a question of quality (Canon User)

[ultraviolet353]

I am a refilling newbie--I recently purchased the IMS ink refilling system from Costco for my Canon S520 (it uses a 4 cartidge system: 3e Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow). I have thus far refilled the black and the Magenta. I printed some color photos that would use the Magenta refill, and they seem less vibrant than the original Canon Ink that I used to use. I also printed a number of pages of plain black text. The black is appallingly dull and lacks the crispness that I had with the Canon Ink. I followed the instructions to the letter, and had no leaks--I have one question, is it bad if the songe inside the cartridge is completely saturated? I notice that on my retail Canon carts, the top of the sponge stays clean, and is not completely saturated--does it make a difference whether the sponge is completely saturated or not?

I will most likely be returning the product. I have read positive reviews on this site and eBay for the Hobbicolors Canon refilling system.

I have a few concerns--when using refill systems, does quality suffer? I am a home user, so I do not have exteremly high standards, but I noticed immediately that the IMS ink didn't look as good.

Is the Hobbicolors ink for Canon very high quality? Will I notice a difference in quality when using Hobbicolors?--I just want a refill system that isn't too expensive, but will be of comparable quality to the retail Canon ink cartridges.

Any help or recommendations is greatly appreciated.

 

[nelda]

I use Hobbicolors ink and am very happy with them. I had refilled for years (way back with the BJC 600) and have found that the Hobbicolorsr cartridges are a breeze to work with.

I got a new iP5000 and switched to the Hobbicolor inks just after using the OEM inks. I use it for both photos and text. I could tell a bit of a difference with the Hobbicolor inks if I held two photos side-by-side, but it was not extreme and not objectionable. I didn't notice the problems you saw - the change in the black or the vibrancy issue.

There are some very loyal fans to some of the other inks, like Formulabs and Image Specialists. I haven't used these with my current printer, nor have I used the IMS inks, so I can't make a direct comparison with them. But overall I am very happy with Hobbicolors.

Their cartridge is a blessing to all refillers IMHO. They make the refilling process a breeze. They are worth the cost of the refil set even if you don't use their ink. If you don't like the ink, you can always switch to one of the other inks and still use the Hobbicolors cartridges. A refill set for your printer would probably run about $22 for the cartidges and 2 oz ink (about 4 refills) of each color.

There was a recent thread on the sponge concerns. I think Grandad found 2 different sponges in the OEM crtridges, which may explain why OEM don't fill up to the top. Others thought that giving the cartridges (that were filled to the top) a bit of a squeeze helped prevent ink leakge. I have some filled to the top and some not - they don't seem to perform any differently.

BTW I am not associated with Hobbicolors in any way other than being a satisfied customer. Their customer service is the best.

I use a variety of papers (Canon glossy, Office Depot glossy 4x6, Office Max Glossy 4x6, HP Matte Presentation paper) with the Hobbicolors inks with good results. I have only had objectionable results with a very cheap brand of 4x6 paper from the dollar store. I don't use it any more Too cheap for even me, results were very poor. With plain paper (for web printout, etc) the ink produces a readable text - which is my only expectation from plain paper anyways. I have had very good results with Presentation paper - a coated paper (both sides) that produces great photo output on matte paper that is little heavier than regular paper, but much cheaper than photo paper. It's great for calendars, heavy enough that the colors don't bleed through to the back side, and produces vibrant colors. Also good for scrapbooking - printouts that will be adhered to a background and under a page protector. Not heavy enough for "pass-around-and-look-at-my-pictures" use.

 

[Osage]

To ultraviolet353+ welcome to this forum,

In general you should purchase a refill kit with ink blended for your specific printer. I do not believe that applies to a costco kit as its likely to be blended as a generic for all printers. Not only are color shifts likely, you also risk printer damage especially if some of the color inks are pigment based. But since I have zero experiences with IMS ink, I cannot make any other comments about their characteristics.--hopefully someone here has had experiences and can advise you better.

As you may have read on this forum hobbicolors kits are specifically blended for Canon printers-----and is one of the three inks rated very highly on this forum---the other two are MIS and formulalabs. -----any of the three are almost guaranteed to fit your need much better. Find websites for the three at www.alotofthings.com for formulabs, www.inksupply.com for MIS, and www.hobbicolors.com for hobbicolors.

