# Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Question/Quality



## ljmartin0914 (Sep 23, 2017)

Hello everyone-I have been creating t-shirts for YEARS! First by hand painting, the last few years with heat transfer vinyl. I am now looking at getting into Sublimation. I have an opportunity to buy an Epson Stylus Pro 4000 large format printer. Does anyone have experience with this printer? Quality of print? Issues?

Thank you for any help.

Lisa


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## Signature Series (Jun 11, 2016)

Couple things - in dye sub wide format is typically considered to be a printer 44"+. Second before considering the Epson 4000 you need to see if an ink vendor has a profile for that printer. Without a professional profile for the printer your results will be sub par. Last want to make sure the print head is 100%. If you have a print head issue an d it is dropping nozzles you have a boat anchor.


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## Talon (May 14, 2015)

As long as the printer is in good shape, it's a great printer for dyesub. Make sure you watch it print a good nozzle check and a test image with your own eyes to ensure it's in good shape. You can get bulk carts off the internet and plenty of bulk ink options. The profile is important. That's an old printer and plenty of profiles exist. Now getting your hands on one for that printer and the ink available might be a task.


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## yoga (Apr 21, 2011)

The epson 4000 is a very slow printer. If the heads are clogged, do yourself a favor and don't buy it. I have a garage full of old clogged epsons.


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## SublimatorToo (Jan 15, 2009)

yoga said:


> The epson 4000 is a very slow printer. If the heads are clogged, do yourself a favor and don't buy it. I have a garage full of old clogged epsons.


Two thumbs up to that!!

My Epson 4000 and 4800 have long gone to the junk yard.

What appears to be print head clogging actually turns out to be catastrophic print head and damper failure. Neither of these are user replaceable, which means a very expensive trip to Epson service for new parts and installation. And the result is a guaranteed repeat.

When I first took the 4800 in for service after a year and a half life, the tech told me that I got at least a half to one year better service out of the head than what he would expect based on his repair experience.

The cost of the fix was almost as much as a new machine.

Also bear in mind, that these machines are now obsolete for many, many years. That alone should disqualify them from your consideration. You may also run into problems getting suitable inks and profiles since the machines are obsolete.

And don't let anyone tell you that you simply need to keep running ink through them to prevent clogs. Mine were run every day. It may help a bit. But expensive head failure is inevitable. 

Those machines also have an auto head cleaning cycle which is constantly running and draining your expensive ink. You should disable it. Epson doesn't tell you how to do that. 

The technician service manual was available on the web. That opens your eyes to what a boondoggle you are getting into when you want to use one of those printers for anything, not just sublimation. 

Don't touch those things with a barge pole. Get something current.


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## ljmartin0914 (Sep 23, 2017)

Thank you so much for this honest response. I have decided to go another route. Buying new. Not a high end printer, but enough to get me started. thanks again


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## Resu (Oct 16, 2011)

ljmartin0914 said:


> Thank you so much for this honest response. I have decided to go another route. Buying new. Not a high end printer, but enough to get me started. thanks again


In my best Bob Marley voice, "Don't let 'em fool ya..." 

The 4000 is still a viable, reliable and buy-able printer for sublimation. 

Dampers are $2 a piece on Ebay.

Print heads can be snatched from other Epson printers found in bunches on Craigslist for sometimes as low as $20 or Free. I know because I snatch 'em up--those other printers--as soon as I seem them. 

Removing the print head, dampers, etc. isn't as hard as they may lead you to believe. Replacing all 8 dampers and print head can be accomplished in under 30mins. Flushing all the lines adds another 20 -30mins depending on how bad they're clogged. Youtube has several vids showing you the process. No need to take it to a tech for them to overcharge $50 a pop for dampers and the ridiculous price for a print head that you may can get for free as I previously mentioned from another printer. 

Contact Mr. Gross at Conde and he'll set you straight with turning your 4000 into your sublimation go to printer. Imagine only using one profile for all substrates? 

Add in a spare set of removable carts and some PiezoFlush and you got yourself a sublimation beast capable of delivering 17" wide prints. More than enough for anyone who doesn't own a heat press larger than 16" x 20".


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## SublimatorToo (Jan 15, 2009)

Resu said:


> In my best Bob Marley voice, "Don't let 'em fool ya..."
> 
> The 4000 is still a viable, reliable and buy-able printer for sublimation.
> 
> ...


Sure. You can keep putzing around like that.

What you need to ask yourself is, do you want to spend your time and money learning to be an obsolete printer tinkerer or do you want to learn and actually produce sublimated stuff?

I got totally fed up with the constant down time, unreliability, expense and lost revenues. My future is in generating saleable product, not maintaining a relic. 

Sure, you can even change the print head with another used one which is no better than yours in about 15 minutes. But you won't line it up properly. That takes special tools and procedures.

You hackers are just fooling yourselves.

The printer was good in its day when it worked. Those days are gone.

My Epson WF-7610 does every bit as good a job as that clunker 4800 will. And when it craps, it's only $150 for an entirely new machine. You just toss it and put the new one on the shelf. No muss. No fuss. And no screwing around with ebay, Kijiji, or anything else.

It's any easy, practical choice for me.


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## Resu (Oct 16, 2011)

SublimatorToo said:


> Sure. You can keep putzing around like that.
> 
> What you need to ask yourself is, do you want to spend your time and money learning to be an obsolete printer tinkerer or do you want to learn and actually produce sublimated stuff?
> 
> ...


Just because you obviously failed with a 4000 doesn't mean the next person will. You may not have the cerebral capacity, drive and/or technical skills to get it done? So yes the WF-7610 is the perfect for "you".

So when I change my oil and brake pads I'm a hacker too? Gotta be. I don't have that straight long funnel, air tools and (you a hacker if don't have this) car lift. Miss me with that minuscule mindset. 

Less begets less. So I'll end here...unless "me" has more to share?


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## ImageDesignS (Aug 18, 2016)

Resu said:


> So when I change my oil and brake pads I'm a hacker too? Gotta be. I don't have that straight long funnel, air tools and (you a hacker if don't have this) car lift.


I'm mechanically well. My day job is bike mechanic. Only female bike mech in my company in my state.

I love keeping things running and not adding to the land fill.


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## customprinted (May 26, 2014)

I have an epson 4000, I converted it in 2014 and never had a problem with clogging since, the only issue I did have is that the fine dot setting (vsd3) is not workinf because of the K channel spreads ink, this ia because I bought it used, since I print on poly textile I have no issues using the other 2 dot sizes, even on very fine detail I still get everything done no problems. This is my advice:

1.- Dont use Generic Inks, they will destroy your printhead.
2.- print regularly even if you dont have production runs, just have the ink circulate thru the dampers even if its for a few feet of printing. 
3.- if your getting into sub and going this route because you dont have the customer base then its totaly fine.
4.- If you got customers waiting for you tonget into dye sub buy a new machine, you wont regret it, that tech.support from your dealer.will help you stay operational.
5.- if you decide to go the DIY route rhen its fine just get your hands on a good RIP software if your planning to do large runs, I have a profile for.that machine if you use flexi Rip/photoprint. Ill sell it for a low.price believe me you will save ink.and time.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk


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