My review on the Epson T-13 refillable cartridge.

[praetor91313]

My review on the Epson T-13 refillable cartridge.

Our Brother 150c, which I’ve installed with an extended refillable cartridge has serviced us for 2 years without any other problems other than the difficulty printing in A-4 sized photo papers because of the design of its feeder. A few months ago we noticed that the print quality has degraded so we decided to get another one.

The newer Brother printers were out of the question since we rarely got to use the 150c’s scanner anyway and besides, most of them costs around 5k and we were looking for a cheaper replacement.

Searching through the forums, I noticed most were using the Epson T13 and after a few more research, I found out that it too can be outfitted with a refillable cartridge.

I asked our “suki” if he had it available and he said he does. What’s more, he has one of the newer versions of auto-reset chips out there. I inquired about the CISS for this type of printer and he told me if I was going to just print occasionally, then the refillable cartridges would suffice. CISS were made for those who printed more than a hundred pages per day, he said.

Finally we bought an Epson T13 then went to our suki to get the cartridges (which cost P700 for all 4 colors) plus a 100ml bottle of ink for each color (each costs P90). He gave me detailed instructions on how to fill and set them.

After we’ve used up all the inks of the cartridges which came with the printer, I filled up all the refillable cartridges with the appropriate colors. I only had to remove the excess ink which leaked from the hole while I was topping them off and believe me, it was very minimal.

I installed the refillable cartridges onto the printer and started using it right away. There was no other problems encountered. The printer accepted the cartridges right away.

What I noticed was, a few days later the printer reported one cartridge as empty so I removed that specific cartridge but when I looked, it was more than half full! I topped if off again then replaced it onto the printer. Again, the printer accepted the refillable cartridge without any problems and reported that it was now full. The same thing happened to the other colors individually. While the printer reported it as empty, visual confirmation showed that it was not so, they were still more than half full.

The next time it reported a color as empty, all I did was to remove the cartridge the reinsert it again, and voila! It’s reported as full again.

When one cartridge was reported as empty, I tried removing all the cartridges so they can be reset as full, but when I checked, even though I removed and reseated all of them, not just the “empty” cartridge, only the “empty” cartridge was reported as full. I tried removing and reseating all cartridges several times but they’re chips just won’t reset.
In conclusion, I would have to say that the refillable cartridges worked well enough on our Epson T13 but compared to our Brother 150c where I only had to refill the extended cartridge once almost every 6 months, I found the act of removing and replacing cartridges almost once a week quite tiresome.

Aside from this small gripe, I would have to say that they worked well enough.

As to the print quality, I just finished doing our family scrap book and I noticed one small problem: sometimes the photo paper would get black smudges on the upper right-hand edge just at the end of a printing cycle. I would also sometimes hear the printer head hitting the edge of the printer paper producing a “klak-klak, ka-klak” sound just as the print was finishing up. I don’t know if it’s a problem with the refillable cartridge though. I would guess it’s more a photo paper or printer problem. The pictures were a little reddish especially around the face and printing on a blue background would sometimes cause the picture to obtain a bluish hue, but our “suki” told me to get the more expensive pigment (P220 per 100ml bottle) if I wanted perfect quality, water-resistantt pictures, so I couldn’t really complain.

Overall, I’m quite satisfied with it. I hope it lasts as long as our Brother 150c.

I’m wondering if the CIS system has the same problems, that one would get a message saying the cartridge is empty every so often eventhough it’s still more than half full? Any comments/user experiences?

Thanks!

[raine]

BRO, im using T10 with ciss, if ever mag low ink na as per indiction sa computer pinababayaan ko lang ito since auto reset lang ito, makikita mo biglang magfufull nanaman ang indication niya, hindi mo na kailangan tanggalin ang cartridge, since newer version ang sa iyo baka ganoon din ito, dina na kailangan tangalin ang cartridge mag auto reset na ito, kailangan mo lang monitor ang ink quantity sa reservoir, nag palagay ka na rin ng external waste tank, 90pesos lang naman ito.

[raine]

and regarding sa message na empty na kahit marami pang ink, ganoon talaga kasi calculated na ng computer kung gaano katagal ang laman ng cartridge at minomonitor nito kung iyan na ang na print nito, hindi niya alam na meron kang external na tank for ink. dont worry auto reset ito, pabayaan mo lang at makikita mo naka full na ulit ang indication niya.

[ess]

I print just once or twice a month, but whenever that happens, it's always high-quality photos. After a printing session, my ink cartridge would usually half empty. Based on this usage habit, would a CISS work for me?

Is it true that if you don't use your CISS printer regularly (like everyday), it would break down (clog your print heads)?

My current printer is an HP All-in-one. Ink is ridiculously expensive. Ink cartridge refilling is more or less a hit-and-miss affair with me. I'm really considering ditching this one in favor of a CISS friendly printer (like Epson or Canon). But I'm worried if the CISS will be suitable for my usage habit.

[userfriendly]

Epson printers uses a lot of ink during self cleaning. Install a waste ink bottle and you will see just how much ink it wastes. The original and refillable tanks are also very small compared to Brother, thats why you have to refill about once a week.

