Epson inkjet cartridges are ink tanks that supply ink to the print head. Epson uses technology called the ‘piezoelectric crystal’ method or technique, rather than other inkjet manufacturers who use an entirely different technology from the (easier to pronounce) ‘thermal’ type of printer. The print head for these cartridges is built into the cartridge itself.

The essence of the difference, and indeed the similarities, of the piezoelectric and the thermal methods differ only in the technologies used for the same purpose, that is getting the ink onto the paper in the right quantities and right colours. To be able to do this effectively the ink has to be forced down onto the paper.

To force the ink correctly down the miniscule nozzles Epson and the other main manufacturers in the world went their different scientific ways. Canon, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark opted for the ‘steam type of method, whilst Epson developed new technology along the lines of electrifying crystals.

‘Thermal’ type of printer cartridges will contain the necessary heating elements inside each ink cartridge to vaporise the ink into a bubble. An electric current is used to fit in with the printer’s circuitry which vaporise the ink, pushing it down the nozzle, whilst the remaining steam in the bubbles pushes the other unused inks back in place ready for the next signal. This is, of course, why it’s called a ‘bubble-jet’ printer, the bubbles being located above the nozzles.

Epson printer cartridges, on the other hand are based on a very different technology, which is that of the ‘piezoelectric’ crystal. In this case the method of forcing the ink onto the paper also uses electric currents, the major and important difference being that the piezoelectric method uses crystals which move upon electronic impulses, the unused ink is returned to the reservoir by a sort of electronic magnetic effect ready for the next firing.

It has been found that this method does have distinct advantages over the other ‘big 3’ manufacturers in the variety of inks that can be used by this method, certainly this is used by commercial and professional printers as they tend to give more precise (or smaller) drops of ink than the ‘thermal’ printers.

Epson printer cartridges, as you can see from the above ‘techno-babble’, have to provide a full range of ink cartridges to suite all types of printing needs. The research undertaken to provide these different inks and cartridges to satisfy each individual’s requirements and needs is vast, and so therefore a large number of different types of ink cartridges are available.

The eezytrade catalogue of Epson printer cartridges shows the range and it’s applicability to each specific printer. Because the Epson printer’s head is fixed in the printer and the cartridge is basically an ink tank, they are normally cheaper than cartridges with heads that are fixed on the cartridge itself, like HP and Lexmark ones.

I wonder whether the other manufacturers may follow Epson’s lead in reducing prices.