I wanted to create transparencies for screen printing - at least A2. Hijacking because large scale printers can be bought cheaply, but there is an issue, as there is if you buy a new large scale printer. Epson ( and others ) want you to purchase ink cartridges from them and boy are they expensive. I go looking for a cheap work around, with some help from China.
Here is a list of my considered choices for creating transparencies at the time,
Local printers to make A2 transparencies
Pros - always done right, 1 single sheet per colour, probably A1 if I want it
Cons - at least £2.50 ( guess ) a sheet - after a very short while this is a very expensive option
Conclusion - The cheapest startup but quickly expensive, each print adds to the cost
Cheap A3 printer from Currys, stitch 2xA3 together
Pros - brand new so not going to go wrong, consumables available, probably wi-fi
Cons - £300 - £400, plus inks, transparency is split with two A3 to make an A2
Conclusion - A safe option workable from home, but expensive initially and A3 not as good as A2
A dodgy eBay purchase of an Epson Stylus Pro 4450 ( has been sat for years unused, has no cartridges, I have no way of knowing it works )
Pros - A2 printing from home, 110ml cartridges ( very long lasting ) and possible CIS if I can, networked printer ( handy )
Cons - I cant test it without spending £600 or waiting ages therefore my purchase might be a £200 paperweight
Conclusion - The least safe option but if everything works, would be most beneficial
So, I decide I want to have a home setup so much, I go for the least safe option.
The printer, an Epson Pro Stylus 4450 was advertised for £250. I knew it was massive punt so I contacted the owner and said £200 - and even then, I felt very exposed. I knew they hadn’t sold it on an auction because they would get nothing. So they held out for a long time and I was almost certainly the first bite they got. So I paid my money and drove to the next county to pick it up - that was the other issue, no postage! Two hours later I had the printer.
Capable of making A2 prints, I believe it was a professional machine created for proofing or small photographers. The printers manual was created 2013, so thats an indicator of how old this thing is. It’s a fantastic printer, and all things being fair, as a second hand machine it should really be possible for the amateur to get one going economically. Epson however has other ideas unfortunately. They have zero intention of supporting a second hand market and they want to continue to force users into buying new machinery and new consumables.
There are lots of blog posts and videos relating to the total rip off that the major printer manufacturer are manoeuvring everyone into. The Chinese make copy cartridges and inks which are a fraction of the cost ( read down ). Basically the machine calculates the amount of ink by totalling pages printed, and this is very unreliable to say the least. Once the cartridge has decided that it needs replacing, there is no way to force the printer to continue to run until empty - which is a lovely little earner for Epson. What is most upsetting here is that instead of forcing users to buy their cartridges at the current price ( 220 ml is about £100 odd pounds, the smaller 110s are £70 ) they could sell them at a lower cost for redundant machines creating a new market, in itself probably making more business for them. But you get the feeling its all about control and not wanting to jeopardise their new printer sales.
To make my point here is a link to the sales site at Epson UK
The official Epson catridges are product numbered as follows,
220ml Cartridges
Cyan T614200
Magenta T614300
Yellow T614400
Black T614800
110ml Cartridges
Cyan T613200
Magenta T613300
Yellow T613400
Black T613800
Its not all plain sailing - thats why Im writing the blog. In the first instance the Chinese stuff takes two weeks at least to come to the UK.
So I’ll run through the sequence of learning that I had getting the printer running.
- I send for copy cartridges ( 220ml ) from China, after two weeks they arrive. I assemble cartridges, ink and chip resetter.
- Printer seems to start. Test of printer works - no printing though. C cartridge breaks - I ask for a new one
- Replacement arrives and works. Two weeks wait.
- Maintenance tank needs replacing - I send for a new one. £40
- Maintenance tank fitted. Magenta seems not to be working. I get a print and transparency, assuming I may have to accept M situation.
- Replacement C cartridge seems to stop working. I try chip resetter, that also breaks. I send for a complete new set of cartridges and resetter from China.
- New chip resetter fixes issue with replacement plus I have backup cartridges.
- I forget that the plug in cartridges causes vacuum and stop ink flowing. On getting the printer to run power clean M starts working. The printer is now fully functioning.
- Full density CMYK printing achieved, both photographic and transparency. Colour is a slight issue - C cartridge quite dominant, needs adjustment in control panels.
- Networking printer achieved making it much easier to accommodate in my office.
2 x set of cartridges and chip resetter, about £60. Ink from eBay ( 2x1L K, 3x1L C,M,Y ) £20. So about £80 in total.
1x220ml cartridge from Epson, cheapest I could find £90. About 50p a ml. Expensive. Ink jet ink is listed as amongst the most expensive liquids on earth. This price bears no relation to the intrinsic costs which as can be seen here, commerically you can buy 3L for £20!
What’s the down side? It’s taken at least six weeks to get the thing to print. And I bought the printer at risk not knowing it worked. It was all very risky when in reality I could have bought a £300 A3 printer and cooled stuff together - but this way, now I can print A2, I get very, very cheap ink and I know my printer really well. But it’s not for everyone.
So current issues - the magenta isn’t quite right, and causes a slight colour shift to green, but I need this for transparency - black on acetate, so makes not a lot of odds. Ordinary letter printing is fine. Graphics seems to be fine. Colour and b&w photos have an odd shift. The printer works on the network fine so can be put anywhere near a network point.
So here are the parts required,
1 x Epson Stylus Pro 4450 ( cost £200 )
Set of Chinese compatible cartridges, cost £30 ( about )
1 x chip resetter ( cost £10 )
Ink ( cost £20 )
Here are some examples prints I created, the first a test A4 transparency - the principal reason I actually started out on this project. Print is sat on a wooden floor ( since we can see through to the background )
Some A2 prints strung together for a test but repurposed into splash back for sink.
How to use the items,
All the steps are laid out in the image below which I took from the Chinese site listed on the image.
So basically you start by resetting the cartridges. Im not 100% sure they aren’t already set, but I do it anyway. The resetter has a ridge that presses up against a bit of plastic on the cartridge and all the pins touch the cartridge chip. The light on top of the resetter flashes red a few times then goes green. Youre good to go. Then you fill them with ink. The cartridges have a handy plug you simply pull out and insert a funnel. Most important - unblock the small hole near the fill plug. Without this a vacuum will be formed and the printer won’t work because the ink runs out. Now the cartridges are ready, you push them into place. The little display screen tells you when the thing is ready - a non ready cartridge shows as a block with a line through it and without the line if its ok. You then raise the print bar - and this will recognise the cartridges as non Epson - but not to worry, as they will allow at least for the printer to accept them after various warnings ( see guide image ) Finally you can print. The Epson SP4450 lights up like any other printer on a Mac. Job done.
Guide ( note you can download the image or left click and put it in a new tab to see it full size )