For CISS, they used to recommend Epson but now its better to convert Canon printers. Current model Epson printers dont last as long as they used to with CISS. Parang disposable na.

We use a lot of CISS Epson printers in our office. The oldest a T45 is still running. The newer ones die within a year. Have started to shift to Canon per the converters recommedation. So far we have one Canon that been going strong for about half a year with heavy use.

[oj88]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, please allow me to deviate a bit.

Are Epsons still prone to head clogging? How about the canon inkjets? We had a couple of old Epson Stylus printers that had the problem.

[praetor91313]

2 years ago we owned a canon printer, I just don't remember which specific model but I recall it's the cheaper version. Anyways, I had it converted to a CISS and what I learned was that canon and HP both have cartridges which have the printer head in them, that's why they're very expensive. That's also why the person who installed the CISS had to drill a hole on the original cartridge so he can hook up the CISS hose from there. The problem with this was, once the printer heads were clogged, I had to buy an original cartridge and consume the ink first before I could bring the unit to him so he can drill holes again and connect them to the CISS.

I'm a regular at two different buy and sell sites and I noticed that most CISS offered are for EPSON printers. You'd find very few CISS installers for canon and HP.

Advantage of installing CISS on them though, is that once the printer heads gets clogged, you can just buy another cartridge because as I've said, they come with a new printer head. With Brother and Epson, once the printer heads are clogged, that's it. You can try having them cleaned, but at the price you would have to pay for the cleaning and the degraded quality of prints you'd get after, it would be better if you just bought a new one.

And yes, based on my experience, printer heads get clogged more quickly if you don't use them often.

[praetor91313]

I print just once or twice a month, but whenever that happens, it's always high-quality photos. After a printing session, my ink cartridge would usually half empty. Based on this usage habit, would a CISS work for me?

If money is no object, then I would suggest getting a CISS, but you'd have to get into the habit of printing a few pages every few days just so the printer head won't get clogged.

I'm no CISS expert but that's what my suki told me.

A refillable cartridge costs P700 and the four 100ml ink bottles cost P90-100 each. That's about P1,060.

A CISS costs P1,000 to P1,500 with some ink included, but I guess you'd still have to buy 100ml bottle as back-up for when the free inks get too low, so that's P1,360 -P1,860.

[ess]

If money is no object, then I would suggest getting a CISS, but you'd have to get into the habit of printing a few pages every few days just so the printer head won't get clogged.

I'm no CISS expert but that's what my suki told me.

A refillable cartridge costs P700 and the four 100ml ink bottles cost P90-100 each. That's about P1,060.

A CISS costs P1,000 to P1,500 with some ink included, but I guess you'd still have to buy 100ml bottle as back-up for when the free inks get too low, so that's P1,360 -P1,860.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.
I'll definitely get a CISS friendly printer model on my next printer purchase.

[yellahfellah]

I print just once or twice a month, but whenever that happens, it's always high-quality photos. After a printing session, my ink cartridge would usually half empty. Based on this usage habit, would a CISS work for me?

Is it true that if you don't use your CISS printer regularly (like everyday), it would break down (clog your print heads)?

My current printer is an HP All-in-one. Ink is ridiculously expensive. Ink cartridge refilling is more or less a hit-and-miss affair with me. I'm really considering ditching this one in favor of a CISS friendly printer (like Epson or Canon). But I'm worried if the CISS will be suitable for my usage habit.

*ess – based on your printing requirements, I’d recommend that you get either an HP or a Canon printer, since both have their printheads integrated with the ink cartridge. (As opposed to Epson/Brother printers whose printheads are integrated with the printer itself). Because in the likely event that your ink gets clogged in the printhead (since you seldom use your printer), you can just buy new ink cartridges and you will be able to print again. But for Epson/Brother printers, these will have to be serviced (head cleaning). And if the clog persists, you will have no choice but to buy a new printer because the cost of the replacement printhead is just about the price of a new printer.

Also, it would be more economical for you to get a CISS because of your high volume requirement. And make sure you get the premium ink for your high-quaility photos. Your infrequent use would have no impact on the CISS itself, but as stated above, the printhead in your ink cartridge will likely clog up. To avoid that, you’d have to print a few pages more than once a week, preferably 2 to 3x a week. Otherwise, be prepared to buy new ink cartridges whenever that happens. BTW, if your current HP AIO printer is still in good condition, why not have a CISS installed on it, especially if you are satisfied with the quality of its print output. Check out a sample photo printout of your prospective printers first before buying. A lot of people prefer photo printouts of Epson inkjets over those printed in Canon printers. I’m not so sure about HP Photo printers… I guess it varies from one model to another.

Are Epsons still prone to head clogging? How about the canon inkjets? We had a couple of old Epson Stylus printers that had the problem.

Yes, Epson inkjet printers are prone to head clogging IF your usage is infrequent. The same is true for Canon inkjets, but as stated above, you have the recourse of buying new ink cartridges when it comes to Canon printers.