Ink - BCI 6 and 3eBK - best source for bulk inks - no clog

[Tin Ho]

I just bought a 32 oz bottle of pigment ink from Precision Colors which supplies Image Specialists ink. Hobbicolors also has a very good reputation but they won't say who their supplier is which means they could switch at any time. That is the only reason I went with Precision Colors.

Ink vendors are likely to change inks any time without telling customers. This has happened to Alotofthings before, many times by the way. It just happened to Inkjetcarts.com for your order of Inktec black pigment ink. I think it will continue to be that way always for many vendors.

I once chatted with a vendor on the phone. I asked if they could tell me their source of ink. They claimed their ink was made in USA. The answer was quite interesting. They said if they were to tell customers their source of ink they essentially would be telling all their competitors where they got their inks from. And that would be suicidal for them. It would not take too long to have dozens of competitors selling the same products against them. Whoever is the biggest would win. I have never been able to find out who actually made the ink for that seller.

I have also found that the particular vendor has not surprised me in the quality of their inks. I can not tell if they have changed inks at all. But the quality of their inks has been consistent.

The point I am making is, it is unrealistic to expect any ink vendor to never change their ink. It makes more sense to expect vendors with good reputation to keep up the quality standard they are committed to the customers. It would be very disturbing for me to receive a dye based black ink when I order a pigment black ink.

 

[websnail]

Isn't the UK in the EU? And isn't Websnail in the UK? Doesn't that mean that he could get KMP Pigment black ink? Doesn't that mean he could sell it to those of us in the US that otherwise haven't found a way to get it? Somebody should ask him.

(snip)

Ok... did a little digging and sent off an enquiry to the primary manufacturer so I'll let you know if it's feasible...

Well, not too sure what's going on there... I tried emailing KMP and go absolutely nowhere... The UK office deals only in cartridges and the headquarters haven't bothered to reply to my email...

I may try an end run and see if I can get the same bulk ink through another source... (but still KMP obviously!)

 

[fotofreek]

Ink vendors are likely to change inks any time without telling customers. This has happened to Alotofthings before, many times by the way. It just happened to Inkjetcarts.com for your order of Inktec black pigment ink. I think it will continue to be that way always for many vendors.

Unfortunately, Alotofthings is no longer in the ink business. The refill ink they sold, Sensient Formulabs, was a very high quality ink that has been used by several participants on this forum, including Grandad. Alotofthings did have one problem when their supplier sent them an updated magenta which threw the color balance off. (it may have been for the newer Canon printers - the first series that had chipped cartridges.) When customers notified the owner of the color change he immediately contacted all the people to whom the incorrect ink was sent, and he sent out replacement ink to them.

They also carried prefilled Canon aftermarket carts, and I know that some of these were problematic. Almost all prefilled aftermarket carts are filled by the cart manufacturer, and nearly all of them are manufactured in China. Here is the circumstance where the vendor has no control over changes in ink quality. I only purchased prefilled carts once (from them, as a matter of fact) and the quality across the batch I purchased was variable. Even though the boxes in which they were individually packaged had the same printing and brand, there were two distinctly different patterns for the air vents that made it quite obvious that there were two manufacturer sources. That was the first and last time I purchased prefilled carts, and I decided that the consistancy of ink and safety of my printers was worth the time involved in my refilling OEM carts.

In the past I used refill ink from MIS, reputed to be Image Specialist (IS) inks. When Precision Colors came into being I began purchasing IS inks from them. They positively identify their inks as being from IS. Alotofthings positively identified theirs as Sensient Formulabs, also a reputable ink formulator. Although Hobbicolors will not identify the source of their inks, everyone who uses it reports that the quality is very high and has been consistant for several years.

 

[websnail]

Well, not too sure what's going on there... I tried emailing KMP and go absolutely nowhere... The UK office deals only in cartridges and the headquarters haven't bothered to reply to my email...

I may try an end run and see if I can get the same bulk ink through another source... (but still KMP obviously!)

Hmm.. Had a bit more success picking up the phone but still early days...

Will let you know if I get any further...

