JLWsales Epson R200 CIS Review

[poolenglish]

How does your carriage move to the left?
Got a shot further back?

IF you asking me... It runs smooth. I eliminated the funky glue tab on the carts so the tubes can move either way.here is a pic of it all the way to the lefthttp://members.cox.net/layhay/epson%20setup%202%20moving%20001.jpg

[dmagic1]

It's an original install I have to say.

[klubber]

Dmagic,

Did you get your system with the JLW inks originally and switch to media street?

I am not thrilled with the photo quality of the system, but I love it for DVD's. I would like to try the media street inks if I can switch.

[Dodgy]

I got the old "some parts in your printer need to be serviced" crap come up today..tried the SSC util and it DOESN'T reset the ink pad counter
I have worked this little printer to death to be fair tho...but real annoyed as the shops just shut and I can't get another printer till the mornign Anyone know a way of resetting the ink pad limit?

[Toaster]

I still can't figure out why my R300-M (with the lcd monitor) wont power on with the CIS carts installed If I try I get a general protection error on the screen of the printer. I have to start the printer with the carts OUT, then after its powered on install the carts and let it "charge" them wasting lots of ink

[dmagic1]

I got the old "some parts in your printer need to be serviced" crap come up today..tried the SSC util and it DOESN'T reset the ink pad counter
I have worked this little printer to death to be fair tho...but real annoyed as the shops just shut and I can't get another printer till the mornign Anyone know a way of resetting the ink pad limit?

I remeber having to do something special to get the SSC to reset. I'm trying to remeber....
I think I used the SSC and reset the counter. Then I think I unplugged the printer instead of using the power off button. After I plugged it back up and powered on it was fine. I believe those were the steps. Its hard to remember now.

[dmagic1]

Dmagic,

Did you get your system with the JLW inks originally and switch to media street?

I am not thrilled with the photo quality of the system, but I love it for DVD's. I would like to try the media street inks if I can switch.

Yes. I really didn't see a difference between the two.

[dmagic1]

I still can't figure out why my R300-M (with the lcd monitor) wont power on with the CIS carts installed If I try I get a general protection error on the screen of the printer. I have to start the printer with the carts OUT, then after its powered on install the carts and let it "charge" them wasting lots of ink

Don't understand why either but you could just leave your printer on.

[Toaster]

I still can't figure out why my R300-M (with the lcd monitor) wont power on with the CIS carts installed If I try I get a general protection error on the screen of the printer. I have to start the printer with the carts OUT, then after its powered on install the carts and let it "charge" them wasting lots of ink

Don't understand why either but you could just leave your printer on.

And I usually do, but I have to power cycle the printer for the chips to reset, and today out of the clear blue, the head got stalled on the left side for no reason, and I had to power cycle the printer to make it come back to life... which entails the cartridge swap trick

Everyone seems to be having great luck with CIS + R300's, don't know whats so damn special about mine

[bdgriff]

Toaster, I don't have ANY idea if this would help at all, but just a suggestion. Would updating/reinstalling the printer drivers help?? Or maybe completely removing the printer and all its software and reinstalling??? Sorry can't help more.

[Toaster]

Toaster, I don't have ANY idea if this would help at all, but just a suggestion. Would updating/reinstalling the printer drivers help?? Or maybe completely removing the printer and all its software and reinstalling??? Sorry can't help more.

I doubt it, since the error is from the printer and not the computer. When I see the "GENERAL PROTECTION ERROR" ... its actually displayed on the LCD screen of the printer (remember this is a R300M which has the B/W lcd screen, card reader and color LCD screen for previewing pictures from a digital camera)

No clue why the printer doesn't like the cartridges... My R200 started up just fine with these carts installed.

[bdgriff]

Have you talked w/ Dong Dong (JLW Sales) about this error? Maybe it's a bad cartridge or chip...

[dmagic1]

I can reset my chips with a press of the ink button. I press it once and it moves into position for exchange. I then press it again right away. It doesn't charge the system at all and the chips reset(atleast the ones low enough).

[bidefordboy]

Great tip. It works

[nickelzy]

Well, thanks to this thread and the people on this forum, I too made the plunge and got the ink system from JLW Sales. And yes, the delivery time is QUICK! After installing my system 2 nights ago, which was surprisingly easy, a few questions have come up that I'm hoping to get some help on:

1. I'm confused exactly what the purpose the small chambers of the system serve - what do they do? There is a little ink in each of these small chambers, I'm not sure again what is going on. I'd like to better understand how the system works.

2. The air filter caps that screw onto the top of my small chambers all fit snugly except for the black ink one - would you recommend that I contact JLW Sales and get a replacement? I'm wondering if because it is loose, the ink might evaporate slightly over time.

3. After doing a lot of 5x7 printing - to experiment with the quality of the ink and the system - I'm a little concerned with how much ink has gone down already (just in 2 days). Does the cartridge that resides in the printer fill up completely of ink or does it just take a little at a time from the chambers? I'm trying to understand if there is something I should be concerned with or if this is normal when you first begin using the system.

