3rd-party cartridges for Canon IP5000 in the UK?

[pete_in_oxford]

First and most important, a big thank-you to the members of these fora - I've learned a lot in the last couple of days!

Secondly, as the subject suggests, I've just bought an IP5000 and would welcome recommendations of 3rd-party cartridges and supplies for it that are available in the UK. One remarkably cheap brand is Jet-Tec - any experiences, anyone?

So cheap are some of the 3rd-party cartridges that refilling seems a bit redundant, to be honest. But if any group of people could convince me of the merits of a practice that requires syringes, it's the people in this forum

Thanks in advance,

Pete.

 

[Grandad35]

Pete,

Welcome to the forum.

You are absolutely correct that ink refilling doesn't save much over some of the 3rd party prefilled carts. The main reason that I refill is to gain control over the quality of ink in the carts. If you do a search for threads that deal with the subject of which ink is in which carts, you will see that many of us have reached the conclusion that you have no control over the source of the ink in prefilled carts. Even if you find a prefilled cart that you like, there is no assurance that you will get the same cart design or ink from that supplier in the future.

The ink is obviously very important, and I have 4 main areas of concern with various inks:
1. Color match - I don't know of any 3rd party inks (prefill or refill) that give acceptable colors for photos without custom profiles or a lot of work on driver settings.
2. Any plugging of the sponge and filter that starves the nozzles for ink - this is a concern for us refillers who reuse a cart numerous times, but it shouldn't shouldn't be a big problem if you only use the carts one time. Having said this, I have read reports of problems that sound like a starved ink supply even in prefilled carts.
3. Reliability of "firing" in the nozzles - Some inks don't print reliably even though they are properly delivered to the nozzles. This can be a problem on both prefilled and refilled carts.
4. Longevity - This is not yet a major concern for most people, but it will become more important in the future for most of us who print photos.

If prefilled carts suit your needs, they can be a good solution.

BTW, you can buy syringes with blunt needle tips that are no more dangerous than the tines on a fork - and many prople are able to stick 4 of these sharp points into a very delicate area without too many injuries.

 

[pete_in_oxford]

Thanks for that - your point about longevity of result in particular is well made. I must say, though, that in all honesty this is not a concern for me.

As regards consistency, I think at the moment I'd be prepared to deal with the occasional episode of settings-wrangling to avoid all that syringe business. But, again, your point is well made - I'll give it some thought. In the interim I will (after a quiet Froogle session) be trying some cartridges from http://www.activeinks.com and http://www.blankdiscshop.co.uk, and will report back (in a little while, obviously). In the meantime, anyone with recommendations, please: speak up!

Cheers,

Pete.

 

[zakezuke]

Thanks for that - your point about longevity of result in particular is well made. I must say, though, that in all honesty this is not a concern for me.

As regards consistency, I think at the moment I'd be prepared to deal with the occasional episode of settings-wrangling to avoid all that syringe business. But, again, your point is well made - I'll give it some thought.
Pete.

I'm one of those who buys refillable tanks for the ip3000 and mp760. Rather than syrenges I have blunt needles attached to bottles. Time to refil is moments, mess is close to jack squat using the standard foam type... as in a few drops on the top as I pull the blunt needle out, easly resolved with a dab of a paper towl. Also perhaps one drop as I remove the stopper at the bottom of the tank.

But hey... to each their own... plenty of re-filled options on the market.

Here is a thread started by someone who wasn't pleased by prite-rite inks
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=66927&forum_id=57
The image is worth looking at.

Cartridge World is reported to be using Formula Labs or OCP inks... which one in particular I'm not sure as i'm not in the UK nor have I taken the time to ask them. http://www.cartridgeworld.org/

I have no direct experence with any of these options, only sharing that I know they exist.