Reuse of CANON BCI-3 cartridges still possible?

[greenfrogg]

My CANON printers (e.g. 3000, 6000, 400) did and do a good job. Some printed more than 60.00 pages over time. I always refilled the cartridges myself. I'd like to (re)use a bunch of BCI cartridges, now the printheads are becoming obsolete. What is or was the latest model CANON printer that used BCI-3 cartridges? So I can check if it has a driver for W7 and if there are still printheads for sale.

 

[boskey66]

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/bci-3ebk-black-ink-tank This is a link to Canon for the BCI-3e black cartridge compatibility. The compatibility button at the bottom of the page will take you to the printer listings. This should provide you with a starting point for your search.

 

[turbguy]

I have an i960 and an i9900 still going strong with refilled OEM BCI-3 carts (BCI-6 carts work too, the difference being the ink gaumet).

 

[turbguy]

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/bci-3ebk-black-ink-tank This is a link to Canon for the BCI-3e black cartridge compatibility. The compatibility button at the bottom of the page will take you to the printer listings. This should provide you with a starting point for your search.

Interestingly, that Canon link says:

"Econimical [not my spelling error] and convenient, the individual BCI-3e photo inkjet cartridge produces rich black tones for your printed photos".

The BCI-3e is a black pigment cart that is NOT used during photo printing, just text and some graphics...

 

[PeterBJ]

I found a site listing some Canon printers using the BCI-3e dye cartridges. It also has some info about the differences between the BCI-3e and the newer BCI-6 dye cartridges. It also has a list of printers using the BCI-6 cartridges.

But I think it will be difficult to find a working printer that is intended for BCI-3e dye cartridges. These printers are probably 15-20 years old.

But as turbguy wrote, the BCI-3e dye cartridges can be used in stead of the newer BCI-6 dye cartridges. Printers using the newer cartridges might "only" be 10-15 years old and maybe easier to find?

 

[The Hat]

Nice to see your on the ball with that dreadful typo @turbguy, but the BCl-3e cartridge is filled with dye ink, unlike its big brother the BCl-3BK, it can get mighty confusing with these very similar cartridges.

I still use an i865 and an i9950 that takes the BCl-3eBK and BCl-6 carts, this old technology can still match the all new bells and whistle generation of printers, with none of their stupid restrictions..
Win 8 still supports these printers

 

[PeterBJ]

An i965 installed without problems using plug and play on Windows 10. But this printer is intended for BCI-6 dye cartridges, not BCI-3e dye. I don't know if the BCI-3e dye printers will also work with the new Windows versions?

 

[The Hat]

I don’t reckon @greenfrogg will have any luck finding any printers that still uses the BCl-3 cartridge, even the BCl-6 cartridges machines are as scares as hens’ teeth now, and as for the print head, they’ve gone the same way of the dinosaur.

 

[martin0reg]

I have an i960 and an i9900 still going strong with refilled OEM BCI-3 carts (BCI-6 carts work too, the difference being the ink gaumet).

What is a "gaumet"?

I thought I knew a minor difference between BCI-3e and BCI-6 (dye - the text black name was not changed until CLI came along), but when I look at these two, I can't find any:


I'm refilling both types for my ip4000, having bought a bunch of empty "BCI" on ebay, but 90% are labeled BCI-6

 

[greenfrogg]

Thanks everybody for all the replies. As I said I was very happy during the years with these printers. No chips on the cartridges and easy to refill. Some printheads lasted also extremely long (15.000 pages). Some cartridges were refilled over 20 times. Just don't print them really empty, don't refill them "full" and let them rest for a few hours in the printhead before starting the reuse (I normally waited a night before using the printer again).

Since we have to take care for the environment, its important to use our machines as long as possible.

My last action was buying a new original BC34e printhead with photo cartridges for the CANON S400. Because of the very low discount price of the printhead with photo cartridges and the fact that I used in an earlier stage photo cartridges for daily printing jobs on paper, I gave it a try, but the printer doesnt recognise the printhead. I don't know how the printer is figuring that out. As far as I can see the printhead has no chip (I demolished a BC33 printhead), and there is no difference in dimensions.

So for now I am reusing the perfect power supplies of the BJC 3000 machines (24V 1,3A) for a hobby project. And try to see if I can buy a new printhead for my i965. If that's not the case I will have a look at the list thnks@boskey66 on the CANON website for a W compatible machine.

Frits