I have an epson stylus c82 printer with a continuous flow ink system
(ie ink in bottles outside the printer, from www.inksupply.com, works
great).

The input tray holds about 100 pages of 20# paper. 

I am looking for some kind of modification or accessory to allow me to
run 300-400-500 page long print jobs over night without my having to
be present to manually refill the input tray.

Hi,
You have been looking for this for some time.  Although your present
printer seems to work fine, maybe you should consider a new one that
is geared for high volume.  I expect that it will be more dependable
for overnight, unattended service.

Here is one site:  http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF02a/18972-236251-236268.html

You might search froogle for high volume printers for more.
Myoarin

I would obly be interested in a high volume printer if it used cheap
bulk consummables, which I have not been able to find yet.

The beauty of the system I have now is that the ink is just about
free. I can tolerate its slow speed, just not the frequent refilling
of the paper.

Dave

What about hiring a teenager to mind the paper?  No, I guess that
could get expensive too.  Just been looking at the site for your
printer.  Maybe a clever someone could make a frame around the paper
magazine that held a ream of paper and let it slide down to feed the
printer.  ???
Just trying to be helpful,
Myoarin

Myoarin,

That is just the kind of thing I am hoping someone will answer with. I
agree with some kind of gravity feed chute to release more paper.
Perhaps when the printer runs out, or perhaps after a simple timer
expires. Could have a software macro that would respond to epson's on
screen message regarding out of paper to continue the print job.

Here is a link to an inexpensive robotic gripper I found:
http://www.robotstore.com/catalog/display.asp?pid=267

I imagine something like this could release some paper. I would like
it be able to release more than once though.

Dave

Dave,
I was thinking of somthing simpler, just gravity feed.  Now that I am
encouraged to think a little more, the difficulty is that your printer
draws of the top (front) sheet of the magazine, so that additional
paper would have to be fed to the back of the stack, or  - if the
paper support can be removed -  the frame could replace it  (big if). 
But if so, then I would be envisaging a frame holding a ream of paper,
the bottom of the frame slanted down to let the paper slide down into
the slit where the rubber wheels (?) catch the nearest sheet.
Got the picture?
If the paper support cannot be removed, then it gets trickier
(assuming the first idea would work).  I haven't looked back at the
site for the printer.  Maybe if the whole printer is tilted back 20 or
30 degrees, the support could itself be the slanted bottom of the
frame.
What will happen with the printed sheets?  Can't have them stacking up
and blocking things, which would surely be a problem with the last
suggestion.

Hmmm?  :-/   Myoarin

I think the output side is manageable: the sheets output to a kind of
tray that could be altered / removed so they would fall and collect in
some kind of large box etc.

Fine, as long as the printed sheets are held long enough that they don't smear.
Now to find that clever someone to make the frame for the input tray.
I am just an virtual internet person, and in Germany ...
I envisage a wood and/or plastic construction to hold the paper,
whereby the slope of the new magazine needs to be such that the mass
weight of the paper is carried by the frame, so that only the top
sheets slide down into the prineter.
Maybe I am expecting too much.
I am afraid that this is where I have to sign off.
Good luck, Dave,  Myoarin