Ink Brands???

[BobCoulter]

I have a Canon i9900 printer. Ive just started using ink I bought from atlanticinkjet.com - it seems to work pretty good. I was wondering if anyone knew how it compared to other ink brands. MIS seems to be mentioned a lot on this forum Ive never tried it and was wondering if anyone knew the difference??? Or for that matter if anyone knows the difference between atlanticinkjet.com ink and other brands?
Thank you,
Bob Coulter

 

[fotofreek]

One of the problems with the non-OEM cart/ink market is that many of the vendors do not identify the source of the ink that they purchase and repackage for sale. Neil's site indicated that MIS was probably Image Speicalist ink. Several of the vendors who sell Sensient Formulabs inks under their own label do identify the source. Alotofthings Arrow carts and bulk refill inks, Wiredbeans carts, and Weink carts with the CRU stock designation are some that have identified their source as Formulabs, either on their web site, ebay store, or in response to a phone call or email question. If no one on this forum comes up with the source of Atlantic inks, perhaps you can call them (works better than an email), ask if they will tell you the source of their inks, and report back. You've just arrived and we're puting you to work!

 

[BobCoulter]

I emailed atlanticinkjet.com about the source of their ink. They wrote back "I am sorry but it is against company policy to name suppliers". It does look very very good though! Plus they sell the red and the green ink that this printer uses in bulk

 

[Grandad35]

Bob,

I also use their bulk ink. My initial shipment contained the wrong photo magenta and black inks, which they replaced for free when I notified them of this fact (the PM was way too dark - probably meant for a different printer, and the black turned a muddy gray on dark areas. I find that the photo magenta tends to clog the sponge/filter after only one or two refills, and I need do the "alcohol in the filter and microwave" step on every refill of this color as a precaution (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=207).

There is a profile for your printer, this ink and Kirkland paper at (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=138) if you are into color management. Instructions for using profiles are given at (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=118).

 

[BobCoulter]

Have you tried any other brand of bulk ink that might work better???

 

[BobCoulter]

Thanks for the Kerkland profile by the way. I've never tried that paper but I'll grab a pack next time I'm at Costco. I usually use Ilford Classy Pearl - love the way it looks.

 

[Grandad35]

Bob,

No, for the following reasons:
1. I am lazy, and it would be a lot of work to profile the papers that I use on a different ink.
2. I have about a 6 months supply of this ink on hand.
3. I believe in using inks from a single supplier to minimize color interaction problems, and only a few ink suppliers have red and green, as you noted.
4. I am not sure that even if I could buy OEM Canon ink in bulk that it would refill without problems.
5. I have been using ink from this supplier for several years to refill my HP 5550 (now used as a reserve printer), and have not had any fading problems with my prints.
6. From what I have read, it seems that there are no "perfect" inks - "the devil you know...". I have learned to deal with the ink that I have, and I don't want to spend a lot of time and photo paper learning the foibles of yet another ink. I printed 80 4x5 photos this morning (20 8x10s), and it is nice to have the confidence that I can just load the paper and forget about the printer.

I also use 3 Ilford papers, but I held off on profiling them until I was sure that my new print head was working OK (the original had a loose heat sink). I'll post the profiles when I get around to running them. I also like the Classic Pearl - it is a swellable paper that gives an improved image life when compared to nano-porous (fast drying) papers.

The Kirkland paper is a great bargain at about 15 cents/sheet, and I use a lot of it.

 

[BobCoulter]

Cool, thank you!

 

[panos]

Grandad, could you elaborate on the "loose heat sink"?

 

[Grandad35]

Panos,

You may remember a post where I asked if anyone heard a rattle in their print head. I found the problem - the aluminum heat sink came loose and was sliding sideways when the carriage reversed directions.

This photo shows the 6144 printer nozzles in all of their glory (8x768 per color). Since each nozzle can only be fired about 6000 times per second, Canon uses a lot of nozzles to gain printing speed. Actually, there are 10 rows of nozzles - two rows are currently unused. Is Canon thinking of still more colors for the future?

The heat sink is an aluminum plate about 1 mm thick that should be firmly pressed against the print head to pull heat away from the head and dissipate the heat over a larger surface. Look carefully at the two views - the plate is moved sideways about 1 mm. If this plate is not firmly pressed against the print head it won't be nearly as effective at removing heat from the head, and the print head can over heat. I called Canon, and they sent a replacement head under warranty. I'll keep this one as an emergency spare, and limit how many continuous prints I do to keep the head cooler.