OEM? more like Bore-EM!

[MikePro]

posting pics as a contribution to the OEM vs. 3rd party ink debate...
2 OEM Cyan cartridges, same distributor, different labels, and 2 DIFFERENT COLOR CYANS IN THE PRINT?!?

i'm not talking a slight difference... its sky blue vs. dark trans. blue!
I'm all for OEM, since its safe, factory profiled, and USED to be reliable in terms of color consistency but its little things like this that make it that much easier to say "why not 3rd party?".

Switching to Triangle by the summer, most definitely.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Wow, that's a big difference, I've never heard of that happening before. I don't think they reformulated the SS2 ink in any significant way in the last while, I'd be on the phone with your distributor to see what's up with that.

 

[chopper]

as you stated you run OEM ink, but I do believe this can happen with any ink,
a batch can get mixed incorrectly etc. I am sure it is mixed by a machine and there are quite a few things that could possibly happen and in your case one of them did.....

as far as the OEM inks being safer that is a misnomer at best, maybe it is safer than some chi-com inks but that is about it, the OEM provider wants to scare you into thinking third party ink will ruin your machine so you keep buying ink from them which is huge profit for them, my supplier who happens to be a friend of mine ( I have been doing business with him for 15-20 years now) sells both OEM ink and several third party inks, He had several customers running triangle brand ink for quite a few years and found that the ones who were useing triangle had far less problems with ink related components in their machines, needless to say I converted to triangle, profiled my machine and never looked back....
the great thing is the triangle ink is cheaper, has more aggressive solvent, dries fast, way faster, has better color range, and has never had a color shift in product ever, I use the bulk system so I can see the ink I am pouring into the tanks, so if there is a color difference I will know before I put it in, but hey what do I know....I am just a sign painter....
just a thought is it possible one is light cyan and the other is not?
//chopper

 

[MikePro]

the great thing is the triangle ink is cheaper, has more aggressive solvent, dries fast, way faster, has better color range, and has never had a color shift in product ever
//chopper

that's what I keep hearing! can't wait! My rep at advantage sign supply knows i'm looking to make the switch soon, and is even offering me free flush and profiling assistance. (they've also been kind enough to let me use their Xrite for profiling purposes in the past)

also, i wouldn't be surprised if the problem ended up being a mislabeled light cyan. Sending an email to my distributor, but I'd imagine nothing will come of it as I'm not too peeved by it (at the moment) to hold a gun to anyone's head. plus, i burned through nearly the whole cartridge before i realized there was an issue while running the nozzle check.