While I appreciate that the general consensus here is to use single-color cartridges, I am planning to work with and refill the lowly PG-510 and CL-511 cartridges for four reasons:
1. It is what I have, and I've refilled PG-50 and CL-51 inks before so I am a bit familiar with the line (I've not opened the new 510/511s yet)
2. It is a common, cheap cartridge which I see is standard for cheap printers on the 20-50 range, but I've also noticed that more expensive printers (100-ish) sometimes still use this cartridge
3. I have a few friends who use printers and cartridges along this price range, so it will be easier to explain to them the benefits of refilling while staying within their "comfort zone"
4. Once the printhead goes, a new printhead is just 11 or a set for 21
The idea here is to help out the average (or above-average) home user, Mom and Dad who cringe whenever their teenage son/daughter print out a full-color page for their school project. I've printed out full-color game manuals and lots and lots of banners with my only worry being the availability of printer paper, so going from a "you printed **THAT** out? Do we still have any ink left??!!" to a "wow, that's a very nice picture, and the colors are so vivid! You'll get good marks on that project for sure!" would be a nice change and would be a benefit to all involved. Therefore, this isn't aimed at professional photographers or graphic artists or small businesses that print out a few hundred pages on a daily basis but rather for consumers who print every-so-often but would like to save on having to buy new cartridges every time.
In line with this, I wonder if the community has any suggestions for me regarding what to note and what to keep track of during my "testing" of this method?
I will be taking pictures of the process for documentation purposes and will be posting my feedback regarding the performance/reliability of the refill method and the cartridges/printheads themselves.
What I know so far:
a. Ink refilling is a great way to save money. From past experience, I calculated that even printing a full-color image on a sheet of paper, the paper would cost more than the ink used on that paper
b. Printheads on cartridges of this type don't last forever, but they do last longer than even the 10x refill expected. Even if they lasted for 10 full refills (I refill before it ran out), that's still a major savings
c. Constant purging and cleaning of the printhead is a must. It'll eat ink a bit faster but will keep the nozzles clear. I used to do a cleaning and nozzle check once a week if I've not used the printer
What I need to find out:
> How exactly to refill these new carts? I suspect it won't be much different from the older carts but need to be sure
> How long would a printhead last? My previous tests were on a different climate and different currency so the "price-per-page" might be different. Plus I'm talking about 4-5 years ago so things will surely have changed
> What would be the best practice when refilling? I know of videos of drilling small/big holes on the cover, but my previous practice was to pop off the cover altogether and did not notice any untoward results. Again, as this was some time ago, I'll need to "re-test" to be sure
I am in the UK and I am using a Canon Pixma MP 230 that I bought off Amazon for 31.90 delivered, purchased on December 2012. Any help, suggestions, or comments welcome.
Thanks for reading!
1. It is what I have, and I've refilled PG-50 and CL-51 inks before so I am a bit familiar with the line (I've not opened the new 510/511s yet)
2. It is a common, cheap cartridge which I see is standard for cheap printers on the 20-50 range, but I've also noticed that more expensive printers (100-ish) sometimes still use this cartridge
3. I have a few friends who use printers and cartridges along this price range, so it will be easier to explain to them the benefits of refilling while staying within their "comfort zone"
4. Once the printhead goes, a new printhead is just 11 or a set for 21
The idea here is to help out the average (or above-average) home user, Mom and Dad who cringe whenever their teenage son/daughter print out a full-color page for their school project. I've printed out full-color game manuals and lots and lots of banners with my only worry being the availability of printer paper, so going from a "you printed **THAT** out? Do we still have any ink left??!!" to a "wow, that's a very nice picture, and the colors are so vivid! You'll get good marks on that project for sure!" would be a nice change and would be a benefit to all involved. Therefore, this isn't aimed at professional photographers or graphic artists or small businesses that print out a few hundred pages on a daily basis but rather for consumers who print every-so-often but would like to save on having to buy new cartridges every time.
In line with this, I wonder if the community has any suggestions for me regarding what to note and what to keep track of during my "testing" of this method?
I will be taking pictures of the process for documentation purposes and will be posting my feedback regarding the performance/reliability of the refill method and the cartridges/printheads themselves.
What I know so far:
a. Ink refilling is a great way to save money. From past experience, I calculated that even printing a full-color image on a sheet of paper, the paper would cost more than the ink used on that paper
b. Printheads on cartridges of this type don't last forever, but they do last longer than even the 10x refill expected. Even if they lasted for 10 full refills (I refill before it ran out), that's still a major savings
c. Constant purging and cleaning of the printhead is a must. It'll eat ink a bit faster but will keep the nozzles clear. I used to do a cleaning and nozzle check once a week if I've not used the printer
What I need to find out:
> How exactly to refill these new carts? I suspect it won't be much different from the older carts but need to be sure
> How long would a printhead last? My previous tests were on a different climate and different currency so the "price-per-page" might be different. Plus I'm talking about 4-5 years ago so things will surely have changed
> What would be the best practice when refilling? I know of videos of drilling small/big holes on the cover, but my previous practice was to pop off the cover altogether and did not notice any untoward results. Again, as this was some time ago, I'll need to "re-test" to be sure
I am in the UK and I am using a Canon Pixma MP 230 that I bought off Amazon for 31.90 delivered, purchased on December 2012. Any help, suggestions, or comments welcome.
Thanks for reading!