The Best CIS ?

[dmagic1]

Yeah that sucks that the original JLW carts are like that.
Funny that the replacements he sends are more like the new design with cambers.

I took my JLW cis out about two weeks ago and put my old carts I refill back in.

JLW has offered to send me a full set of the newer carts for a decent price(about the cost of generic regular carts). I'm not sure if I want to try to add these to my current cis(JLW) or just get a new one from some place else. Seems like a pain to fix and I know it will be messy.

[macrovision]

Well the results for my printonadime Cis kit are in and it goes like this...Because my level indicators were confusing me(never really moving) I tried my own little purge technique..... First I've left my printer on for about 5 day's and printed only dvd's and today I decided that maybe the ssc utility(disabled) may have still been in the startup drivers so I did a system restore...restored my computer back to the date I installed windows xp....then I printed about 50 high resolution full covers and guess what! The colors started to reset....3 colors to be exact...... !!!! ALL went to 100% and the damn printer did the auto-clean/waste my ink all three times...I'm gonna E-mail Printonadime....But on the other hand...I know how to clean the waste pad and I'm gonna use the SSC Utility's Ink Freezer Mode!! I'll see if that works because I noticed before that the levels movements are strange when using that mode...they never seem to run out and that's why I believe the drivers were still running even though I disabled the ssc utility program....BTW My tanks got drained when I did the covers so I hadda refill them 2nite!!!! I'm almost pissed! but better pissed off than pissed on!

[pixiemom]

Hmm... sounds like this means that you need to have the SSC Utility running and have the Ink Freezer Mode on? Could someone please share a link to where one would get that program? I know the link has been given here before, but I honestly have no idea what thread or what page it's on.

[pixiemom]

Okay...so.... the verdict so far on the best CIS system is...... ?

Toppy-Jess, printonadime, printforless/timsheetz, wholesale-ink - they all seem to have the same system.

inkjetsusa - is that the same system, as far as anyone can tell by comparing pictures?

And by the way - do you have the bottles that have the flat tops with the colored circles that show the color in that compartment, or do you have the kind with the tops that divide into two parts with the tall part sticking up above the lower part which has the black screwtop cap on it? (I don't mean the two chambers that JLW Sales has.)

Aren't these two different systems, or are they just different styles of bottles that hold a different amount of ink, but the CIS itself is the same?

[macrovision]

You can find the ssc service utility here Pixiemom, http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml And by the way I can tell you that the cartridge construction for all of the CIS kits that you mentioned are the same (Mechanical Valves) These are the best because they provide an air tight seal while the cart is in the printer and they lock the outlet port when the carts are taken out of the printer...However the tanks all seem to be different and the auto-reset chips all seem to be 100% level reset even if the company promises 90% level reset...auto-clean cycles seem to be imbedded in the printers firmware and this needs to be done from time to time to insure that there's no unused ink drying in the printhead chambers(where ink gets mixed,ECT.)... My tanks are the "SISSY" tanks...I call them that because thier small...they have 3 holes on each tank...the tanks need to be laid on thier back...the top holes have rubber sealing plugs as all the holes(3x6) but to use the system the top plugs are removed for ventilation...the center plugs are removed and reinserted for filling...to fill I use a syringe/needle full of ink and the tanks are turned sideways until 90% full then laid flat to finish filling...the bottom plugs are never removed! I don't care about using syringes however the printonadime company recommends using the "squeeze bottles" that they sell ink in...I am gonna purchase ink from them this week...The squeeze bottles they use in thier video cd looks alot easier! My tanks are 6 whole tanks (One compartment) I think the only difference is the tank construction because of different manufacturers competing for the "mines is the best" however all systems seem to rely on the gavitational factor (Hoses in the bottom of the tanks) But some companies state that the two tank construction provide auto-balance for the amount of pressure the amount of ink pushes to the carts ( more ink in the system= more weight=more pressure=too much ink flowing into the carts=leakage)

[macrovision]

