Hello all. New user here.

OK, after searching Google, I found you guys!

I want to give ciss a try, but want to know what to look for before buying. What are the "Must Haves" in a ciss system? Are there things to DEFINITELY make sure it has and things to AVOID specifically? I gleaned that silicon tubes are good, resetting chips are essential etc. but not sure about spongeless good or bad, just proprietary?..

I have never dealt with any type of ciss system before, but I am not scared to get my hands dirty (or inky) and have good common sense in how things mechanical work.

That being said, I would prefer a Out of the Box system, but could handle small tweaks.

I dont however have a lot of $$ to put out for it. So I figured I would see if any of the eBay items are at all worth it or if they should be avoided like the plague.

Here is one of them that seems to say the right things, appears reputable and is pretty close to me in California but you guys will know how to see past any untruths Anybody ever heard of PRINTMAX???...

http://cgi.ebay.com/CISS-Bulk-Ink-System-for-EPSON-R260-R280-R380-CIS_W0QQitemZ180312087094QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Toner?hash=item180312087094&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A4|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A200

There are many more, but I have NO IDEA of what I need to look for, so can you help me out?...

Thanks in advance guys.
Oh, I have a Epson Sylus R280 used mainly for printing on DVDs and basic printing as needed. Kids pics, drawings, webpages etc. Nothing serious as far as pictures go, but would like to be able to if I had cost effective options!...

I couldnt find any recent reviews of any cis system. The ones I found have been at least 2 years old. Not many have been very positive. Hopefully the newer ones are faster/better than the previous ones?..... Hopefully?... Maybe....?

Can anyone point me in a direction of a site that may have more current or reviews of newer systems? Especially ones available in the U.S.

I'll do a little digging for you from some reliable sources I have that don't have an axe to grind (so's to speak).

eBay is ok but as a rule you want to dig ahead of time to find out if they'll support you after they sell and unfortunately many don't. No idea about Printmax so your mileage may vary...

One company that are more expensive but know their onions is MIS Associates at www.inksupply.com .. The ink is high quality (I use the same stuff from the European distributor) and their kits are well supported.


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680

Martin wrote:

I'll do a little digging for you from some reliable sources I have that don't have an axe to grind (so's to speak).

eBay is ok but as a rule you want to dig ahead of time to find out if they'll support you after they sell and unfortunately many don't. No idea about Printmax so your mileage may vary...

One company that are more expensive but know their onions is MIS Associates at www.inksupply.com .. The ink is high quality (I use the same stuff from the European distributor) and their kits are well supported.

Thanks Martin!....

Are you digging for info on what I should look for in a cis system or are you looking for something more specific?

Do you have any first hand experience with the ink system you are referencing?

Yeah, I dont really have almost $200 to drop on it unfortunately. Thats why I am looking for the ebay route. Hopefully you can tell me how to try and weed out the bad quality or poorly designed units from there. I will try to contact the Printmax people and see what kind of after sale support they provide.

MvpEmmitt wrote:

Thanks Martin!....

Are you digging for info on what I should look for in a cis system or are you looking for something more specific?

In truth I needed to delouse my brain from school related IT issues and get some rest to think

Quote:

Do you have any first hand experience with the ink system you are referencing?

The CIS kits I have direct experience with are MIS Assoc' and Rihac kits.. the rest of kits I've built myself but in neither case do I have any direct experience with an R280 (R285 kit here) kit.

Quote:

Yeah, I dont really have almost $200 to drop on it unfortunately. Thats why I am looking for the ebay route. Hopefully you can tell me how to try and weed out the bad quality or poorly designed units from there. I will try to contact the Printmax people and see what kind of after sale support they provide.

Right... having gotten the right brain cell in gear the key thing with the R280 is that, like the D120 and others there's a new design feature in the chips that stops them from being able to reset if they remain in situ. This has required a new approach from ARC (Auto reset chip) manufacturers as the only workaround initially was to remove the CIS and then replace it.

The solution has been a set of chips that have a button which the user presses (once or X number of times) to reset the ink level and then the ARC's reset. In effect the button disconnects the chips from the printer somehow (possibly breaking a circuit) without physically needing to remove them.

Of course this tech is new and there's a number of CIS kits being sold as compatible which aren't so you definitely need to look out for this feature. If the kit doesn't have it, do not touch.

As to the cost aspect... I appreciate MIS are expensive but they invented the CIS in desktop machines so they really do know their stuff so still worth considering. I know InkRepublic also have a kit but I'm not overly keen on their "buffer" system... The only other one I might recommend directly are Rihac.com.au . Granted they are Australian but again Sam Cahir knows his stuff and support is excellent. It all really depends on how much you want to risk poor compatibility, support or quality.

Hope that helps


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680

This is my first post...I am in the same situation except that I has to buy a printer by Wednesday February 4th as my old Canon blew its power supply , probably for a good reason (no use replacing it )

So I am looking for a good printer to convert (eventually) to a CIS system which only can be had on the professional market in Sweden where I live cost .around 140 Euros. I already do most of my Black –white printing on lasers so I am looking for a good value A4 – a3+ system to convert for photo printing. My candidates are Canon pixima ip 4600 at 95 Euros or Epson stylus 1400 at 285€. The later obviously of good quality but might be a little of overkill for my needs. Also if I screw up or the CIS set is of poor quality it is a lost investment if the guarantee is void. Whereas the ip 4600 can be written of as a loss…

What I need help with :
A)I want to find a CIS supplier with fade proof ink.
B) Any Ideas which one is easiest to convert
C) I found some suppliers http://www.outac.com
Ebay eurekaonlinestore Australia !
PowerfulTap online
Any comments?

hastings wrote:

... I am looking for a good value A4 – a3+ system to convert for photo printing. My candidates are Canon pixima ip 4600 at 95 Euros or Epson stylus 1400 at 285€. The later obviously of good quality but might be a little of overkill for my needs. Also if I screw up or the CIS set is of poor quality it is a lost investment if the guarantee is void. Whereas the ip 4600 can be written of as a loss…

Ok... first things first.. if you want to get a CIS to work with your printer then forget about Canon. You can get a CIS compatible but the Canon printers are so incredibly sensitive to pressure and have a design that makes it easy for air to leak in, that it's just pure pain.

The 1400 on the other hand is an Epson, handles A3 and because of the Epson design it's a heck of a lot more CIS friendly.. As to who you would buy the kit from, perhaps RIHAC or similar but the inks I would look either at Image Specialists or OCP inks.. The reseller for Img Spec' inks is based in Holland but you may find someone closer to home. Both very good and high quality.

There is some discussion about using pigment ink in the 1400 but if that's important to you look at the R1800 or similar because the 1400 was designed for dyebase ink and forcing it to use pigment seems a bit daft... Use it as it was intended

Hope that helps and apologies for the spam filter catching you... it didn't like the word "investment"


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680