Canon BCI-24 aftermarket cartridges - anyone???

[jayman]

Has anyone used the BCI-24 cartridges sold at bulkinkjetcart.com? I just bought a Canon MP130 and wanted to try aftermarket ink to reduce printing costs. The price on these seem too good to be true, so I was hoping someone had a personal experience with this cartridge from this store.

If not, has anyone bought aftermarket BCI-24 cartridges and had good luck? If so, who did you buy them from?

Thanks!!!!

 

[hpnetserver]

I have heard from a friend who has an ip2000 which uses BCI-24 carts. He said he had to throw away his cheap 3rd party BCI-24 carts after ink is used. He could not refill them for some reason. But I don't know what brand his BCI-24 is. He ordered online from somewhere. He has no problem using them. But he could nor refill them. From the way he abused his ip2000, using any 3rd party carts he could find, his ip2000 is still kicking and doing well. But his ip2000 cost him only $19. If your MP130 cost you much more you will be better off using quality supplies.

 

[Osage]

I don't have a printer that takes BCI-24 cartridges, certainly would regard them as too small to be good refill candidates, but I do know there are a plethora of third party vendors who sell those cartridges at a buck a pop.--and at that price they probably would be not be worth the hassle in refilling.

But I have dealt with bulkinkjetcarts.com in the past on BCI-3&6 cartridges and can report I was very happy with that vendor. Their ink got good reviews on this site, their customer service is very good---with a toll free telephone number, they don't seem to change their suppliers without notice like other vendors, and would have no hesitation using them as a first vendor to try were I in your boat.

 

[alexandereci]

jayman, welcome to the forums!

Refer to this post for some thoughts on the BCI-24 cartridges (and how to refill):
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=851

To answer your questions:
I own an iP1000, and it uses BCI-24 color and black cartridges. I bought 3rd party cartridges and ink, and I am having fun refilling and printing. These ink "tanks" (and the BCI-3/6 cartridges) are very easy to refill. I've printed over 500 8.5x11 inch pages the past week (I'm printing out my ebooks) and been swapping ink tanks every 50 pages or so for the colored tank, 100-150 pages for the black tank. I own 2 sets of 3rd-party tanks, one is in the printer, the other is always refilled and ready to be put in.

I'm not sure about "non-refillable" BCI-24s... since you can "refill" them through the exit ports for both black and color. Again, like the thread above instructs, you can refill the black tank through the exit port, however, the colored tank has to be refilled "through the top" to be sure you prevent ink from mixing.

Do note that I have refilled BCI-24 colored tanks before through the exit port with no "ink mixing" results. Just be sure to let the tank rest inverted for a while, maybe a day or so, so that any excess ink dries off instead of leaking back into the ink tank. You might even want to bore 2 more holes on the top, or make the existing hole wider to "assist" this ink-draining process.

On the issue of this being "too good to be true," well, I'm afraid it is too good, and it is true. Like I said, I've printed over 500 pages letter-sized, full color with lotsa graphics. I'm actually printing 5 ebooks, with each ebook a little over 300 pages, so thats about 1500 pages in all --- with each page full of color! So I'm about 1/3 into my "project," and I'm very happy since I'm printing in vibrant, high-quality color, and I spent only approximately US$10 for 2 cartridge sets and 80ml of CYM and black.

Whoops, my son accidentally placed his toy in front of my printer, ruining 5 pages (I leave the printer to do its job... the iP1000 is slow, about 4.5minutes for my print specifications).... which is actually 10 pages since I print on both sides of the paper. Is this a problem? Yes, coz I have to re-print 10 pages worth, and that takes time. That's all. I just have to do it over again. Yes, I probably "wasted" ink on "useless" pages, but refilling the tanks is so cheap/affordable, it isn't a big deal.

Hope that helps!

And no, I don't work for Canon or any other 3rd-party ink/ink cartridge manufacturer. I'm just a happy customer, doing my own refills, and not afraid to print anything and everything in full color.

 

[SCSI]

I have thinking about refilling my BCI-24 carts too. I am using a MP390 printer. I have been looking for a refillable and clear (see through) BCI-24 carts like the BCI-6 carts for some time now. Hopefully someone will make them. If would also be nice if someone creates a printer profile for 4 color Canons.

From a very long time guest at this forum but first time posting.

 

[alchemist]

I have visited several molding/manufacturing facilities that make the BCI-24 cartridges and am unaware of anyone making clear plastic cases. All the cartridges are capable of being refilled through the bottom. I do not recomend filling through the top due to possible air entrapment in the foam or non woven fiber material used to hold the ink above the porous filter media. I agree, with Osage, that with the current pricing , for Asian compatibles, of just over a dollar, that is not worth refilling.

Alchemist

 

[alexandereci]

that with the current pricing , for Asian compatibles, of just over a dollar, that is not worth refilling

I guess that depends where you are. For me, the best I can get is a double-pack (blk and clr) worth Php100, so that's Php50 per cartridge. An 80ml bottle of ink (good for maybe 15-20 refills) costs Php80. So refilling for me is cheaper.

I don't know what a "clear" cartridge will do since this isn't like a BCI-3/6 cartridge that has a "resorvoir" of liquid ink aside from that in the sponge. Might be nice to check for air or sponge condition, though, and might even help not waste ink since you can see if the sponge is soaked properly.

As for the air trapping if you refill on top, get an 18-gauge needle and use that to widen the hole on top, then use a smaller gauge neede to inject ink. I use a 23-/24-gauge needle. Also, I used to inject ink "into" the sponge instead of just letting the sponge absorb it -- this might be bad since a little amount of air is in the needle and might be trapped as you inject ink.... so now, I just inject ink by inserting the needle just enough to put the bevel inside. Good results so far.