Ink Refill for Epson WF-R5690

[EngineEar]

I have an Epson WF-R5690 printer and would like to ask if anybody has any experience in using non-Epson ink to refill its 4 DURABrite Ultra pigment ink packs....or.... any experience in replacing its 4 DURABrite Ultra pigment ink packs with non-Epson ink packs....?

The printer came new with 4 each, Epson R14X ink packs in Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. It can also use Epson R12X and R12 ink packs, but of course any of these are expensive to replace, so I need to try an alternative if at all possible. Thanks for any help/insight/suggestions/advice that can provided......I appreciate it very much.

Printer: Epson WorkForce Pro WF-R5690 Multifunction Printer; uses any of the following ink packs:

• R14X Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
• R12X Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
• R12 Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow

 

[Ericthedesigner]

I have an Epson WF-R5690 printer and would like to ask if anybody has any experience in using non-Epson ink to refill its 4 DURABrite Ultra pigment ink packs....or.... any experience in replacing its 4 DURABrite Ultra pigment ink packs with non-Epson ink packs....?

The printer came new with 4 each, Epson R14X ink packs in Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. It can also use Epson R12X and R12 ink packs, but of course any of these are expensive to replace, so I need to try an alternative if at all possible. Thanks for any help/insight/suggestions/advice that can provided......I appreciate it very much.

Printer: Epson WorkForce Pro WF-R5690 Multifunction Printer; uses any of the following ink packs:

• R14X Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
• R12X Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
• R12 Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow

I am very curious about this as well, have you found non genuine ink packs. I would be willing to give it a try. There’s actually better cheaper inks out there

 

[EngineEar]

In addition to the Epson WF-R5690, we have an Epson WF-R8590, which also uses ink packs (bags) R24X or R22X; the problem is the same as with the Epson WF-R5690.....we have not been able to locate any non OEM (non-genuine) ink packs.....and of course the Epson ink packs are very expensive. While we are able to refill our existing ink packs with high quality pigment inks, it is the ink pack's chips that present a problem in that they have to be reset to indicate their new level of 100% after refilling. However, without being able to reset the chips, the printer will continue reading the refilled ink pack as "empty", or, at least at the same level it was before refilling. So, again, refilling is not the problem, but not being able (at this time) to reset the ink pack's chip is a problem. And again, what about simply replacing the Epson brand of ink packs with an aftermarket ink pack for the WF=R5690 or the WF-R8590......the problem with this is simply availability....there are no non-OEM/aftermarket ink packs available that I have found for each of these two Epson printers. However, if you are reading this article, and you know of some non-OEM/aftermarket ink packs, please...it would be much appreciated if you could share that. Finally, what about simply replacing the chips on the presently installed originally ink packs with new chips (that would indicate 100% fill level)...??? That would work....however, as of this writing, I've not located any of those new chips.
Although this dilemma may seem like the only choice is to purchase the expensive Epson brand of ink packs, that is not a viable choice for me....and so I will continue working on a solution. Any ideas? Thank you!

 

[VA1DER]

There will likely not be any movement on this printer until the chipless firmware teams get a chipless solution out for it. Epson's first two generations of chips were duplicated and they learned from their "mistakes". There won't be generic auto-reset chips come out for Epsons any more. A chipless firmware is being actively worked on and word is it will be out "real soon now". After that, give it a little while longer for the aftermarket crowd to get stuff going for this printer's packs.

As far as how non-Epson ink works in general as a replacement for Durabrite, I have some experience with that. I have a few Epson WF-7720s which also use the four-colour durabrite inks. I have two sources for my ink. For printers I want the best quality prints with, I use the inkowl.com Durabrite replacement inks and am quite happy with them. They are pretty close to genuine Epson. For more bulk work I use Chinese inks I source at refillink.ca. As far as reliability and clogging goes, they are both equal - I just find the stuff from inkowl is closer to Epson colours. The Chinese ink is a little duller and I have to adjust for it, but it's still workable and cheap.

So hold tight. A solution is coming for your printer and good, aftermarket Durabrite-compatible inks are available today.

 

[EngineEar]

There will likely not be any movement on this printer until the chipless firmware teams get a chipless solution out for it. Epson's first two generations of chips were duplicated and they learned from their "mistakes". There won't be generic auto-reset chips come out for Epsons any more. A chipless firmware is being actively worked on and word is it will be out "real soon now". After that, give it a little while longer for the aftermarket crowd to get stuff going for this printer's packs.

As far as how non-Epson ink works in general as a replacement for Durabrite, I have some experience with that. I have a few Epson WF-7720s which also use the four-colour durabrite inks. I have two sources for my ink. For printers I want the best quality prints with, I use the inkowl.com Durabrite replacement inks and am quite happy with them. They are pretty close to genuine Epson. For more bulk work I use Chinese inks I source at refillink.ca. As far as reliability and clogging goes, they are both equal - I just find the stuff from inkowl is closer to Epson colours. The Chinese ink is a little duller and I have to adjust for it, but it's still workable and cheap.

