Black BCI-6BK dye-based ink in the Black BCI-3eBK pigment-based cart

[fadeaway]

Wondering if anyone has attempted to fill a purged 3eBK cart with a dye based black such as that used in the 6BK or compatible?

The rationale is based on what I have read in that the 3eBK ink contains fine particles (I suspect it is Carbon Black) that eventually fall out of suspension and coat the ink channels or clog the nozzles.

Now I have never tried this and am not sure if the dye ink would print properly but if it worked it may be a useful way of reducing head clogs and therefore increasing the longevity of the head.

Other than compatibility, I would guess that the dye-based ink would have a greater tendancy to fade due to light and atmospheric contaminants but for those doing mostly photo stuff perhaps it may be worth investigating.

 

[tyamada]

I put dye based black ink in the BCI-3EBK (pigmented) by mistake and did notice the the text that was printed on plain paper was fuzzy, the result of the lighter consistency of ink soaking into the paper more than the pigmented ink.

 

[fish]

Hobbicolors gives you a choice for the 5 cartridge - you can order a kit with a mixed pigment/dye black ink which is supposed to be clog friendlier than straight pigment ink. Also a buck less in cost than pigment.

 

[hpnetserver]

Weink (MIS ink) sells a pigment ink that contains 25% dye. Price is very high compared to dye ink.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I put dye based black ink in the BCI-3EBK (pigmented) by mistake and did notice the the text that was printed on plain paper was fuzzy, the result of the lighter consistency of ink soaking into the paper more than the pigmented ink.

It would be an interesting test to tell your printer you were printing on photo paper but really print text on plain paper. This will cause the printer to not use the BCI-3eBK cartridge but to use the BCI-6BK cartridge. Make sure you don't tell the printer you are printing all black (grey scale), because then it will use all four BCI-6 cartridges (black, cyan, yellow, and magenta). Just print a page of text on plain paper (with your dye black ink in the BCI-3eBK cartridge) and then print the same page on "photo" (but really plain) paper and see if the fuzziness you observed is caused by the dye ink or the fact that the droplets are much larger coming from the BCI-3eBK cartridge.