Are the refill kits ready Mike?
I could say YES. But here's the thing. Anyone acquiring this machine is likely going to want to care about high quality imaging with a level of accuracy and consistency. As a result, from the onset I raised my standards and this HAS to be done. Anyone just chucking ink that says it is this color or that color needs a knock on the head. It has got to be darn near perfect. We'll come to the reason why in a while.
Joe and myself will cover and uncover some of the details about this machine, we've been communicating about possibilities and experiments to get the low down on what this machine is all about.
Just after I received this machine, I started to realize this is no ordinary printer that happens to sit on the desktop. We knew beforehand it had the ability to remap nozzles on the fly? Imagine the firmware and computational power required to do that!
Second, I realized that this machine despite it not being mentioned anywhere in the literature specifically had a densitometer built in!
Whoa! So I called Canon to confirm this and two hours later their tech support called me back and confirmed it did indeed have a densitometer built in and apparently just like the one (exact) I think like the floor standing machines.
Later on in my coordinated work with the ink lab, we ran into something more important. Initially it was doubt and non belief on both parties. Ink that used to be jetting properly and consistently was no longer doing that perfectly. This confounded us because, EVERYTHING that was there before for years was identical but performance was not the same. This work lasted for six weeks before a resolution was found. During this period lots of information about Pigment ink for Canon was being learned the takeup of knowledge was huge.
I now understand why this densitometer is an important part of the Canon pigment line. Unbeknownst to me Joe on a totally separate parallel path had been experimenting as it turns out with calibrating his Canon printer using this colormunki. He recently told me about the results he achieved and it is quite revealing. Let's say, there is a lot to these printers than initially meets the eye.
Also while reading the manual, it became clear that there is a level sensor on these machines and these machines must be installed in a permanent spot and it should be level.
These machines carry an internal ink tank inside the printer that the external ink tanks empty into. How large are these tanks? We don't know as yet. Joe will likely power up before I do but both of us will take before and after data to determine exactly how much ink in inside the printer all the time. We'll find out in due time.
These internal ink tanks breathe directly into the atmosphere. It is not a sealed system. Some unlucky person actually as it turns on moved his machine while it was powered on. Canon cautions that when moving this printer, the official process is to purge the complete system or empty it completely and this uses three maintenance tanks. That being the case, we believe at this point the quantity of ink inside the printer is substantial. My estimate is that it possibly has close to 1/2 a cartridge worth or between 30 and 40 ml of each color. (Close to half a liter of ink for 12 carts) Again these are guesses at this point. What did this cost that person? My guess is between $400 to $500 USD for that mistake.
Apparently that unlucky person did use up 3 maintenance tanks and lots of ink just like the manual said.
So what does this have to do with the refill kit? LOTS. The refill kit ink must be matched so closely to the OEM it HAS to be seamless.
Custom profiles will not fix your miscolored print because the ink color will continually be changing as you use the printer because ink is continually mixing into the built in reservoir. Oh, yes because of this built in reservoir, the first prints coming out of the machine will be identical to OEM even with miscolored ink. Until it isn't. So a refill kit for this machine MUST be of the highest order and thus far I am prepared to meet that with 10 of the 12 inks. Never before, I can assure of this has the aftermarket spent so much time and resources in developing an inkset for a printer. I was continually accused of being picky throughout the process.
Red ink and Blue ink continues to be the problem. Multiple attempts by the lab have not come close to what is required. The options are limited to what is available off the shelf. Furthermore, from the colors output it appears that Canon has really leveraged on the Red ink possibly knowing that the aftermarket is going to have a HARD time. Oh I hear the technicians with colormunki and i1pros say we can profile it. Hah, been there for three years. Canon has outsmarted you there. They've programmed the firmware to limit magenta output and carry this to the red in a hard way with little overlap. On the 1000, the magenta is even lighter than the 10, so that means the red is called for more on the 1000 and on the Pro-10 it was already a tricky thing.
I have the chips and will be testing some from 2 sources. I have the chip holders/modules. Between Joe and myself, we have come up with refilling 3 different ways. Plugs as shown before in my other thread, vacuum with syringe by Joe and my latest incarnation, just with a large blunt needle and syringe or squeeze bottle. Refilling is simpler than a Pro-9500/Pro-10. The harder part is some bravery to separate the plastic head that holds and houses the chip module. Once you have the confidence to do it, it is easy and you can mod the holder so that removal the second time will not be that hard.
Bulk ink is waiting for manufacture and delivery.
Before the 1000, I will offer a line of Signature Edition kit and revision for the Pro-10/Pro-1. Here you will be able to print with OEM ICCs and until a decent Red ink is available I will advise users to use the OEM Red if they want to maintain the reddest red possible with this printer. Otherwise an aftermarket red will require a custom ICC and still not meet the deepest red you want.
Just for anyone thinking about it, the Pro-10 inks and Pro-1000 are not the same colors. For example Black is Black but the hue and density is different etc. The OEM magenta ink for the Pro-1000 refuses to print on the Pro-10. Jetting issues. So yes the inks are different. Hey, some people are gonna say, I just want to print something, I'll use anything to fill it with. To which I will reply...The Pro-1000 was not really meant for you then. It's true, this machine needs to be understood for what it was meant to do.
