Epson 5% ink remaining

I just got a 5% ink remaining warning on my Epson 3800. Should I be replacing the ink cartridge now or can I get a few more prints out of it?

Thanks for all the info on the 3800. I used the discussions here to decide a year ago to buy one. It's a wonderful printer that has really made this hobby a lot more fun.

Chuck

I usually get quite a few more prints at 5% warning. This is on a 4880 with 110ml carts so 5% is a bit more, but I still get quite a few feet of 16" paper full of print (roll) before it stops. When I insert the new cart, it simply continues to print. I assume the 3800 is the same.

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Mikael Ostensson
Camera: Yes Lenses: Some

You can print until the printer physically stops.

I recently tried to see how far I could push a cartridge on my 3880 - PK. When I got to 2% I got nervous, but it kept printing a lot of images at 8.5x11 until it eventually stopped mid-print. I inserted a new cartridge, but needed to do a nozzle clean to get the black ink to spit out.

Next time I'll watch more carefully when I get to 2%, print a few more images, then make the change. I suspect that pushing the cartridge to the limit is foolish economy.

When a cartridge gets below 10%, I start considering placing an order - so far, when that happens I usually have one or two more coming along. Since they supposedly last 2 years unopened, I don't feel I'm at risk if I order a couple before they are ready to go dry.

I've got an Epson 1410. When it told me the Magenta had 5% left I got another 6 A4's before it went on strike.

If you use the Epson monitor tool you should have sufficient information in the log to estimate ink usage for the kind of prints you will be doing on the remaining 5%.

As an example (3880), most of my colour landscape A3+ pictures consume a little over 2ml total. So with 32ml (5% of 8x 80ml) remaining I would expect 14-15 A3+ prints more. Being conservative, I would change inks after 10 more A3+ prints.

If you wanted to be more accurate then use the log to tell you usage per ink and go from that.

YMMV
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Warning: Do not stare into laser with remaining eye!

All epsons have a bit of ink left even at 0%. The reason being that truly running fully out of ink would introduce air bubbles into the lines. Normally you are intended to be able to print to 0%, run out in the middle of a print, switch cartridges, and have it continue the same print without issue. (assuming you insert a new cartridge in a reasonable amount of time and don't reboot the computer).

This generally works quite well on the Pro level printers due to the pressurized cartridges, and somewhat less well on the prosumer printers due to the bubble introduced when the cartridges are switched.

xilvar

rheumadoc said:

I just got a 5% ink remaining warning on my Epson 3800. Should I be replacing the ink cartridge now or can I get a few more prints out of it?

Thanks for all the info on the 3800. I used the discussions here to decide a year ago to buy one. It's a wonderful printer that has really made this hobby a lot more fun.

Chuck

Click to expand...

hi

Where do you get this Epson monitor Log utility? Is it only for certain printers?
Thanks.

Plenty of stories if you Google around. Here's one I found at random...

http://www.inkjetcartridges.com/_epson-offers-credit-for-inaccurate-cartridge-readings.html

DotCom Editor said:

Plenty of stories if you Google around. Here's one I found at random...

Click to expand...

It's because they computer chip their ink tanks. My local Staples does inkjet tank refills, but they won't do Epson because they have a computer chip that is related to knowing if a tank if full or empty. Epson really needs to lose the computer chip. They would probably increase sales of ink tanks and printers! Imagine that!

The OP was in relation to the 3800. It and the 3880 come with a utility called "Epson LFP Remote Panel" via which you can run a "Printer Watcher" that monitors and logs printer activity.

I do not know if this utility is provided with other Epson printers.
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Warning: Do not stare into laser with remaining eye!