This is soooo funny...I hate to say it But the verdict???? Drum roll please!!! ANYBODY EXCEPT JLWSALES! EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO USE THE SAME MANUFACTURER FOR THE CARTRIDGES>>> USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT AS FOR THE TANKS(HOW OFTEN/MUCH YOUR GONNA BE PRINTING!) And just so that you know.. I forgot to post that I know from experience that the carts indeed get charged-up by the printhead because when I was just starting with my former R200 I bought a special refill kit for that printer..I downloaded the refill instructions from a different web-site(don't try this!) It said to puncture two holes in the bottom of the cart and refill, So I did.... Then to place the sealing dots on the holes... So I did..Then I placed the carts in the printer(An hour or more later) when printer did it's charging thing, The carts leaked all over the inner carraige....I took them out and they were completely empty so I refilled them again... sealed the with the sealing dots and electrical tape for a little extra security...It didn't work....to make a long story short...The carts didn't leak while they were out of the printer(even for 2-3 hours)...They leaked only when the printer charged them up and boy did they leak!

[bidefordboy]

pixiemon

Much too early to say which is the best system. Although my systen is working perfectly at the moment, it seem's like the problem's crop up after a few month's use. Don't want to be caught out with this system like I was by the JLW one.
My system is the one in the photo on the left

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51310&item=6765048429&rd=1

It has 70ml tanks. If you looked at the tanks from the side you would see a seperate tank about 1/4" wide behind the main tank. These are the tanks you fit a set of filters on. To fill the tanks you remove the front silicon cap.
The system should have been fitted with reset to 90% chips, but they were not. They just have the usual 100% chips.

The 100ml tanks have just one cap to remove. You fill the tanks through this hole, then replace the caps. Turn the caps one way to allow the ink to travel through the tubing & another way to stop it. ( there are little arrows on the caps).
The 40ml & 100ml tanks have a ink stopper fitting attached (handy if you get a leak), the 70ml tanks don't.

[macrovision]

Bidefordboy, I don't think we're sitting ducks anymore...Did you get a look at the pics posted about jlwsales cart construction on page 4....I think I'm old and wise enough to access and make a proper decision and I've been "around"... I know why Jlwsales cis did what it did...Because they wanted to save money!

[Idle]

Bingo! Macrovision -- cracked it in one!

The difference between a reliable and a troublesome system would be a buck or so, and a dollar saved is a dollar earned...

[bidefordboy]

Macrovision, you have got to have a look at the 'madvideo' clip of his JLW set-up.
Should be titled 'How NOT to set-up your cis'

[pixiemom]

Thanks for the link, Macro. I'll need to get that Utility before I start printing.

Macro, I wonder if you would mind posting a picture (or a link to an auction with the same picture) of the tanks you have? I am having a hard time visualizing which tanks they are when you say you turned the tanks on their sides and about the rubber sealing plugs, etc etc.

There are at least four different tank designs that printonadime and printforless/timsheetz sell. I'm totally confused as to which one does what, by this time. I have been comparing pictures and notes until my brain is reeling!

Bidefordboy, I wonder if you would mind posting a picture (or a link to a picture) of the tanks with the simple screwtop caps you're talking about that are easy to fill? Also, which sellers have them? I am starting to think that maybe that's the system I want because of the ink stopper fitting and the ease of refilling.

All of you are helping me tremendously in my decision as to which system to get.

[Acrimony]

Pixiemom:
I believe Toppy-Jess and PrintOnADime have the same 100mL reservoirs (possibly the same carts too?). Below are the pictures of printonadimes
100mL reservoir as well as cartridge that Rob sent me. Keep in mind that PrintOnADime also has a 70mL reservoir as well as a 30mL reservoir, so these more than likely vary from these photos. Also, I'm not sure what other size reservoirs Toppy-Jess carries, so maybe bidefordboy can fill you in there.

Reservoir Font:


Reservoir Back:


Cartridge:


My kit should be here Wednesday, so I'll keep you all updated.

--edit--
After looking at Toppy-Jess' Ebay link provided by bidefordboy, they don't appear to be using the same reservoir. Perhaps he hasn't updated his pictures, or they do not in fact use the same w. My apologies.

[bidefordboy]

If you open up the link I gave you, my system is the one in the photo on the left.
The ad states that it is supplied with 110ml of ink for each tank, but the tank only hold's 70ml, the rest is in the tubing & cart's.
Also for anyone reading my earlier post's, my free set of ink's have arrived from Toppy-Jess.