4. Some people on this thread have mentioned that they don't turn their printer off, in order to conserve ink. I was thinking that because now that the ink is so inexpensive, I don't have to treat the printer and ink consumption so carefully. So how much ink could the printer really use by turning it on and off once a day? Along those same lines, I've had to do a few cleanings (which I know use a lot of ink) in order to get the quality looking good - does this really use a ton of ink? Bottom line is that I'm trying to guage how I ought to use the printer, and what I should and shouldn't do, in order to maximize ink. If cleanings and turning the printer off and on once a day don't take up that much ink (relative to how much ink I have with the system), then I'll just use the printer in a way that is most convenient. However, if doing these things really do take up A LOT of ink, then maybe I'll change the way I use it a bit. Any thoughts on this? And is there any truth to perhaps decreasing the life of your printer by leaving it on all the time?

[dmagic1]

1. The small chambers keep the ink pressure right. Too much pressure will cause ink leakage.

2. I wouldn't worry. The caps have an opening with a paper type of filter to let air in. Some of my are the same way. Some got tighter later.

3. Printing pictures uses the largest amount of ink even at the lower settings. Photo and Best Photo really drink the stuff. The cart should be full and as ink goes out new ink comes in.

4. They claim the system works best when used everyday. If you are using it every day then why bother turning it off. For me its not really about how much ink it waste when I turn it off. Its that it does waste some of my ink.

I probably didn't answer all your questions but I did what I could.

[nickelzy]

Thanks for the info, Dmagic. I understand your point about printing pictures, particularly on the best photo mode (which is what I was using). However, it looks like in one day of printing, my large color chambers have been decreased by about 20% and my black one by about 30%. If this system is equivalent to about 6.5 cartridges worth of ink, then that would mean roughly, I used over a set of cartridges worth of ink yesterday. No way did I do THAT much printing - no way! That's why I'm trying to make sense of this. Again, like I asked before, when the cartridge that resides in the printer first is used, does it fill up completely to begin with (which would take a cartridge amount from each chamber?) If that's the case, and I actually have the ink that is in each chamber, plus a full amount of ink in the cartridges (that are in my printer), that might make more sense. Do you follow?

Just for kicks, I took a pic to show where my ink levels are after 1 day of using the system. I highlighted in red to show exactly where the ink levels are in each chamber.





By the way, my question about turning the printer on and off is more of a concern of whether I'll decrease the life of the printer if it remains on 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

[dmagic1]

The carts should have been full and should still be full. They shouldn't have been empty when you first got them.

To be honest after using this system for almost 3 months I can say that it uses ink faster than normal carts. I was refilling carts for sometime before getting this system. I was still on my original bulk ink order when I got this system. I have since ordered some bulk ink 1 1/2 times(1 times all 6 colors, 1 time only 3 of the colors). I also have to keep in mind that I started printing alot more after getting the system, but I can tell that it does use more ink.

[klrbee25]

There's clearly an issue with that much ink consumption. I'd check around for leaks. For all the levels to drop simultaneously to that degree, it seems like you'd have to be doing a lot of cleaning cycles.

JLW just sent me two of their color profiles for the R200 tonight (the D65 and D50, as they call it). After using the D65 profile on a printout, it looks awful. It has a strong red push and overexposes the images. Has anyone used their profiles, and if so what are your results like? Am I doing something wrong? My best output has been using the Epson R200 profile that installs with the printer driver.

Here's a little comparison. On the left is the JLW D65 profile and on the right is the Epson R200 profile. (It's printed on photo-quality inkjet paper, since I've run out of premium gloss for the moment).

[klrbee25]

[nickelzy]

There's clearly an issue with that much ink consumption. I'd check around for leaks. For all the levels to drop simultaneously to that degree, it seems like you'd have to be doing a lot of cleaning cycles.

I don't know how there could be a leak, because there isn't any excess link on my floor nor is there any in the printer. Therefore if there is a leak, that would be one heck of mystery to me because there is no ink to show for it. As for your comment regarding running a lot of cleaning cycles... actually, that you are right on. I had some issues installing the system and due to not properly securing the lines, they got tangled a couple of times causing the cartridges to malfunction, which led to some printing and subsquent quality issues. In order to resolve the problems and get things back to where they originally were, I did several maintenance tasks, including about 5 or 6 cleaning cycles. Now that I finally have everything properly installed, secured and running fine, there shouldn't be a need for any further cleaning cylces, at least not for a while. With that all being stated, could the simple fact that I ran 5 or 6 cleaning cycles be what caused THAT much ink consumption? Although I needed to do them in order to correct some problems that I had yesterday, I never realized that the cycles would be using an enormous amount of ink. Do you REALLY believe that this is what caused my huge ink loss? Good to know, if that's the case, for future reference.

[Bodyslide]

the right one is alot better.

[klrbee25]

I guess JLW hasn't perfected their profile making yet. I do admit my understanding of color profile implementation is severely lacking though.

Someone mentioned that they're not satisfied with the photo quality using the JLW inks. I feel like my blacks are flat and slightly "off". It makes the images lose some of their impact compared to the original Epson inks. I have aligned the cartridges more thoroughly than the Hubble telescope's mirrors have been polished, so it's definitely a color profile/ink related issue.

[klrbee25]

Nickelzy, the cleaning cycles could definitely have done that. Ink literally funnels through the hoses when you do just one cleaning cycle, and doing a "deep cleaning" or whatever SSC calls it will really put a hit on the ink consumption. If you ever have a bubble, just watch how quickly it gets sucked through the hoses...one cleaning is equivalent to a massive batch of photo printing. (On a side note, JLW says don't worry about bubbles in the hoses...just print like you didn't see them, and they won't be an issue).

When I mentioned the leak, I was wondering if you noticed ink anywhere inside the printer (e.g. if the ink tanks were higher than the printer or a siphon started somehow). However, i think the cleaning cycles are the culprit. The real test is to see if they stop dropping now that you've stopped doing the cleanings.

Since I'm burying my initial question, please let me know if anyone has a suggestion about the JLW color profiles.

Thanks!

[nickelzy]

Thanks for the info -

On a different note, regarding the same topic of ink and quality - when it comes time to replenish the ink supply, how does that work? Do you have to completely drain your ink bone dry before adding replacement ink? I was thinking that I would use another replacement ink rather than JLW Sales but I don't want to mix the two ink supplies - so how do you go about doing it so that doesn't happen? Then the next question will be what ink I should buy. I'll be interested to keep reading posts from people who have tried both and have comparison tests. So far, I haven't come across any posts which indicate anything, other than the original epson ink, is that much better than JLW.

[dmagic1]

Thanks for the info -

On a different note, regarding the same topic of ink and quality - when it comes time to replenish the ink supply, how does that work? Do you have to completely drain your ink bone dry before adding replacement ink? I was thinking that I would use another replacement ink rather than JLW Sales but I don't want to mix the two ink supplies - so how do you go about doing it so that doesn't happen? Then the next question will be what ink I should buy. I'll be interested to keep reading posts from people who have tried both and have comparison tests. So far, I haven't come across any posts which indicate anything, other than the original epson ink, is that much better than JLW.

Sorry but there is no way around mixing your inks. You are suppose to refill the ink once it reaches the line on the back.

[bidefordboy]

As 'dmagic1' said,you will have to mix the ink, but I would recommend that you get Epson colour matched ink. The ink's will mix ok so long as they are dye based. I purchased my refill ink here :- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=69932&item=6742817855&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW .
I suppose you would be able to drain the system completelly before using replacement ink, by detaching the tubes & flushing them out etc.,, but I don't think you want to do that.
When I first intalled my system I was having problems like other's here, with sometimes not being able to get a perfect nozzle check pattern. Since topping up the ink this problem has gone. So I think there could be a problem with the ink supplied with the system. Also the sticky pads supplied are not man enough for the job.
The benefits of using this system far outweigh the minor problems discussed in this forum.
Have been using mine now for a couple of months & am very happy with it.


Sorry, the link is for UK users. Here is one for the USA, use google to find others. http://www.atlanticinkjet.com/printer-ink-epson-Stylus-Photo-R200.asp

[buckeejit]

I've followed everyone's advice, but the ink and paper lights are still blinking red. any help?

[nickelzy]

http://www.atlanticinkjet.com/printer-ink-epson-Stylus-Photo-R200.asp

For 8 ounce bottles, they charge $12.50 each which would make it $75 for all of the inks (not including shipping). JLW Sales sells replacement ink for about $50 (which includes shipping), although they are 100ml bottles. Unless my math is off, 100ml is a little less than 4 ounces. Therefore the ink at $12.50 for 8 ounces of ink is a better deal (assuming that their shipping costs are reasonable). The real question, and most important to me, is whether the ink is just as good or better?

Regarding replacement inks, a few questions come to mind:

1. Is buying generic Epson replacement ink ok, or should you really only buy replacement ink that states it is specifically made for the R200?

2. And those retailers that make the claim that their ink is made for the R200, is it really any different than ink that is pretty generic and made for a variety of Epson printers?

3. For those of you who have purchased 8 ounce replacement inks, if you added the ink when your system was pretty low, I assume that left you with over half a bottle still left (i.e. over 4 ounces worth?)

4. If you're mixing the ink, as it seems that this is pretty much what you have to do when adding replacement ink, does it not create problems with your print quality if you have JLW ink and then add a different brand (which is a little different perhaps) on top of it?

[buckeejit]

nvm I got mine working. It was because of the cover. so I took it off and all is fine.