informative and helpful.

robert

PS: I know a P-800 in the long term would be more economical but I tend to print small on large paper therefore the ink cost is less important to me.

 

[Godfrey]

I had my Epson R2400 for almost 11 years and 14,000 prints. I recall one or two clogs with it over all that time, both cleared with a couple of cleaning cycles.

The P600 replaced it about a year ago. It's a better printer in every way ... I don't expect any worse service from it.

(I don't generally 'beat the snot' out of equipment; I just use it as it was intended, to whatever limits it has. I want to know how the snot gets into it in the first place... ;-)

G

 

[Bob Michaels]

I had my Epson R2400 for almost 11 years and 14,000 prints. I recall one or two clogs with it over all that time, both cleared with a couple of cleaning cycles.

I don't think I have even bothered to do a nozzle check on my 2400 is probably 7 years, even when I haven't printed for months. I quit doing nozzle checks because they always came out perfect.

10-12 years ago, I was quite knowledgeable about keeping Epson printers printing well and knowing when it was time to give up and replace them. But these new ones seem quite bulletproof.

 

[Dogman]

.... After a few thinking and research I bought the P-600, placed in my studio, installed and started to print.

Absolutely satisfied ! By the way I found this article by Ctein quite informative and helpful....

I probably skimmed over that Ctein article when it was first written. But I stumbled on it again a few months back. Despite using downloaded profiles and being meticulous about materials and procedures, I was no longer totally happy with the colors I was getting from my Epson R3000. So I gave the printer color management option a try and damned if it didn't clear up all my issues immediately!

Of course, my needs are pretty basic--I'm not trying to please anyone but myself, I don't print larger than what fits on Super B sized paper and I don't need to match up with clients.

By the way, the R3000 has been pretty reliable for me. I do nozzle checks after leaving the machine dormant for more than a couple of weeks and I sometimes have to run a cleaning cycle or three when the check shows a balky nozzle. But no major issues after 4+ years. (Knock on wood.)

 

[lukitas]

A little warning for P600 owners.

Some Ebay sellers offer the full set of 'initial' cartridges at a very appealing price.
These are the cartridges that come with the printer when new. They cannot be used as replacements : the printer refuses to work, and gives you a sermon about OEM cartridges.

They are useless unless installed in a virgin printer. As a new printer always comes with an 'initial' set, they are useless anyhow.

Cheers!

 

[Tati]

About to start using a P600. Do you guys recommend leaving it 'on' all the time? I read someplace it's best and it has a sleep mode or something. Or if I feel i won't print for at least two or three days should i just turn it off?

Maybe there's no difference.
thanks
T

 

[Dogman]

Tati, I have the R3000 not the P600. If I'm not using my printer for a week or more, I try to remember to just turn it on every now and then. It turns off automatically after a few hours. I'm not certain this does much in the long run but I've read the same advice.

 

[Tati]

Tati, I have the R3000 not the P600. If I'm not using my printer for a week or more, I try to remember to just turn it on every now and then. It turns off automatically after a few hours. I'm not certain this does much in the long run but I've read the same advice.

Ok. I'll have to try that too, turning it on occasionally. Will need to get into some kind of routine. Hope to print slow but steady so it should be good. I will print small. And maybe a print a month with the various test prints? Looking forward to experimenting a little with paper.

Was at the local camera shop a few days ago. Saw some printed samples. I liked the Canson papers. Platine fibre rag looked good. 310g. No oba's. A luster I can print to in both color and b&w.

Canson has lots of really nice paper. I am attracted to the mat papers, but think to get real familiar with one or two kinds and stick with that. They also have the really nice paper available in A4 and bigger sizes. Epson seems to only make available their good papers in A3 and bigger.

A paper I read about, some seem to really like it, the Canson baryta photographique I didn't care for. A bit too brilliant for my tastes.

I have a pack of canson samples. Also some really nice samples of Hahnemuhle papers. They have something called photo rag pearl that might to the trick.

Think a luster of some kind, using photo black ink, would give me the detail I'd like to keep in color and b&w prints.

But it's early days. I could be wrong. Will try and leave myself open to the experiments to come. Canson's mat bfk rives looks pretty good.

Thanks...

 

[robert blu]

If you print small, as I do the P600 is an excellent printer.

I like matt papers and my suggestion is after preliminary trials to selct 2 or 3 kind of papers (as one matt smooth, one matt textures, one semi-gloss) and print B&W or colors on them. Make experience on them. Be aware they if you change from matt to gloss you'll loose some ink (to clean the heads)

As from my post 8 I found the embedded profiles in the P600 are very good.
I'm sure you'll enjoy your printer and your prints as well.

I sometimes leave my printer off for a few days, even two weeks when I was on holiday and never had problems but I think the idea to switch on every now and then is a good idea.

robert

 

[Tati]

If you print small, as I do the P600 is an excellent printer.

I like matt papers and my suggestion is after preliminary trials to selct 2 or 3 kind of papers (as one matt smooth, one matt textures, one semi-gloss) and print B&W or colors on them. Make experience on them. Be aware they if you change from matt to gloss you'll loose some ink (to clean the heads)

As from my post 8 I found the embedded profiles in the P600 are very good.
I'm sure you'll enjoy your printer and your prints as well.

I sometimes leave my printer off for a few days, even two weeks when I was on holiday and never had problems but I think the idea to switch on every now and then is a good idea.

robert

Ok, Robert, thanks for the advice...

 

[Dogman]

Tati, I agree Canson makes some excellent papers. I use matte papers exclusively and I'm a big fan of Canson's Rag Photographique, Velin Museum Rag (previously labelled Arches) and Printmaking Rag (previously labelled BFK Rives). All are traditional mould made art papers coated for ink jet printing. Epson also has some really excellent papers, my favorite being Hot Press Natural, another traditional rag fiber art paper. When I used more standard style photo papers, I also liked Epson's Exhibition Fiber. Hahnemuhle also has some great papers to choose from, both traditional art papers and traditional photographic papers. One I've recently been trying and liking a lot is Hahnemuhle's Bamboo, a warm toned matte paper with a different surface texture to anything else I've tried.

Lots of good choices these days for making quality prints. The ink jet paper selection is actually better than what you can find for the chemical darkroom these days.