decreasing ink viscosity?

[silii]

hi
i have loads of black ink which work very well on my epson photo stylus 710 printer,but my canon pixma ip1000 head clogs repeately with the same ink ,i think the problem is bcos of the viscosity of the ink that i have.
my question is how do i decrease the viscosity of the current ink.
what chemicals /liquids do i need to add and in what proportion.
my friend has advise to use plain distilled water.
what do you guys have to say about this.
thanx

 

[on30trainman]

Be careful in what you do. Epson and Canon use different ways to deposit the ink onto paper. If the ink you have was formulated for Epson, it may not work good in the Canon printer no matter what you do. If it was generic, it may not be the best for either. IMHO at the cost of third party inks, such as Hobbicolors, that are formulated for Canons it isn't worth trying to make Epson ink work in a Canon.

Steve W.

 

[panos]

The ip1000 printhead is attached to the cartridge, right?

If yes, then try adding 2 drops of alcohol and 3 drops of glycerin per 20 ml of black ink.

 

[Osage]

No no and no is my take in the matter.--and no the printhead is not on the cartridge.

On30trainman is correct-----your ink may or may not be formulated for an Epson.
Your ip1000 is a thermal inkjet and vaporizes the ink bubble---so it needs coolants, it needs exactly the right viscosity, it may need many additives not present in your ink, and your trial an error approach is unlikely to ever get things right-----and you are betting your printhead --which can either clog or burn out----for trivial savings---just checked on a replacement printhead---its a mere $85.00 or so without shipping.---maybe you can find one cheaper--I just checked one place.

But $15.00 will buy you a top quality ink formulated for that printer in a large enogh quantity to keep you printing for a long time----and thats shipped.-----as I recall
Neil was getting 16 oz of formulalabs for about $10.00 even though list price is almost twice that-----$9.50 is the list for 8 oz of hobbicolors.-----and since a BCI-24 cartridge refills with only about 5 ml of ink, even 8 ounces is enough for 48 refills.

In short, you trying to use that ink in the ip1000 is a high risk low pay off gamble.
And those type gambles are never recommended. Maybe you value your spare time at nothing--but how much time have you wasted unclogging the printhead already?
Just wait untill you get a real stubborn clog--with the printer out of commission for days.---or keep going and possibly burn out the printhead.

 

[panos]

Silii, since it has been pointed that your printhead is not attached to the cartridges, you may wish to weigh between the cost of your old ink and the cost of the printer itself (about $55 from a short search I've done).

BTW, here is a another interesting thread to help you calculate viscosity (if you wish to tread on the unexplored land...

 

[silii]

thank you all for your valuable replies/comments.
i'll stick to genuine if not the compatible canon ink.
thanks-silii


ps: lots of third party ink common to all printers are available,one of them is flash fill ,its available in my country,should i go for it.

 

[Osage]

The concenus recommendation is to never buy a generic for all printers refill ink.
Regardless of the printer you have. For your Canon buy something specifically blended for a Canon. For a Epson get an Epson blend.

You are pretty safe with inks from MIS, formulalabs, or hobbicolors. At present Hobbicolors only vends Canon compatable ink but others here have ink blends
for Canon or Epson and other brands. So you have to specify which printer you have so you don't get an ink blended for some other make of printer. The so called big three are not the universe of ascceptable third party ink vendors. Other accptable brands exist--check on these forums for some that have already been reviewed and found to be safe.--regard those not specifically reviewed as pigs in the poke---you don't want to be the person who comes back with a review to the effect "I tried the xyz brand black ink and now I can't get my printhead unclogged". But there are large numbers of inks, many chinese, that are safe and cheap, but often the color balance is an issue. But in your case, that may not be a problem for your text black cartridge.

You are similarly safe with Canon OEM ink vended only in the form of cartridges. But these cartridges are far too pricey. Refilling your own offer savings too compelling for many to pass up.--and for your information, many good vendors of prefilled third party BCI-24 cartridges also exist.