CCS-Digital.com Compatible Epson Ink Cartridge FAQ

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CCS-Digital.com Compatible Epson ink cartridge FAQ

I bought compatible cartridges elsewhere and they didn't work. How do I know yours will?
We offer a full money-back guarantee of the full payment made for our cartridges - even for the opened ones and even for the shipping. We are taking 100% of the risk. We obviously couldn't do this unless we were certain our cartridges worked.

Why do your cartridges work when so many others I've tried don't?
Epson keeps changing their printers to better detect and reject compatible cartridges. While the Epson CX8400 and the Workforce 30 both use the same T069 cartridges, the Workforce is a later printer and has been programmed to reject most compatibles. Some sellers, particularly on eBay, pick up large quantities of cheap cartridges to resell. These are older cartridges whose chips have not been updated to work with the later printers. We get our cartridges directly from the master importer. The chips in our cartridges are updated regularly. Just in the past few months we have gone from version 3.0 to 5.1 and in August we will start selling 6.0.

There are times when Epson releases a new model which will not work with our cartridges. We will not post this model on our site until we have confirmed that it can use our cartridges. Some of you may have noticed that we did not list cartridges for the Workforce 30 for a while because we were awaiting confirmation that ours worked with this printer.

This is why it is important that you order your cartridges by printer model. A few customers noticed that we did not have reusable cartridges listed under Workforce 30 so they clicked a different printer which took T069, then discovered those cartridges would not work for WF 30. And they still got their money back. Incidentally, our cartridges now work with this and all models which take T069.

How much ink do your cartridges hold compared to Epson?
Epson gives you 7 ml of ink (see this article where researchers actually opened the cartridges and measured the amount of ink supplied). Our regular cartridges give you 13.5 (color) to 15 (black). Our reusable cartridges give you 20 ml - almost triple the amount of Epson. However, Epson printers do not accurately measure how much ink remains in the cartridge. That is why the printer often reports the cartridge is empty when there is still 10-15% of the ink remaining. Once a regular cartridge is flagged as empty it can not be reused - even if ink remains.

Some people remove the cartridge when it is half-full and then re-insert it. The printer then reports it as a new, full cartridge and they get to use all the ink. The chips on our reusable cartridges are designed to always reset to full upon insertion, even if the cartridge was reported empty. However, re-inserting a cartridge must always be done with extreme caution, since the printer may not detect if the cartridge actually does run out of ink. Your only notice may be when that color no longer prints and if you wait for that to happen, you could damage your printer. Read Ink Jet Care for more details.

Is your ink identical to Epson's?
No. Epson's formula is protected by patent and can't be duplicated. Epson uses pigment ink and our compatibles use dye. We have not seen any compatibles which use pigment ink nor would we want to use these if they did. Read Pigment vs Dye Ink for details on the difference between the formulas.

I was told using any ink but genuine Epson will clog my printer and void the warranty. Is this true?
No and no. First, pigment ink contains particles of pigment floating in solution. Dye ink is fully dissolved. So it is pigment ink which is more likely to clog. In fact, Epson's first pigment printers suffered from excessive clogging, which is why Epson printers still have a reputation (not fully deserved) of clogging. Second, Epson has always implied that using third-party cartridges voids the warranty. They are very careful not to state this outright because courts have already found this to be illegal. If your Epson printer fails, Epson will fedex you a replacement and pick up the old one at their expense. They instruct you to return it without the cartridges. So you get your replacement in advance and Epson never learns you used compatible cartridges. Just don't foolishly volunteer this information because they could use it as an excuse not to replace your printer.

How do you compare the quality of your ink to Epson's?
Read Pigment vs Dye Ink for details on the difference between the formulas. In short, pigment ink lasts longer because it sits on top of the paper and isn't absorbed into it. However, dye ink is usually brighter. The oldest photos I printed with compatible ink are about 10 years old. They were done with an Epson 640 on plain paper. Hanging on my wall, they still look about as good as the day they were printed except that the paper has started to yellow. Photos in my album printed on photo paper look fantastic. Will they last 100 years like Epson claims their ink will? Ask me in another 90 years :) Take a look at the scan below and judge for yourself.

One of these scans is the actual book and the other is a scan of a plain paper printout of a scan of the book done on an Epson Workforce 500 using our reusable cartridges.

What special steps do I have to take with your reusable cartridges? Do I have to inject ink with a syringe?
No, our reusable cartridges come with special, sealed ink tanks. There is no injection of ink and no mess. Pop out the empty tank and pop in the new one. You must remove the yellow tape at the top of the tank, just like you remove a yellow tape on the top of regular ink cartridges. If you are using a later model cartridge (T069, T078, T079, T098), that's all you have to do. If you are using an earlier cartridge (T048, T060), you also have to touch the chip resetter to it so that it resets the chip to full. Privacy and security