Third party versus Original print cartridges

agedbriar wrote in post #7118787
On the other hand, I have been quite disappointed with the so much praised Ilford Galerie Classic and Galerie Smooth papers (Gloss), using either ink brand. The shadows are simply misty compared to the deep and clean dark tones that HP Premium Plus Photo Paper delivers. Could be just an Ilford/HP incompatibility, but I'm more inclined to believe that it's the Ilford coating.

Have you downloaded the Ilford Galerie profiles for your printer?


By the way, thanks everybody for your comments and suggestions.

Roy Mathers wrote in post #7119484
Have you downloaded the Ilford Galerie profiles for your printer?

What profiles? If he's using other brand ink, he'll need different .icc profiles...

But he said he couldn't see any difference between OEM and third party ink. I thought the problem was with the paper.

Sorry, seems my reading ability is a bit low today. Skimmed that.
In that case, I second your question

Yes, I did download the Ilford profiles for my printer and yes, I did use the Ilford papers before and after I changed to third party inks.

Same result: misty dark tones, the flaw more pronounced on Classic Gloss than Smooth Gloss paper, especially if the print is viewed at an angle.

Switching inks made no difference on any paper I've used.

Actually, my comments on papers are a bit OT here. I just wanted to point out, how, in my case, moving to third party inks was smoother than moving to third party (renown!) papers.

Simply put. There is a reason they are cheaper. And it is not a happy reason.

In fact if you use third party ink, anything in the ink path is now void of warranty. True ther is no law that says you have to use thier ink. But there is no law to keep them from voiding that part of the warrenty either. I was the inventory manager for a Sharp/Xerox dealer. We had to turn down several claims as the machine had problems caused by 3rd party ink. In one sweep all the money they saved plus some more went right out the door.

Yes, it's better to wait for the warranty to expire.

And after that, it depends on how much you save on ink and how much a new printer costs, should anything go wrong.

As a former Epson IJ tech (was also HP and Lexmark but few of those came throug) (fixing consumer and pro printers down to board level (warranty stuff)) - I can tell you that 3rd party inks were (at least 2 years ago) the number one reason I saw clogged inkjet heads come into the shop.

As HP's replace the heads with each cartridge change this is less of an issue and I rarely saw an ink problem in an HP.

Epsons have a non-user replaceable print head, which allows them to build the head to a very high standard of quality that a disposable one can't match.

When you run third party ink through it they tend to coagulate in the tubes and you get little chunks of ink that literally get stuck in the head as it prints - and shuts off that nozzle. Like a blood clot. Epson ink doesn't do this. That's why it costs a lot. I've been out of the business for a couple years, but with Walgreens refilling cartridges I can only see a meteoric rise in the number of consumer IJ's coming into repair shops.

Aftermarket inks have gone a long way in terms of quality. No wonder: it's a huge and profitable market, thanks to the printer makers' marketing model. Third parties have a good reason to take care about proper ink quality. Perhaps it's not the rocket science printer makers want us believe to be. Who knows.

Anyway, it's still a bit of a gamble, sure. But if you have a midrange printer like I do, which costs about 205EUR new (with ink), while a replacement OEM cartridge set costs 43EUR (or over 60EUR when bought single - with the ink containt for the most used colors at only 5.5ml!), you may be willing to try your luck with aftermarket inks at 1/4 the OEM ink price, postpaid.

agedbriar wrote in post #7118787
On the other hand, I have been quite disappointed with the so much praised Ilford Galerie Classic and Galerie Smooth papers (Gloss), using either ink brand.

I haven't tried any recent Ilford paper but a few years ago I did and returned it to the shop as it was hopeless on my Epson printer. It took some time to dry (not instantly like the Epson paper) and then the blacks suffered badly from bronzing. So in the main I use Epson paper and ink. Sometimes I use other glossy papers for less important things and even have had quite good results with cheap Tescos glossy greeting cards. The lifespan of a Christmas card is short enough not to have to worry about colour stability

Again, I would ask - did you use the Ilford/Epson published profiles?

Roy Mathers wrote in post #7038699
Has anyone any experience of using third party ink cartridges with a Canon i9950 printer? I am currently using genuine Canon cartridges, but I am finding that they are getting very expensive. Third party compatible cartridges are about a third of the price, so are there any distinct disadvantages in using third party?

The case for compatibles is quite simple – price. I reviewed Ways On How To Save Money On Printer Ink a few days ago but,From my own experience owning a computer repair business, if money is no object and you want to be 100% sure of quality (and warranty cover), it makes good sense to use only genuine ink cartridges from the manufacturer. However, for most of us, they cost so much that it is worth at least considering the defects of compatible ink:

Like OEMs, there are also drawbacks to using compatible printer cartridges. For one, OEM manufacturers will usually have their printer cartridges’ design patented. This means that third party manufacturers are not allowed by law to copy or create an exact replica of the printer cartridge in question. The problem with this now is that some printer cartridges from third party manufacturers have modified designs, and in some cases, you’ll find that the printer cartridge, no matter how ‘compatible’ they claim to be, just won’t fit in perfectly. By forcing the compatible printer cartridge into the printer, you run the risk of damaging the printer itself, and may find yourself needing the services of printer repairs in Sydney.


Along that line, if your printer is damaged because you forcibly used a compatible printer cartridge instead of an OEM, you may end up invalidating the warranty that covers your printer, and you will definitely not get a replacement if that is the case. Compatible printer cartridges have their own warranties, but the coverage doesn’t include the damages that the printer cartridges inflicted to the printer – even the big printer service centre in the area won’t honor any claims if this is the case.

Lastly, some compatible printer cartridges have lower quality printouts compared to OEMs. Still, if quality is not an issue, then the use of compatible printer cartridges should be considered.

I have tried non-OEM ink cartridges three times over the past fifteen years or so, and all three times I had problems with clogging jets.

Wow, interesting to read my own views on the matter from almost 10 years ago.

Well, I must say they haven't changed much.

My problem isn't cheap aftermarket ink, but rather the new fast-drying microporous paper, that makes colors fade much sooner than swellable polymer that I've always used but which can't be bought anymore. On the latter, any ink is good, I never experienced fading, while on microporous paper third party inks fade pretty fast, while OEM inks are reported to resist fading better.

With aftermarket inks on my older HP printer I never experienced clogging, on my present Canon I occasionally do, but I attribute that to the extremely fine 1 and 2 picoliter nozzles that the older printer didn't have. Nothing that a cleaning routine or even a repeated nozzle check wouldn't resolve. And if I printed every day, that wouldn't happen.

But there are also some differences to consider: pigment ink printers clog more than dye ink and Epsons clog more than Canons because the latter perform the automatic maintenance routines more often, thus using up more ink for staying healthy.