So hold tight. A solution is coming for your printer and good, aftermarket Durabrite-compatible inks are available today.

Hello VA1DER.....thank you very much for your comments....the additional insight is very, very helpful. The printer that I am most focused on at the present time is my WF-R8590, as it is the one nearing its need for ink. Its a very good machine and offers what I need in printing....however, as explained in the previous post, the ink packs are a dilemma at this time. VA1DER, I'm curious about something you said..... "There won't be generic auto-reset chips come out for Epsons any more" - do you know why this is the case? Is it simply because chipless firmware is a better way to go and efforts in developing that approach is more feasible...? Thanks also for the heads up on inks. I have recently visited the InkOwl website, but have not yet ordered. I did, however, order 500ml of black pigment premium ink from another supplier, in order to test....problem is (as stated in previous post), I'm thinking it will no good to refill the WF-R8590 black ink pack at this point. Again, I do appreciate your insight in this matter....its especially encouraging in view of the fact that when I began to research the WF-R8590, I came to a dead end on every avenue that I checked. Last, I'm new to the forum and not quite familiar with its use.....do you know if private messaging is possible? Thanks and have a great day.

 

[VA1DER]

Is it simply because chipless firmware is a better way to go and efforts in developing that approach is more feasible...?

No, it's because Epson has gotten much better at making chips that can't be cloned. They use a combination of technical and legal restrictions. They have cryptographic hash functions on the technical end, and use trademarked phrases in the chips' response strings and use trademark law to enforce monopoly. Also, pretty much all newer printers have firmwares that cannot be prevented from automatically upgrading portions of themselves. When Epson discovers chips that work in their new printers, new firmware patches are distributed out that disable those chips. When you buy the printer, the license agreement you are forced to agree with even warns you that using third party cartridges, even if they work, might not work in the future. In many cases, the "chip" firmware is different from the printer's main firmware. The main firmware will tell you when it's upgrading itself. The chip one can upgrade itself silently.

Epson has their Eco Tank printers for people who are budget-minded for ink. But Epson closely controls the amount you pay for those printers - essentially rolling in the entire estimated cost of all "normal" priced ink you would have bought in a normal printer into the price of the ink tank printer up-front. They also closely control the features you can use. For example, the Epson ET-16500, a wide format (13x19) printer is otherwise identical to the WF-7620 with ink tanks bolted on. However in the ET-16500 version they disable the ability to do borderless printing. This is because they don't want you getting an ET-16500 in order to churn out cheap full-page borderless posters. They want you to pay them thousands either for ink or for a processional wide-format printer, which is why they are working so hard to make chips you can't easily duplicate.

You can see why the focus for Epson printers has switched to chipless firmwares.

 

[EngineEar]

No, it's because Epson has gotten much better at making chips that can't be cloned. They use a combination of technical and legal restrictions. They have cryptographic hash functions on the technical end, and use trademarked phrases in the chips' response strings and use trademark law to enforce monopoly. Also, pretty much all newer printers have firmwares that cannot be prevented from automatically upgrading portions of themselves. When Epson discovers chips that work in their new printers, new firmware patches are distributed out that disable those chips. When you buy the printer, the license agreement you are forced to agree with even warns you that using third party cartridges, even if they work, might not work in the future. In many cases, the "chip" firmware is different from the printer's main firmware. The main firmware will tell you when it's upgrading itself. The chip one can upgrade itself silently.

Epson has their Eco Tank printers for people who are budget-minded for ink. But Epson closely controls the amount you pay for those printers - essentially rolling in the entire estimated cost of all "normal" priced ink you would have bought in a normal printer into the price of the ink tank printer up-front. They also closely control the features you can use. For example, the Epson ET-16500, a wide format (13x19) printer is otherwise identical to the WF-7620 with ink tanks bolted on. However in the ET-16500 version they disable the ability to do borderless printing. This is because they don't want you getting an ET-16500 in order to churn out cheap full-page borderless posters. They want you to pay them thousands either for ink or for a processional wide-format printer, which is why they are working so hard to make chips you can't easily duplicate.

You can see why the focus for Epson printers has switched to chipless firmwares.

Thank you for that very informative insight. It helps to understand what is involved when trying to simply find a way to use a less expensive ink source. Yes, I have noticed the larger up front cost of the Eco Tank printers, and with your recent note, the features strategies. If all this weren't such an inviting challenge, it could be discouraging. I will keep you posted on any progress that I make...and thank you again for your very helpful comments and for sharing any further insights.....it is very much appreciated.