As someone who did purchase a hobbicolors kit for my Canon printers I can tell you
hobbicolors is a very responsive vendor to email questions----and one of the selling points is the empty cartridges with a screws seal for the ink inlet hole that comes with their kits. And if you decide to go with hobbicolors, you may wish to purchasea spare set of empties.---also find on ebay--just type hobbicolors on the ebay search bar.

In terms of sponge saturation, yes, that is normal. As grandad35 explained, factory cartridges are filled in a different way an somewhat short shoted with ink. As long as no liquid ink is in the air gap between the top of the sponge and the top of the cartridge and the ink outlet does not drip, you should be OK. Another newby tip for hobbicolor cartridges---------remove the wing nut seal over the ink outlet hole before refilling---then put back on------because those buggers are hard to break off
on a filled cartridge and the force of you holding the cartridge is likely to squeeze ink out. As I found out with experience.

But if you do go with any of the three highly recommended inks, its unlikely you will notice any difference between the refill ink and Canon OEM.

 

[on30trainman]

I am also a happy user of Hobbicolors ink - bought a set, plus extra cartridges, for my ip4000. Also just ordered and am awaiting a kit for my new ip6000D. The one thing I did notice about the Hobbicolors inks was that the CYAN was lighter than the Canon OEM CYAN. Initially I thought it was too light, but as I have been using it in the ip4000 I have come to like the sky colors it produces vs the OEM. I noticed that sky blues were actually too intense with the OEM in comparison prints. I sent Dave at Hobbicolors two scans, one of the four Canon pure colors and one of the Hobbicolors pure colors. He had heard one or two comments about the CYANs, but my scans were the first time he could actually compare them. The Y, M and B were identical as best my eye could tell. Hobbicolors has excellent customer service - Dave has always answered my e-mails within a few hours if he is available. I made an order this past Monday AM and the package was in the mail in the PM. Should be here tomorrow - maybe even today.
The COSTCO ink set is probably generic - usable by many different printer makes. Actually I am going to be at the local COSTCO this afternoon to get some more Kirkland paper. Will look at the ink kit and see what it says about compatibility. Canon uses dye based inks for most colors - except the 3eBk is pigment based for text printing. I think Epson uses piment based inks. If so what are the COSTCO inks? Better to stick with a supplier who makes formulated inks for your printer.

Steve W.

 

[tyamada]

If your printer uses a BCI-3ebk cartridge and it is larger than the color cartridges, then the black ink is supposed to be pigmented, the IMS inks sold by Cosco are dye based inks. You can use the ink to refill the color cartridges, but will get a color shift .

I used dye based black ink in my BCI-3ebk cartridge by mistake once and ruined my print head and printer, I hope you don't have any problems after this.

 

[ultraviolet353]

Thank you all for the great help! I think I will go with Hobbicolors--Now my only concern is if I have damaged my printhead--how would I know if I did? Whta re the symptoms of a dmaged printhead? I only printed out maybe 10 pages, and one photo.

 

[Osage]

To ultra,

Do a nozzle check--if its OK your printhead is OK. And I have to respectively disagree with the assertion that dye based ink in a BCI-3ebk will damage it printhead just because its dye based instead of pigment based like Canon OEM. Many third party prefilled cartridge vendors do exactly that--use a dye based ink--and I have run quite a few cartridges of that dye based ink thgrough my printer(s) with zero problems. But I have switched to hobbicolors for greater savings.---not because I had any problems with the vendor or that they used dye based ink.

But a poorly blended ink is asking for trouble. Lots more variables like viscosity, coolants, and other variables other than the mere pigment or dye criteria. I serioiusly doubt costco would sell refill inks that
damaged printheads.

 

[ultraviolet353]

cool--I will do that--this forum rocks--Thanks!

 

[panos]

I agree with Osage, I have used dye black inks instead of pigments without problems. A good pigment is unbeatable in text quality of course, but making good pigments seems difficult for many 3rd party ink makers.

Keep in mind however that if you intend to refill the your dye-filled bci3, you better use all of its ink before refilling with a pigmented black: dyes don't mix well with pigments.

 

[ultraviolet353]

I did a nozzle check--everything looked fine (other than the colors looking very dull, especially the black)--I also ordered the Hobbicolors--really excited about that!

I just wish I had discovered this forum earlier--

Thanks!