Canon ink (Black)

[duncan22]

Is the ink in the PGI 5BK cartridge the same ink as in the CLI 8BK ? ( Canon Printer)
I am a bit confused on this one as one supplier I ordered from indicated the same ink could be used in both cartridges but some sellers have individual refills for each of these cartridges.
Can some one clarify this for me.

Thanks

 

[The Hat]

duncan22 Is the ink in the PGI 5BK cartridge the same ink as in the CLI 8BK ? ( Canon Printer)

There is no real reason why you cant use the same ink in the two cartridges so long as it's dye ink .
A lot of people do it all the time, but you are suppose to use two different inks in them.
The PGI-BK uses pigment ink for text printing while the CLI-BK uses dye black for photo printing.
If you are going to get your next supply of ink from websnail then he will put you right and sell you the correct ink for each cartridge..

 

[ghwellsjr]

No, the PGI black is pigment ink and the CLI black is dye ink. It is dangerous to put pigment black ink in the dye black cartridge because it will probably clog the smaller nozzles. You can have problems putting a dye ink in the pigment black cartridge because the ink is too thin and can run through the nozzles when it shouldn't and also there can be problems mixing dye ink with the residual pigment ink in the cartridge. Besides, if you use the same ink, you're giving up the advantage of having both: pigment for plain paper where it won't smear if it gets wet and dye for photo papers where it won't smear even if it does get wet. Pigment ink on glossy photo papers will wipe right off.

 

[The Hat]

ghwellsjr

George if you read the tread again you will find that we both agree on the use of pigment and dye inks.
However using dye ink in the pigment cartridge is a standard practiced by a lot of guys including me, because rightly so it doesnt clog the pigment black print head..

 

[ghwellsjr]

I was posting at the same time that you were and did not see your post. All my comments were relating only to the original post.

However, I will now comment on your post relating to putting dye ink in the pigment cartridge. I once had a print head that had some clogged pigment black nozzles. I refilled a BCI-3eBk cartridge with some dye black ink without previously purging the cartridge. I ended up with far more clogged nozzles so I put back in a pigment cartridge. Mikling has reported on problems relating to mixing pigment and dye inks here. And there has been a report of problems with dye ink in pigment cartridges here.

But if it works for you and you don't mind giving up the advantage of pigment black ink then go ahead and do it. I just think the potential problems should be disclosed.

 

[qwertydude]

Dye inks and pigment inks don't like to mix too much. If you want to see just simply take some dye yellow ink and drop a small puddle on some glass. Then put a drop of pigment black ink in the middle. You'll notice even agitating it slightly the colors will not mix. This is called the egg yolk test by the ink industry. It also demonstrated why you may have problems mixing the inks. Try it with dye black and you'll see that the moment the black hits the yellow it instantly mixes.

 

[The Hat]

Sorry George for jumping the gun, But I am with you guys all the way, but fail to mention I did purge the pigment ink out first..

 

[nche11]

I have refilled my PGI-5 with dye black ink then back to pigment black a couple of times. I found that if you don't care to print with a mix of black pigment and dye inks you really do not need to purge the cartridge. I have done it back and forth many times without any problems.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Could you do a little experiment? Take some of your pigment black ink from the bottle and put a drop on a piece of plain paper. Do the same with some of your dye black ink. Let them dry for a couple hours. Then dribble some water across the paper so that it flows through the black spots and see if the ink runs or smears. See if there is any difference between them.

 

[leo8088]

If you set the media to plain paper all the black you print will be from the cartridge with black pigment ink. The black pigment ink will mix with a lot of dye based color inks in the print everywhere. If you wash the print most of the dye colors will be washed off but the black pigment ink is not. If you refill the PGI-BK cartridge with a dye black ink then all dye colors and black will be washed off. Is such a difference a big deal? I don't think so. If all dye colors are washed off I don't care if the black color is not.

I refill PGI-BK or BCI-3eBk with dye black ink for a purpose sometimes. I print low quality color photos on plain paper. Not cheap plain paper but good quality ones. I don't want my black to be a pigment black. It worked well. Never had a problem.