Epson Stylus Pro 3800-T582000 Ink Maintenance Cartridge

I use this in an Epson Stylus Pro 3800. This is the third maintenance cartridge I have used in the time I have had my printer. They last quite a long time (they are used up quicker when you do ink changes or cleanings if you let the printer sit for a while). One thing I have noticed is that they seem to be using a 'recycled' fill in these now. You can see in my pictures the one I removed compared to the one I just purchased. At first I was skeptical it was genuine as it is drastically different. But upon installing the cartridge, the printer read it as new so I am not worried at all. When searching for these on Amazon, be cautious as there are several with a range of prices. This one was the cheapest I could find and seems to work fine.

This is the genuine item. Don't even think twice; you need this and after spending so much on the printer and the ink, this device saves your desk and printer from miserable overflow, for under $20. It is like a septic tank for the printer. It is very easy to replace -- just open the little door on the front of the printer, lower right. Lift the front of the old cartridge slightly and pull it out. Slide the new one in. That's it! You will notice that the old one is heavy with surplus ink, hopefully soaked up by the fabric in the old cartridge like a sponge. (This is the ink overflow caused by borderless printing overshoot, changing the ink between Photo Black and Matte black, and cleaning the print heads.) A clean gallon Ziplock bag is included to dispose of the old cartridge.

I have used OEM and aftermarket.They both work as they should for Epson. I guess it boils down to Brand recognition.HOWEVER if you are using an aftermarket set of ink cartridges that required the original chip set from used Epson cartridges, (you know if you did this) you will need to swap the chip that was included for the aftermarket maintenance tank over to the Epson maintenance tank. as you did when you made the changed. The Epson chip in the OEM will not work. 30 second modification for those who need to do this

If you need this item, then you need this item. There's really no reason to try to give a sales pitch. But this is a good price. So if you need it, then you came to the right place.

If you have ever seen this "tray" with a filter in it. Epson should be able to come up with a more eco-friendly solution. You have to buy the whole thing, when in actuality, it looks like you should be able to just replace the "guts" of it. I'm sure they make more money this way, and it certainly does the job, but between buying the cartridge and paying for shipping, it is a bit pricey for such a cheap looking product.

I checked with my manual (for the 3800 printer) and found that this little guy collects the drippings from the ink as it's being used. Extra ink is used during print head cleaning and print head alignment. Think if it as a broiler pan for your printer. You can check the "% left" by going to Menu, printer status and down to Maintenance Cartridge and it will tell you how much useful life it has left (if only we all had that option.) The manual will also tell you how to change it when you need to. You can download a PDF manual from the Epson site for free.

One of the worst part about owning a printer is these random things you have to buy. This only needs to be replaced every year or so, depending on how much you print. It's amazing how much ink you lose to this thing. Anyway, it works. And you need it, i guess. So buy it.

These maintenance cartridges always seem high priced, but this was the most reasonable price I could find, it was exactly the part I needed and it arrived quickly.