Have just looked on ebay, and I think Toppy-Jess is only offering the 70ml tanks at the moment. Printonadime has the 100ml tanks & I also found another seller that has the 100ml tanks :- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14303&item=6764299799&rd=1
He say's at the top of his ad that it contains sublimation ink, but I think this is a mistake because sublimation ink (ink you use to print pic's etc to iron on to t.shrts) is usually much more expensive.

Hope someone soon post's a report on a system that is supposed to have reset to 90% chips on it. I want to know if they really exist !!!.
Macrovision & myself have both been conned so far.

[macrovision]

pixiemom, My tanks are the ones in the center photo of the E-bay link Bidefordboy posted...they're smaller than they look! You can see them here: http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/toppyjess/CISEPSONR300SINK.jpg?al...pt=bidpay&sp=1 The color dots are for the tank I.D. only

[bidefordboy]

Have just noticed Macrovision, the centre pic that show's your system has a set of filters in it, which we both know are not used on the smaller tanks.

Sorry, just to make it clear here is my system
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/toppyjess/EPSONR300C.jpg?allow_ma...pt=bidpay&sp=1

[macrovision]

True Bidefordboy, I didn't get the filters and I didn't get mines from Toppy-jess... This is what I bought http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6734872928&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 ...I received a return E-mail from printonadime... He wants to send new chips but I just might accept the 50% off on the ink with free shipping....Maybe I should take the chips to see if 90% auto-resets really exsist

[bidefordboy]

Hi Mac,
The 90% chip's, if they work as promised, would save you a lot of ink in the long run.

[pixiemom]

Thanks, guys, for the pictures and for the clarifications! You are very helpful.

I think I am down to choosing between inkjetsusa and wholesaleink. Their prices are a little better for what seems to be the exact same system that the other sellers are offering. I don't want to sacrifice quality (as JLW taught us so well) but if it's the same system, it won't matter if I save a few bucks in the process!

[bidefordboy]

If you buy the system empty, take a look at the video's on the printonadime site. They will show you how to charge the carts.

[Idle]

Hi Mac,
The 90% chip's, if they work as promised, would save you a lot of ink in the long run.

I'll second that!

Having a drain tank installed, I've seen just how much ink gets pumped out on a head clean -- it fair makes my hip pocket squirm!

Have now had two replies from InkJetsUsa -- says he does use the 90% chips, and shipping to Australia is $US36.

Also says he advises all customers to leave their printer on 24/7 -- I asked him why this is so and he didn't answer that.

Probably has the same action I've seen elsewhere (if the reading is low when you turn the printer off, it goes to 100% and does a head clean when next powered up.)

And many thanks to ACRIMONY for the pix -- very helpful.

[macrovision]

Well when I negociate I might take the chips but tommorrow I'm gonna format my 40gig harddrive and reinstall all software execpt the SSC service utility...then I'm gonna print high quality dvd labels to run the ink levels out and I'll post if I get another 100% reset...then I'll E mail printonadime a screen shot of the levels before and after!

[pixiemom]

Inkjetsusa told me that you need to leave it on 24/7 in order to avoid the auto-cleaning that happens whenever you power on the printer, whether ink is low or not.

Actually, my HP printer would do the same thing when it was powered on. I always left it on, but sometimes the power would shut off by mistake or something. Sometimes I was forced to 'reboot' it, too, and it would do a clean cycle then too. I don't know what it did with the waste ink, though. It didn't matter how much or how little ink was left - the autoclean would happen when it was powered on. Epson must be the same.

[Idle]

It's possible they're all barking up the wrong tree here.

My R310, when powered down with its own switch, or even turned off at the wall, doesn't necessarily do a clean cycle when started up again.

It does, however, move the carriage through a number of pre-determined movements, shift the paper feed up and down and run the rollers through a full feed cycle (without picking up a sheet.)

Presumably this is so it knows where the heads are and to ensure it's not going to be jammed by anything.

It will run a clean cycle at intervals, though, whether it's left powered on or not, there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about that, and with the CIS installed it did do a clean cycle whenever a cart reset to 100%, so I assume it will do one every time an OEM cart is changed as well.

Case in point: When I had to pull the defunct CIS out and put the OEM cartridges in (they were brand new -- I hadn't even unpacked them), I did it by moving the carriage to the cart change point, took the CIS out, put the new carts in, moved the heads back again and ran a nozzle check.

