CISS System

[n2ize]

Being sick and tired of buying cartriges for my HP Photosmart printer, only to have them run out of ink in a week or less, I decided to try a different route. So I sprang for one of these CISS (Continuous Ink Supply Systems). It comes with a set of cartridges connected to a set of rather thin silicone tubes that connects to an ink reservoir. As ink starts to run low , by looking at the clearly visible ink levels in the reservoirs you simply add ink to the reservoirs as they run low. The hardest part of installing the thing was in carefully removing the smart chips from the original cartridges and attaching them to the CISS ink cartridges, as the chips are small, delicate, and easily damaged and the only way to get new ones is to buy new cartridges. In any event it worked, I transferred them without damage, installed them in the printer, connected up the reservoirs, attached the air filters and, viola'... it works. The second hardest part was routing the tubing so that it doesn't snag the printer carriage. But once I got that done right it works like a champ. Print quality is excellent. If this thing lasts and turns out to be problem free it means filling the ink is no more bother than topping off the reservoirs once every few months.

[NQ6U]

Do they make a version for Epson printers?

Later: Never mind. They do, but not for my printer. Too old.

[n2ize]

Do they make a version for Epson printers?

Later: Never mind. They do, but not for my printer. Too old.

Well, it may be worth considering one of these setups if you do decide to get a new printer. If you do print a lot of volume it can save a considerable amount of time and money.

I have only been using the CISS system for a couple of days now. So far so good. But I'll write back again on this topic to let y'all know how if and how well if stands up over long term use. So far so good however.

[NQ6U]

Well, it may be worth considering one of these setups if you do decide to get a new printer. If you do print a lot of volume it can save a considerable amount of time and money.

I will keep it in mind. I print up my own QSL cards and that eats up ink pretty fast. I've checked with a couple of card printing companies, thinking that it would probably be cheaper than printing cards at home, but they seem more oriented towards photo-type cards and can't deal with my simple two spot color design even though I told them I can do all the pre-press work for them myself (I have formal graphic design training and have worked in several service bureaus). I should probably just go to a regular printer locally but that can get pricey.

[n2ize]

I will keep it in mind. I print up my own QSL cards and that eats up ink pretty fast. I've checked with a couple of card printing companies, thinking that it would probably be cheaper than printing cards at home, but they seem more oriented towards photo-type cards and can't deal with my simple two spot color design even though I told them I can do all the pre-press work for them myself (I have formal graphic design training and have worked in several service bureaus). I should probably just go to a regular printer locally but that can get pricey.

A long time ago (late 1980's early 90's) I ordered a bunch of very cheap generic qsl cards that look like this...



They were rather cheap, nothing fancy. On the bottom of the card in very small print it says "K2QFL Print". I guess that is the guy who was making them up back then. I'd imagine that nowadays with todays equipment there are lots of people making similar generic cards. I send out so few qsl's that I still have a ton of these left. Otherwise, due to the small volume of cards I send I'd print up my own cards as I go along.

I'll keep you posted on the CISS system. So far so good.

[kf0rt]

Heya John- Can you give the studio audience the make and model of what you got? Maybe a link?

I'm kinda interested in this (academically, at least). Might print more if ink wasn't so expensive. Tried refilling cartridges once and decided life was too short for that, even though bulk ink is almost "free" compared to what these tiny cartridges cost.

[kf0rt]

I will keep it in mind. I print up my own QSL cards and that eats up ink pretty fast. I've checked with a couple of card printing companies, thinking that it would probably be cheaper than printing cards at home, but they seem more oriented towards photo-type cards and can't deal with my simple two spot color design even though I told them I can do all the pre-press work for them myself (I have formal graphic design training and have worked in several service bureaus). I should probably just go to a regular printer locally but that can get pricey.

Last I checked (it's been a couple years), there were a number of QSL printers that would do the simple cards for about $10/100 with discounts for bigger quantities. Maybe check the eHam ratings? I always liked the full color jobs, so that's what I have. As I recall, it cost < $70 for 500 from QSLWorks.com. About $100 today.

For cheap black ink on colored stock cards, the card stock isn't real expensive, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get fired for using one of the Xerox machines at work.

Did I say that?