EPSON Ecotank monochrome inkjet printers for B/W artworks ?

[BlackWhite]

Hello everyone,

Does anyone had a try with printing black & white artworks with EPSON's Ecotank monochrome inkjet M series (M1140, M2140, M2170 ...etc.)

These were intended as an alternative to laser printers, for texts and graphics/charts.
I'm wondering if they can do a good job for high quality black and white artworks. For example this:

Precisely, I'm thinking of these aspects:
- Sharpness of lines/edges (especially on matte paper)
- Uniformity of black areas
- "deepness" of EPSON's black ink on matte paper (for reference, the printer is sold with the ink bottle C13T03P14A)

 

[BlackWhite]

Here again for some news.

I had the opportunity to perform tests with the model Ecotank M2140.
I printed on coated matte paper (150 gr) + EPSON original ink (pigment ink - Ref. 110).

The quality is definitely there: sharp lines, deep blacks and unifom black areas.
What remains is the presence of "pizza wheel" marks (see picture). If someone can help I would appreciate.

First I tried different options in order to have a good ink density (not overload the paper) and the least wheel marks.
Here's the configuration with the best quality so far (if anyone have one model of the series):

1) Paper source: rear paper feed slot

2) On the driver software menu:
- Paper type: Thick paper
- Quality: High
- Quiet mode: ON
- High speed: OFF
- Printer density: 0% (cannot diminish this one, which indeed reduces the problem, but I need deep plain blacks)

3) On the printer's LCD screen:
Settings -> Printer Setup -> Ink Drying time = Longer


With these options I eliminated the little white pizza wheel marks that plagued the black areas of the print.
What is left is the black dots in white areas which I think is caused by the ink not having sufficient time to dry before touching the wheels.

Is there a way to further slow down the printing speed ?
Or an alternative solution ?

Thanks.

 

[Shannon_Best]

Here again for some news.

I had the opportunity to perform tests with the model Ecotank M2140.
I printed on coated matte paper (150 gr) + EPSON original ink (pigment ink - Ref. 110).

The quality is definitely there: sharp lines, deep blacks and unifom black areas.
What remains is the presence of "pizza wheel" marks (see picture). If someone can help I would appreciate.

First I tried different options in order to have a good ink density (not overload the paper) and the least wheel marks.
Here's the configuration with the best quality so far (if anyone have one model of the series):

1) Paper source: rear paper feed slot

2) On the driver software menu:
- Paper type: Thick paper
- Quality: High
- Quiet mode: ON
- High speed: OFF
- Printer density: 0% (cannot diminish this one, which indeed reduces the problem, but I need deep plain blacks)

3) On the printer's LCD screen:
Settings -> Printer Setup -> Ink Drying time = Longer


With these options I eliminated the little white pizza wheel marks that plagued the black areas of the print.
What is left is the black dots in white areas which I think is caused by the ink not having sufficient time to dry before touching the wheels.

Is there a way to further slow down the printing speed ?
Or an alternative solution ?

Thank you for this detailed answer!