Canon 551 non OEM cartridge problem

traveltrev1

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I have used look-alike 551 and 550 ink cartridges on my Canon iP 7250 for years with great success, usually manufactured or supplied by "ink power ". My latest batch has changed. When a cartridge is empty the LED at the front end flashes red, when a full cartridge is installed the LED shows steadily. On the latest batches which seem to be offered by all suppliers the LEDs do not illuminate in either circumstance ; at least I thought so. The LED is still there but the little prism/light pipe which carries the light to the top of the cartridge is missing so just the whole cartridge glows a bit. I have found that using a very fine saw the prism can be removed from an old cartridge and slotted into a new one successfully but it is a bit of a fag ! Has anybody else noticed the problem, found a better supplier or found another answer.
 

stratman

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Is ink level monitoring preserved? If yes, and the cartridge performs fine otherwise, then who cares. :idunno
 

The Hat

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PeterBJ

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I guess the "Ink Power" cartridges might be these. It can be seen that there is no light guide to make it easy to see the red LED on the chip.

The red Led on the cartridge chip serves two purposes. One is to signal the presence of a cartrige to an ink sensor in the printer and the second is to indicate the cartridge ink status to the user.

BTW Canon has tried to get the use as an ink status indicator on aftermarket cartridges banned, See this from druckerchannel.de, I would have linked to a Google translation, but that doesn't work with druckerchannel.de. But you can use Google translate yourself. Maybe the missing light guide is caused by this ban? The missing light guide might make it difficult to see the red LED, but the ink sensor can still detect it. See this thread.

Here is a photo of a Canon OEM PGI-550XL with the light guide, click to enlarge:

PGI-550XL OEM Llight guide-1.jpg

Here is an aftermarket cartridge without the light guide, click to enlarge:

PGI-550XL  no light guide.jpg

Here the aftermarket cartridge is seen from the top as seen by the ink sensor:

PGI-550XL non OEM LED.jpg

Maybe the non-OEM chip LEDs can be easily seen on a not modified cartridge using a dentist's mirror or similar?
 
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