Canon CLI-8 and CLI-220/221 ink compatibility - are they the same ink?

[gkitf16]

I just recently got a new Canon Pixma iP4700 printer to replace a Pixma iP5200 which died due to an electronic failure. Canon has always made a very good printer, but their inks are so expensive! I began refilling the CLI-8 original cartridges on the iP5200 using Hobbicolors UW8 inks

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hobbicolors-Med...1QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:US:102

I used the procedure of drilling a small hole in the back of the cartridge at the bottom, then filling with a needle and syringe, allowing the sponge to saturate. This works perfectly, not one drop of ink leaks! No need to seal the hole. I used a 1/16" drill.

Now that I have the new Pixma iP4700, I have a question about the ink formulation.:/ Is there any difference between the ink used in the cartridges of the CLI-8 series and the CLI-220 series? The Hobbicolors inks I bought from eBay were for the CLI-8 cartridges, and I still have a lot left. I don't want to throw it away if it will work with the newer CLI-221 cartridges.

If the inks I'm using aren't a good choice, what would you recommend? I have been looking, and I have seen inks by Sudhaus, but cannot locate their webpage or their product page. Are these high-quality inks like Canon original ink? I do not want low grade "compatible" cheap inks that will destroy the printer or damage the printhead. I would very much appreciate your thoughts and advice!

 

[SpideRMaN]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

That Seller (Dave) is a very good guy with 100% positive feedback. contact him and he will reply and answer all your questions in details.

I use hobbicolor ink and must say that it' an excellent ink (no head clogging and same results of OEM ink).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hobbicolors-5-C...mQQptZPrinter_Accessories?hash=item3a54882fd1

I refill the 520/521 (europe) equivalent to 220/221 (USA)

P.S. I don't know if your printer uses the grey color like the mp980. if yes then that guy does not have the grey ink.

Edit: In the listing it says CLI-221 so I think that you can use that ink

 

[gkitf16]

The Pixma iP5200 and iP4700 both use dye black, and the larger PGI pigment-based black for text only.

The only problem I noticed when refilling my colors was the Magenta ink. I could not get a true red color. It prints orange instead of red. Is this a problem with the mixing of the hobbicolors Magenta and the Canon OEM Magenta? I didn't flush the cartridge before refilling. I have looked at how some of the flushing is done, and it seems pretty complex. You have to blend a flushing fluid and all. How do you COMPLETELY get all the water/flushing fluid out of the cartridge so you start clean and fresh? Otherwise you need virgin empty cartridges AND chips that will work with the Nazi circuit in the printer.

The nozzle check prints fine, no clogging, all jets firing as they should. I went into Photoshop and ran separate strips of true magenta, cyan and yellow. Magenta still comes out a bright orange, cyan and yellow look true to color. I pulled obviously red images from the web, they are orangey when printed. I haven't refilled Cyan and Yellow yet, still running on Canon OEM ink 'til they're out, so they have not been influenced by a Hobbicolors refill yet.

I'll have to check with Dave @ Hobbicolors and see what he thinks is happening. Looks like a great forums community you guys have here. Lots of good information from what I have seen!

 

[mikling]

There are some differences mainly in the Cyan. The pigment is distinctly different in its properties and attention should be paid as to the drying times of the inks. The engineers would have accomodated drying times into the programming of the delays between sheets during paper ejection. You may or may not run into drying time issues depending on what is printed.

 

[gkitf16]

That's interesting about the Cyan dry time. And aren't the Canon CLI-8 colors dye-based, maybe you're referring to Epson? I know Canon has a control for the wait period (drying time) of the printer if you select Duplex (double-sided) printing, where the printer automatically sucks the paper back in and somehow flips it over for you internally. It will wait a few moments, or longer, based on how much ink it calculated is on the page, before running the flip side. Love to see an x-ray view of the internal mechanism, don't know how they manage to curl/flip the page over inside.

My main issue was Magenta (Hobbicolors) printing very very orange after a first refill into an exhausted Canon CLI-8 Magenta tank. I used the German method, drilling a small hole in the lower rear of the cartridge and filling via needle directly into the tank. Does not leak, no mess and no plugs/sealing issues!

 

[leo8088]

Ink drying time, especially pigment black ink, depends a lot on the type of paper being printed on. Ink formulation does play a roll in that but you will find that the ink will dry so much slower on some papers. I used to print on 25% cotton bond typing/laser paper and found it drys very slowly. But it is the paper that really yielded excellent text quality. The text was very dark and sharp. The only problem was it dried so slowly that I had to remove every printed sheet from the try before the next sheet came out to stack on it.

I have yet to see any ink drying variations on dye based ink. If it exists it probably depends largely on the type of paper too.

If your printer prints orange on red color the first thing comes to mind is your primary colors of CMY are out of balance. Either too much yellow or too little magenta will cause red to shift to orange. How is your green and other colors? You should also see other colors shifted too. By looking at how the colors shifted you can find which primary color is lacking which will point to a problematic ink or cartridge.

 

[gkitf16]

I realised my mistake, I have been confusing Magenta for a true Red ink color, which it is not. I discovered this when I was setting up test color stripes in Photoshop. Setting the M channel at 100% presents a deep pink color (Magenta). Moving the marker to a red color causes the Y channel to be set to 100% and the M stays at 100%. I've been confusing M for red, which is created by Y&M. Boy do I need to revisit the color wheel again ! Or get a USB port in my head and put a memory stick in it so I won't keep forgetting stuff!