Anyone who is involved in wide-format digital printing is also aware that a number of ink manufacturers offer bulk ink systems that can replace OEM inks at a lower cost. Some offer an exact performance and color match to the OEM inks; some offer superior color gamut and other benefits. However, making the move to a bulk system is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Careful research is recommended and a thorough risk/benefit assessment should be made. And before you go too far, you should note an interesting fact—many of the printer manufactures are starting to offer their own bulk ink systems. Okay, here are a number of considerations that should be factored in.

 

These ink cartridges have a battery and a reset switch. My printer has the old firmware so I do not need to use these switches.

RISKS TO CONSIDER

When I first considered looking into bulk inks and bulk ink systems, I was very concerned about what risks I might be taking for a future expected return. When you ask the manufactures about bulk inks, most will point out the concerns about the potential loss of your printer warranty and recommend keeping with the manufactures OEM ink. They do this for a number of reasons; one is that most people who own printers do not know how to fix them should something go wrong; and if something goes wrong with a printer that you have put new inks in—well, this puts the manufacturers in an awkward spot. 

 

In most cases, you will void your warranty if you move to a bulk ink system on a new printer, so the money you save on the ink better be worth the risk. In addition, manufactures make part of their money from ink sales. If you want support for your printer, but you are not using their ink, I think you should have to pay for that support. 

So, what are the real risks of moving to bulk inks? Here is my experience. One time my bulk ink system overflowed the cartridge and spilled more than half a liter of ink on the floor. What can is say? It cost me $60 in ink, $20 in paper towels and acetone, and pinks hands—but it was priceless. 

 

But seriously, one time I tried an ink and it clogged up my printheads—and at $1,200 per head, it got very expensive very fast. Today the four printheads in my printer cost $835 each, and $600 for the day to have the tech come in and install them and realign the printer. 

 

Check out the companies you are considering for bulk inks. Some of them offer a full warranty on your heads. If the warranty is legit, it may be a good deal—if the warranty is legit. Do your homework. Read the fine print.

 

Here you can see the 2 Magenta 2 Black. I run my printer at 4 x 2 (4 color x 2 heads each color) and I get almost double the speed.

This is the INX Digital Triangle brand of hot solvent inks that I use in my printer.

BENEFITS TO CONSIDER

Now that you have a good understanding as to the risks, let me take you through my reasons for moving to a bulk ink system.

 

My first reason was simply print time. I wanted to be able to run my printer through the night without worrying that a cartridge might go dry. Many times in the past I would want to start a job but a few of the ink cartridges would be down to 20 percent ink. Knowing this would not last through the night, I would pull out the 20 percent ink cartridges and put in new ones. And after about six months I had a pile of partially empty ink cartridges. At one point I had more than 40 of these stuck in a large box (more than $800 worth of ink). True, there might have been a better way for me to handle that, but I don’t like to interrupt printing.

 

My second reason for moving to bulk ink was so I could get a better color gamut. This is not for the average person. You must know what you are doing and have the right color management tools to take advantage of the new inks. In my case I had the tools but not the experience, so I hired a professional and paid him a lot of money to make me a new set of profiles. Wow, that was really worth it. What an amazing difference that made; my colors were more vibrant by 30 percent or more.

 

My third reason was for the savings. And just so we’re clear—money was never the first reason for me to switch over. To get a fix on your potential savings you must first know the current cost for your ink, and how many square feet you run per month. 

 

Let’s start with cost of ink. Figure out how much it costs you now to purchase one liter of ink. If you are currently using 440 ml ink cartridges, then it takes 2.27 of these to make one liter. Assuming you pay $110 for your 440 ml cartridge, one liter of ink would cost about $250. Now divide this by 750 (this is the typical amount of square feet you get from one liter of ink) and you come up with $.33 per square foot. 

 

On the top of the cartridge inside you can see a long white float, this is what controls the ink level in the cartridge. This system also has the shut off valves so I can make changes without taking the tanks out of the system.

I now pay $110 per liter for my bulk ink so my cost per square foot is $.15—a savings of $.18 per square foot. I run about 1,200 square feet per month so my projected monthly savings would be $216 or $2,592 a year. Now you will need to purchase the bulk ink system and you can expect to pay anywhere between $650 and $1,000 for the system (cost is based on the number of ink cartridges your printer has, and does not include ink). In this example I can expect to save more than $1,800 in my first year.

 

The savings are actually a bit more than this because with a bulk system you are not ordering ink cartridges so frequently and paying for shipping. You also are not running out of ink in the middle of a job and slowing down your production. And, you are not throwing away perfectly good ink because you did not want to let your cartridge run dry during a night-print job.

 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Okay, you’ve had the bad news and the good news. Now here is what I recommend that you look for in a bulk ink system. Assuming your current printer is out of warranty and uses ink cartridges, I recommend you look for a system that emulates what you are currently doing as this will present the fewest changes to your printer’s ink-flow system. 

 

I like the systems that employ translucent 440 ml ink cartridges and translucent bulk ink tanks that sit on top of the printer. A hose connects the tanks to the ink cartridges and gravity helps the ink flow. This type of system is easy to use, and since you can see the ink levels in the tanks and the ink cartridges, you always know how much ink you have. I never fill the tanks more than 50 percent of the way, just in case I get a leak. The cool thing about the ink cartridges is that they have a float in them. When ink in the cartridge gets low, the float opens a valve and lets in the ink from the bulk tank. This way your ink pressure (most printer ink systems use gravity) is always constant and there is less chance of starving your printheads.

 

Here is the tank system I use for my bulk ink system.

One very important question to ask when looking into bulk ink systems: “Is this bulk ink system truly compatible with my XYZ printer?” Inside most printers is firmware that is expecting to see only the OEM manufactures ink cartridges. If you do not find a way to make this firmware happy, you could be dead in the water after installing a new bulk ink system. 

 

Find out if the bulk ink company offers a reset button on the cartridge, or if they have a special chip on the cartridge that can satisfy the printer’s firmware, because every time you start up your printer it resets the counter in the printer’s firmware. Keep in mind that if you have to power down your printer to have it recognize a new cartridge, you might be in trouble when you want to run a long job because you could run out of ink before the end of the job. The cartridge will be full but the printer will think it is empty and just stop printing.

 

CONCLUSION

In the end I feel that switching to a bulk system was a very wise decision—for my company. I did my homework and I asked all the right questions, and in the end I picked a dependable ink supplier that met my needs. And no, I did not use the ink from the company I purchased the bulk ink system from.

 

Good luck. Be smart with your money, and I will see you on the show floor.

 

Click here to view Bulk Ink Systems Resources PDF.