3 year recap: PGI5 72 refills, CLI8's(orig) 25 refills, never purged

[jimbo123]

quick recap on my 3 years of refilling my MP830:

- german method
- hobbicolors ink
- began with syringes, now using squeeze bottles, so much easier and quicker
- replaced MP830 after 22,000 pages, caught a bad code 6A00, swapped in a new MP830 6 months ago

- my current PGI5 cart is 18 months old, refilled 72 times w hobbicolors ink, never purged
- my 4 CLI8 carts are all original, 3 years old, refilled 25 times w hobbicolors ink, never purged

as you can see, i take the "path of least effort", german method, squeeze bottles, never purged, etc

not sure canon would be pleased to hear that i am up to 72 refills on my latest never purged PGI5. also that my 4 CLI8's are 3 years old, refilled 25 times, never purged, all 4 CLI8's outlasted my original MP830.

would be interested in other refill/longevity numbers.

great information exchange here at nifty-stuff

J

oh, 3 years ago i bought a refurbished IP4500 for $79 so to get a spare set of cartridges, the CLI8's are still unopened as is the IP4500 printer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printers: Canon MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860
Method: German Durchstich Method
Ink: Hobbicolors
Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[ghwellsjr]

Keeping an inkjet printer actively printing is one very important factor in longevity.

Can you tell us your refill philosophy? I presume you have a resetter, but when do you refill? Do you refill when the first yellow warning comes up or do you wait for the red warning? Do you top off all your CLI-8 cartridges whenever you refill one of them?

 

[jimbo123]

below is my "path of least effort" approach:

- leave my MP830 on 24x7
- my printing averages 20-30 pages a day, mostly text, some color
- yes, have a resetter, still check manually, old habits are hard to break
- refill my PGI5 as soon as the ink reservoir side is empty, approx every 2-3 weeks
- refill/top all CLI8's whenever one gets close to empty, approx every 6-8 weeks

never purged, never taped, just squeeze, reset and go

i'm thinking that the reason why my current PGI5 cart has lasted for 72 refills is that 2 years ago i picked up 20 canon PGI5s from dell.com for around $2 each on a pricing error. now that i have plenty of spare PGI5's my current PGI5 keeps, going and going.....

would be nice to hit triple digit refills on a single PGI5

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printers: Canon MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860
Method: German Durchstich Method
Ink: Hobbicolors
Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[nche11]

I have had similar success with my ip4200 and ip4300. I don't flush my cartridges either. I do not use a resetter. Sometimes my cartridges would become bone dry before I discovered it and refilled immediately. No problems whatsoever. Great ink and great printers. It's the best deal for cheap inkjet printing. Although cheap in cost there is no compromise of quality. I believe I got the ip4300 in 2005. It is used pretty much everyday. It's on its own set of OEM cartridges still. I refill with the top fill method using Hobbicolors plugs.

 

[Harvey]

I have a similar story,maybe my carts were refilled up to 5 times a month, 2 1/2 years using HC inks and they are acceptable, just a little weeks ago had them replaced by empty virgins.

I read a post that stated that the carts being punctured 100 times didnt seem to affect the sponge and the print quality was top notch. So a set of carts should last a long way.

 

[jimbo123]

my four CLI8 cartridges are 3 years old, have each been refilled 25 times and are still going strong

my original 4 CLI8's have even outlasted my original MP830, which died after printing 22,000 pages

bet the canon bean counters would not be pleased

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printers: Canon MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860, MP980
Method: German Durchstich Method
Ink: Hobbicolors ink, PMT-BK, UW8
Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[jru]

jimbo123,

Where did you get the squeeze bottles from?

 

[binkie]

jimbo123,

Where did you get the squeeze bottles from?

I got my squeeze bottles from the link below and am very hasppy with them. You can get the Canon package with the long needles which can be used with the German refill method.

http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Refill-Tools{47}Kits/

Binkie

 

[stratman]

Squeeze bottles and Luer Lock caps also found at Howard Electronics. I have the Jensen Global 4 oz. and printed out and applied an Avery Label for each bottle's color.

(http://www.howardelectronics.com/kahnetics/squeezebottles.html)

 

[jimbo123]

yes, one of our nifty-stuff members martin at octoink sells an easy fill kit that has everything you need, ink, bottles, needles and scabbards.
http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Refill-Tools{47}Kits/SquEasyFill-Kits/

my bottles are the 4oz from howard's, was before martin began selling the "one stop shopping" kits above.

for more "squeeze bottle" info, see
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4450

so much quicker and easier than syringes, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G6MVUEgyjc - a bit clumsy using the re setter, oh well......

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printers: Canon MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860, MP980
Method: German Durchstich Method
Ink: Hobbicolors ink, PMT-BK, UW8
Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes