Allow iP7240 to use iP7250 cartridges?

Van_de_Caab

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According to this forum, and many other Canon Printer specific sites relating to the iP7200 series printers, the iP7240 and iP7250 are identical printers with just a few "regional configuration" specifics. Well maybe true. But this is not just power cable, plug, Manual Languages etc. A big difference is that they cannot use the same cartridges - the chips are different!

I have an iP7240 recently bought here in South Africa. I travel often to the UK and usually buy stuff there that is not easily available here at home. One thing I often buy is printer "compatible" cartridges. I have done this often on previous Epson and Lexmark printers with no issues. I searched on Amazon UK for cartridges for the iP7240 and it directed me to suppliers of cartridges for the 7250 - these being "identical" printers. On my last trip I purchased 4 sets of 5 to keep me going for some time. The brand had universally good reviews on Amazon UK.

The initial charge of my Printer's supplied cartridges started to run out a couple of days ago. So I slotted in a new cartridge - "Ink tank cannot be recognized"!! Tried a different colour. Also not recognized! Checking the cartridges I see that they have different series of numbers. Original iP7240 cartridges based on 450/451 series while the replacement ones - although different number configurations - are based on 550/551 series. Physically there is no difference. The red light initially comes on and the cartridge seems to Prime but then the light goes out and the error message appears (14 Orange Flashes). Replacing the complete set and powering the whole system Off and On makes no difference.

I phoned the UK supplier and they washed their hands. "The cartridges we supply are for "European" Printers"! They would refund unused sets that I returned but the shipping costs would be nearly as much as the refund - plus SA Customs would require import documents which obviously don't exist. Otherwise they suggested I throw the cartridges in the bin!!

So, finally, Question. Does anyone know a way to by-pass the chip, or to load firmware into the 7240 to make it think it's a 7250, or any other way to use 7250 cartridges in a 7240? Other than this is the only way to refill the original cartridges? I refuse to pay Canon cartridge prices which here are around the same price for a set as the original printer price!!

Any help appreciated.
 

The Hat

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That is a dilemma that many face when trying to use regional cartridges not meant for use in their printers.

The most obviously thing to do when faced with not having replacement cartridges that will work is to swap the chip from your now empty cartridges and place them on the newly purchased one and disable the ink monitoring.
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/canon-chip-removal-made-easy.5629/

That will get you out of a hole straight away and it will at least allow to continue to print and use up all of purchased cartridges till you can find a local supplier.

Here are a few links for you to start with..
https://www.inksaver.co.za/en/printer/Canon-Pixma-IP-7240-ink-cartridges.php
http://www.printerland.co.za/Canon-iP7240-Ink-Cartridges-C30901.aspx
http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-CANON-I...k-cartridge-PGI-450PGBK-CLI-451-/121146269365
 

Van_de_Caab

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Hat

Thanks for that. Will try and change the chips - better than throwing them in the bin!

Unfortunately Canon seem to have a different design chip on the iP7200 series. Four tiny plastic pins in the corners, all of which would seem to need to be cut, rather than the larger pins, one straight through and one slotted. The good news is that the compatible carts that I have seem to have the same design so the chips should interchange. May need a touch of glue to hold in place - but then I need to reuse the OM chips four times. So 8 pins to cut to change each chip - 40 in all x4. Can I do it without shedding too much blood!!

Thanks for the local links in SA. However, even compatible carts are much more expensive here than in the UK so it will probably then be the refilling route for me once I have used the ones I have.
 

PeterBJ

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I guess the purpose of the regionalisation is to allow different pricing in different markets and prevent parallel import.

Be aware that the chips on the PGI-x50/CLI-x51 cartridges are paper thin and possibly made to break if you attempt to remove them. So if you successfully transfer these chips, please post an instruction.
 

The Hat

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I wish to clarify that I mentioned in an earlier post that you can transfer the chips from one cartridge to another, but I failed to mention that this only applies to aftermarket carts and not OEM carts.

The chips on the OEM carts cannot be removed so under no circumstances should you attempt to do so; removal will leave them next to useless.. :(
 

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