That's all there was to it, and as yet the OEM carts haven't done a head clean.

Since I have the external waste tank installed, I always know when it cleans the heads, because I see it pump the ink out -- I had to empty and rinse out the tank when I took the CIS, because the excessive head cleaning I did when the cyan failed had about a quarter filled it, until then it hadn't even pumped enough to cover the bottom.

The tank is still pristine, not a drop in it since the OEM carts have been in, and the printer's been powered up and down quite a few times, performing the setup routine each time, but so far no head cleans.

[bidefordboy]

Macrovision

Just checking to see if you have a programme installed to check what starts up with windows. The one I use is here :-
http://members.lycos.co.uk/codestuff/
This will show you if the SSC Service Utility is running or not.

[Idle]

If you're running Windows XP, and you have the full install of the SSC Service Utility, you'll see the icon in the system tray (it looks like a square box with a paper guide.)

I have it starting with XP and don't see it doing anything untoward.

It doesn't seem to do anything unless told.

[Mirot87]

Ive printed with JLWSALES CIS for about 3 months and Im almost out of ink (I print LOTS of DVDs) Ive had no problems and im ready to reorder ink from them. Macrovision seems to have a personal vendetta and thats great for him but Im happy with my kit!

[macrovision]

I understand false hope with the jlwsales because it doesn't fail immediately for everyone....mines worked fine for about a month and I'm not the only one on these forums that doesn't approve of the jlwsales cis kit however if yours is working fine, Good for you...personally I hope it stays that way! Now about the ssc utility... I think that the program runs fine (ink freezer) if you don't use the refresh key in the main window but I'm still testing it... As for the start-up sequence... Even with OEM carts...it'll do a auto-clean cycle if the carts are at 100%...Yes you can fool the machine sometimes but you have to know how(this is what the ssc program does also)... Once the levels drop below 100% it does auto-cleans according to the firmware imbedded in its flash?memory.. I've fooled the machine a couple of times.

[nickelzy]

Mirot - I too have owned my JLW Sales CIS system for about 3 months now and just re-filled the ink the other day in the chambers. So far I haven't had any issue either. I'll be sure to report if anything should go wrong, but for now I'm a happy customer.

[Mirot87]

Im sorry but it seems everyone is making this so much more difficult than it needs to be.

--changing firmware/chips?
--drilling holes in carts?
--downloading 3rd party monitoring programs?
--leaving printer ON forever?? (i turn mine on/off a few times a day)

Im just not that much into it I guess. I installed my JLWSales kit and forgot about it. I did put a spare ink resovior outside the printer but its only filled up about 5 tablespoons or so, I dont do 'cleanings'

Sure sometimes i have feed problems but thats the printer and one time black didnt print on my disk, so i turned it off then on and it printed fine.

Im glad you guys really enjoy the science of CIS systems but for me its never a problem that I need to play with chips and whatever you're doing. Im just glad CIS systems are available. Screw Epson!

[macrovision]

Well I've heard enough about other peoples CIS kits.... Don't get me wrong... this is not an insult but I don't live in your house and I don't use your printer so I don't know how true your story is about turning on/off your printer and it not doing autoclean cycles..because I owned a jlwsales kit(still have it but it leaked so much I had to drain all of the ink) And I have the autoreset chips still on it and I know that it did auto-cleanings when I was using it so I don't believe/nor am I a fool...the stories about it not doing auto-cleanings when it resets unless he's using a new chipset! As for it working...I HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY! This is a help forum...I find it hard to be in here to hate you....On the contrary...I'm here to help and If I wanna say screw you I simply wouldn't post here...just as simple as that...If I want someone to chat with, I have that on my wireless phone :P We don't play with chips/ECt. My CIS doesn't cause problems nor do I worry... THIS IS THE BEST CIS FORUM>>>TIME WILL TELL ALL TALES! WE WANT WHAT WE PAID FOR....THAT'S ALL! AND EPSON MAKES THE BEST AFFORDABLE PRINTERS...THEY JUST GOT GREEDY....THEY SHOULD MAKE CIS SYTEMS ALSO, BUT THEY'RE TOO GREEDY!