Canon MAXIFY refill questions

[palombian]

I consider buying a MAXIFY for my small business.
Since I need double-side ADF scanning the MB5450 (5420 in US) is the best choice at a bit over € 200.
It uses the PGI-2500 cartridges.
It is the second generation, let's say a MB5350 MkII (with mostly software upgrades).

As I understand there is no resetter and the cartridges can only be removed when empty (unless some fiddling with a screwdriver).

I have the following options (beside buying OEM or 3th party carts):

- refill the OEM's (tool to inject ink is delivered with the - not expensive for pigment- ink). I prefer this since the OEM carts have bags in them as in the PGI-9 I know, it must have it's reasons.
In that case I have to watch ink levels wich seems risky to me.
There are also autoreset chips available who seem to reset to full when placed in the printer and who do a page count, but no ink monitoring.
As long as the page count is on average down before the ink this seems already a better solution.

- buy a set of refillable carts with autoreset chips (probably empty boxes, don't they leak ?). This saves the purchase a set of OEM XL carts and autoreset chips.

Other questions are the unability to reset/empty the waste container and the frequency of printhead changes.
But since this printer is targeted for 1000-1500p/month I suppose this will not a major concern.
The printheads are reasonably priced.

There are some rumors (in Germany) this printer does not accept foreign carts and even becomes unoperatable in this case.

 

[The Hat]

@palombian, There is no resetter available to date, will there be one who knows, but you don’t really need one when using the OEM carts, and the compatible come with Arc’s, problem solved.

There are no downsides on which cartridge you decide to use, they both work just as well and yes you do have to monitor your ink levels yourself, by just opening the front flap you can clearly see ink levels in the compatibles, but you must weigh the OEM’s to be sure, there is little or no chance of running out of ink using the compatibles.

The waste ink container is fairly large but will eventually fill, (years) then it’s time for a Service call or new printer, whichever is cheapest.

Changing the carts when you like is easily done, and it does mean twiddling a plastic gear wheel to achieve their removal, no real issues, and refilling both types of carts are child’s play, I use Pro 9500 inks in mine...
P.S. you can easily remove a top plate inside the front of the printer to give you access to the carts at any time without having to fiddle with the gear wheel..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25CEnetpoxI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F6SVvwlkG4

 

[palombian]

I checked amazon.de and there are several reports about the MB5450 not accepting compatible cartridges (at least from januari 2017 on).
There is an error 5501 and the printer has to be sent to service.

Seems Canon solved the problem once and forever.

I will try to keep my MX7600 alive as long as possible.

 

[palombian]

@palombian, There is no resetter available to date, will there be one who knows, but you don’t really need one when using the OEM carts, and the compatible come with Arc’s, problem solved.

There are no downsides on which cartridge you decide to use, they both work just as well and yes you do have to monitor your ink levels yourself, by just opening the front flap you can clearly see ink levels in the compatibles, but you must weigh the OEM’s to be sure, there is little or no chance of running out of ink using the compatibles.

The waste ink container is fairly large but will eventually fill, (years) then it’s time for a Service call or new printer, whichever is cheapest.

Changing the carts when you like is easily done, and it does mean twiddling a plastic gear wheel to achieve their removal, no real issues, and refilling both types of carts are child’s play, I use Pro 9500 inks in mine...
P.S. you can easily remove a top plate inside the front of the printer to give you access to the carts at any time without having to fiddle with the gear wheel..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25CEnetpoxI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F6SVvwlkG4

Thanks @The Hat.

I found a MB5350 in an end of stock sale (same as MB5450 but a lot cheaper and hopefully no problems with foreign cartridges).

I plan to buy refillable carts with ARC chips.

Can they be inserted in a new printer, or do I have to use the Canon setup carts first ?

Are the setup carts refillable, and with how much ink (suppose Canon did not manufacture carts with smaller bags) ?

 

[The Hat]

@palombian, I started up my Maxify with octopus carts installed filled with 9500 inks, and so far, there are no problems, and the colours are acceptable too, but the yellow does look a little bit light.

I can’t really see any different in the colours just yet because I never seen any new OEM colour output, O’ the OEM’s maybe setup carts but they do have the proper amount of ink in them, and I do plan on refilling them when the time comes.

When I do a few test photos on it in the coming week, I will use the 9500 photos as a good basics, and if the yellow is a bit light then I’ll strengthen it to make it deeper...

The Maxify didn’t like my USB hubs, so I was forced to run an extra-long cable to the back of the computer, now we’re talking...

 

[palombian]

@The Hat, then I could as well empty the startup carts and refill them, will only need to buy the pointed tubes to inject the ink.
Good to know the 9500 inks work in the Maxify (wonder if it goes the other way, probably the MBK).

I plan to beg for empty OEM carts as I did for the PGI-9 and 525/526 (I have maybe too much of them, if someone nearby needs a set ...).

I'll connect it to my router by cable or wifi.

Learned also to disable the warning to upgrade the firmware.
Maybe that's why some people had their MB5450 blocked by foreign carts (ominous IMO).

Hopefully I can switch to the Maxify series to gradually replace the aging 525/526 printers for my kids who mainly do office printing.
I"ll keep my PRO9500 II's for photo.

 

[Redbrickman]

@The Hat

Learned also to disable the warning to upgrade the firmware.
Maybe that's why some people had their MB5450 blocked by foreign carts (ominous IMO).

Hopefully I can switch to the Maxify series to gradually replace the aging 525/526 printers for my kids who mainly do office printing.
I"ll keep my PRO9500 II's for photo.

Would be useful to know how you disabled the warning about the firmware upgrade

 

[palombian]

Would be useful to know how you disabled the warning about the firmware upgrade

You can do it in Setup/Cloud.
Anyway, even if you don't do this, you need to confirm and pass a number of steps, IMO at this moment the updates are never automatically applied (thinking further, maybe it is better to leave the warnings and reply NO, at least you know what happens ).

 

[palombian]

My MB5350 arrived today (outlet € 145 incl shipping) - my first new printer since 5 or 6 years .

I am not impressed by the size, the footprint of my MX7600 is larger, and the MG8250 I will give to my son (to replace his broken MG5250) is half the height but weighs the same.
I connected it to the mains to verify it is not DOA, but plan to do the setup later.

The carts are marked SETUP and should be good for 1000p Black and 700p color.
Since I can't do anything else with them I better use them right away.

A Multipack 2500XL (2000p black and 1500 color) only costs € 67 on amazon.de, this is not more (counting the ink) than a set of empty cards with ARC chips. This will give me more than half a year use under warranty.
After that I loose the warranty if I disable the ink monitoring to refill the OEM's.

If OTH the warranty is not void by using ARC chips, I better start with them right away and keep the setup carts in case I have to send the printer to Canon.