 

[QE2]

Hi,
Today I tried my first Hobbicolors refill of pigment black. Was previously using the single Black refill bottles for 3eBK that are no longer available from inkjetcartridge.com.
Anyway, what a mess I made!!! Black ink everywhere!!!
Does anyone have a methodical way to start with bottles of bulk pigment black and cleanly get the appropriate amount of ink into a syringe and inject it into the cartridge (via German method) without getting ink all over the place?
I guess I should have put the empty syringe into the hole in the cartridge first, then filled it with an appropriate amount of ink and injected it. Can't put the syringe in the hole until the cap comes off - but if it's filled the ink goes flying when the cap's pulled off (I didn't realize that till the ink was flowing all over the place... )

Anyway, if that's how one should proceed, does anyone know the amount of ink that the 3eBK for a pixma 5000 holds (it's a bit bigger than the other colors...)?
I have only one cartridge so I can't measure how much it needs, and seems it'd be best to pour the exact amount into the syringe to avoid overfilling or having to pull out during the fill...
Any tips would be much appreciated!!!
Thanks and regards.

 

[ruffin]

Get the squeeze bottles and scabbards from Octoinkjet. Martin will sell you SquEasyFill bottles, either 100 ml or 250 ml size, complete with blunt needles and scabbards and appropriately color coded screw on caps. See the different sets here:

http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Refill-Tools%2fKits/SquEasyFill-Kits/

Or you can make up your own custom kits using components here:

http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Refill-Tools%2fKits/SquEasyFill-Custom-Kits/

You will need 2" needles for German Durchstich refill method.

Im located in the U.S. and shipping was $3 for 5 bottle set. Believe I also ordered extra needles with this shipment. Shipping took about 8 days from the U.K. Might add also that his web site has automatic currency conversion, so you will see pricing
in U.S. dollars. Very convenient detail I think. Here is a photo of my SquEasyFill bottles:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/uploads/4795_img_2203a.png

 

[ghwellsjr]

Hi,
Today I tried my first Hobbicolors refill of pigment black. Was previously using the single Black refill bottles for 3eBK that are no longer available from inkjetcartridge.com.
Anyway, what a mess I made!!! Black ink everywhere!!!
Does anyone have a methodical way to start with bottles of bulk pigment black and cleanly get the appropriate amount of ink into a syringe and inject it into the cartridge (via German method) without getting ink all over the place?
I guess I should have put the empty syringe into the hole in the cartridge first, then filled it with an appropriate amount of ink and injected it. Can't put the syringe in the hole until the cap comes off - but if it's filled the ink goes flying when the cap's pulled off (I didn't realize that till the ink was flowing all over the place... )

Anyway, if that's how one should proceed, does anyone know the amount of ink that the 3eBK for a pixma 5000 holds (it's a bit bigger than the other colors...)?
I have only one cartridge so I can't measure how much it needs, and seems it'd be best to pour the exact amount into the syringe to avoid overfilling or having to pull out during the fill...
Any tips would be much appreciated!!!
Thanks and regards.

I think maybe your problem is that you are trying to pour ink into the syringe. If that is what you are trying to do, it's no wonder you are getting ink all over the place. Instead of that, put the needle into the bottle of ink and pull back on the plunger inside the syringe. It will suck the ink into the syringe. This is still a little bit messy because you can get some ink from around the top of the bottle onto the sides of the syringe but it isn't much and you can wipe it off before proceeding.

You don't have to worry about how much ink a cartridge holds. Just fill up the reservoir, remove the needle from the cartridge and let the cartridge sit right-side-up for a few minutes until the level of ink goes down a bit in the reservoir. Then you can top it off again.

 

[QE2]

Thank you both for the replies.
ghwellsjr, when I pull the needle out of the bottle, will the ink start to flow out of the syringe (with no cap on)?
The trouble was not pouring the ink in, but what happened when I took the syringe needle cap off to insert the needle into the cartridge...
Also, do you leave the syringe partially full (capped) between fillings of the cartridge, or empty the leftover ink back into the bottle and clean out the syringe?
Thanks again for the advice!

 

[websnail]

The trouble was not pouring the ink in, but what happened when I took the syringe needle cap off to insert the needle into the cartridge...

From what I understand of your description of the problem, the syringe and/or ink did one of two things.

1. The syringe plunger had been pushed in and "stuck" so that pressure was unable to escape until the cap was removed
or
2. The ink in the syringe was warmed, expanded and again pressure built up.

If that's the case, then pulling back on the plunger before removing the cap would reduce the pressure and avoid any spurting out.

Also, do you leave the syringe partially full (capped) between fillings of the cartridge, or empty the leftover ink back into the bottle and clean out the syringe?

Hmm... To be honest I wouldn't leave a syringe with ink in it as the potential for someone to come along and press the plunger in is a bit high..

I'm biased and sell the following kits (so best declare my self-interest) but you might want to consider one of the SquEasyFill approaches instead of syringes as they'd deal with most of the issues you've described. The down side is that they aren't quite as exact but perhaps take a look at some of the threads about the approach and see if it might work better for you.

Just a thought.