Epson 9 Pin Resetter & Remax Show News
The Remax show in Zhuhai China was quite an eye opener. Although not as large as the Rechina show in Shanghai it was really well organized by The Recycler. Suppliers were well represented, numbers of participants and visitors were up on last year and the consensus was that the show was worth while. We found it very easy to find our way around. Zhuhai city was very different from any other Chinese cities we had visited. It is a holiday/tourist area just across the border from Macau which is a serious gambling mecca and turns over more than Las Vegas. Zhuhai is a charming “old” city that was designed by a European and it shows. However it has not lost its “Chinese flavour” for friendliness or value. Four of us had a 5 course dinner in a famous Chinese restaurant and the bill came to U$35! There is a massive underground air conditioned shopping mall at the border post (10 min’s from the city centre) where you can bargain for almost anything and everything. Much bigger and better than the equivalent in Shanghai and you don’t get continuously harassed by every Tom, Dick or Wang trying to flog you a Rolex or Mont Blanc knock off!
Our main objective was to investigate/clarify certain chip issues, find out the latest on the CLI-8 compatible chips/cartridges, obtain a progress report on the 9 pin Epson chip re-setters and inspect some new ancillary refilling equipment which we will be bringing in to test.
- It’s unfortunate but from all reports Epson introduces new models and changes the firmware on existing models every three months. The biggest effect of this firmware change seems to be that a small percentage of aftermarket chips on compatible cartridges will need to be upgraded as well. So if you have a customers printer that will not accept the cartridge or shows ink out , new versions of the chip will solve the problem. So explain to your customer and inform them a newer cartridge with a upgraded chip will work and that it’s not too far away.
- Cli-8 issues. At this moment in time there are two types of compatible chips available with other chip manufacturers coming on board soon. Both current types appear to have the same functions and are both re-settable by our current re-setter. The major difference at this stage is that the chip which will be on the compatibles we will be selling from mid July will be IP free and will not impinge on any of Canon’s patents.
- Epson 9 pin re-setters. We sent 4 different sets of 9 pin cartridges to our supplier that is developing this chip re-setter. The good news is that they have already reset 2 types of cartridge and expect a break through soon to reset the other sets.
- We saw an excellent and well made inkjet centrifuge which we have ordered for testing. It spins at 1900rpm, has a twin universal cartridge holder, very small footprint and will (hopefully) retail for under $750.
- We also saw and ordered samples of a new patented refill kit. This is different to any refill kit we have ever seen as it can represent good value to re-fillers. It uses a simple vacuum system. We will keep you updated on our testing results.
- We also had a long chat with Sensient about new inks and their advanced technology they build into their inks. More information about the technical aspects of the inks will be included in future technical bulletins.
