Is it possible to remove and store a cartridge (Canon i560 BCI-3E)

[espressoguy]

I just bought an inexpensive "Innojet" BCI-3e cartridge for my Canon i560. It works but the quality seems to be definitely inferior to the genuine Canon Cartridge. I'd return it but I bought it at Frys and they're a nuisance to deal with on returns. Is it possible to remove and store this cartridge to keep it as a backup or for when I need to print many pages? If so, how do I do this? I'm thinking I'd like to get a Canon cartridge and just keep this Innojet one as a backup.

Another question ...Do I understand that the BCI-6 cartriges can also be used on the i560 and that they are in some way more desirable (or easier to fill).

 

[ghwellsjr]

Is the Innojet BCI-3e cartridge the wider pigment black cartridge or is it one of the narrow color cartridges?

Your printer is supposed to take one wide BCI-3eBK cartridge and three narrow BCI-6 color cartridges although it will also take narrow BCI-3e color cartridges because both types of narrow cartridges are identical except they may use different ink. I think the BCI-3e colors may be lighter than the BCI-6 colors. If the Innojet BCI-3e cartridge is a color cartridge, maybe that is the reason it is inferior.

If you want to remove a cartridge for later use, just make sure the outlet port on the bottom is sealed. You can do this by putting the orange clip back on and if necessary, use rubber bands to hold it in place. You can also use a piece of plastic tape stretched across it to form a good seal.

Your last question is a little confusing because your printer is supposed to use three BCI-6 cartridges (along with one BCI-3e). But as I mentioned before, they are physically identical so they are both just as easy to refill. I would recommend refilling using the German method which I describe here. The only difference is that you will not need to buy a resetter since your printer uses the older cartridges that don't have a chip.

 

[espressoguy]

Sorry for the confusion...
The BCI-3e is -of course- the wider Black Cartridge. What I meant about the quality issue is that the characters don't seem to be as sharp and clearly defined with this Innojet cartridge.

That's a great little video you made and your explanations are very helpful; thanks a lot.

1. I had really run my previous Black BCI-3e cartridge quite empty. Looking at the chamber there's no ink there at all. After installing the new one, I removed the old one and placed the clip on it almost immediately. You say I can return the empty cartridge to Staples for $3?

2. Do I understand you correctly to be saying that as inkjet printers go, this i560 is quite economical ink-wise?

3. Often I notice that very soon after I replace the cartridges in this i560, I start to get warnings from the canon driver software telling me that it's very low on ink and that the ink needs to be replaced. Any advice about that? This is rather a nuisance; I tend to ignore the warnings because I've often been able to print long after the first warning without the cartridge running dry. Then toward the end it starts giving me a message (or perhaps I read this in the documentation somewhere) that the printer can be damaged if the cartridge is allowed to get too low. Is that true? If so, what part of the printer gets damaged?

4. Aren't there quality issues when using these refilled cartridges? If I were to order from inkjetcartridge.com, would I be able to expect print quality identical to the Canon Cartridges ?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Sorry for the confusion...
The BCI-3e is -of course- the wider Black Cartridge. What I meant about the quality issue is that the characters don't seem to be as sharp and clearly defined with this Innojet cartridge.

I would guess that the reason your cheap, I mean, inexpensive, cartridge is not as sharp and clearly defined is that it probably is filled with ink that is not 100% pigment. Here is an experiment you can do to determine if this is the case:
Do a nozzle check on plain paper.
Give the ink several minutes to dry thoroughly.
Drip some water across the different patterns, especially the grid at the top.
You should observe that the blocks of color will run and look ugly after the water dribbles across them.
You should observe that the black grid at the top does not run and does not look ugly no matter how much water washes across it.
If the black grid does run, then you know the ink is not 100% pigment, it has some dye ink mixed in or maybe it is 100% dye.
You can repeat this test with your Canon cartridge but you must do a head clean to flush the other ink out first.

That's a great little video you made and your explanations are very helpful; thanks a lot.

You're welcome, and thanks for the compliment.

1. I had really run my previous Black BCI-3e cartridge quite empty. Looking at the chamber there's no ink there at all. After installing the new one, I removed the old one and placed the clip on it almost immediately. You say I can return the empty cartridge to Staples for $3?

Yes, but you won't get the $3 immediately, you have to wait until near the end of the next month. I would not recycle your Canon cartridges, just your third-party cartridges. I would refill only the Canon cartridges.

2. Do I understand you correctly to be saying that as inkjet printers go, this i560 is quite economical ink-wise?

Yes, because it is so easy to refill and you don't have to worry about a chip resetter as you do with new Canon printers (and there isn't a resetter for the newest printers).

3. Often I notice that very soon after I replace the cartridges in this i560, I start to get warnings from the canon driver software telling me that it's very low on ink and that the ink needs to be replaced. Any advice about that? This is rather a nuisance; I tend to ignore the warnings because I've often been able to print long after the first warning without the cartridge running dry.

Since your printer uses cartridges that do not have chips in them, the printer only knows when the chamber is empty of ink. It knows this by shining a light into the prism that is located on the bottom of the chamber and if there is no ink in the chamber, the light is reflected back down to a sensor. Any other condition, like a chamber with ink in it, or a missing cartridge, or a cartridge that isn't inserted all the way, will make the printer think there is ink in the chamber (even if there is no cartridge present). This means that unless your cartridge actually has an empty chamber, you should never get a low or empty ink warning. If you do, something is wrong. Under normal circumstances, whenever you replace a cartridge that has an empty chamber with a new cartridge full of ink, the printer will notice that you have removed the empty chamber cartridge and will assume that you have put in a full cartridge. At this point, it keeps track of how much ink is being used and when it thinks that it has used about half of the ink in the chamber, it registers a change in the ink level but does not issue a warning. It will stay this way until the chamber becomes empty and then it will give you the yellow low ink level warning. It now keeps track of the ink that is being used and when it thinks the sponge is almost dry, it issues the red empty ink level warning. You should heed that warning.

Note that this simple method of keeping track of the ink can be thwarted. For example, if you remove a cartridge that has an empty chamber and close the printer cover, the printer will think that you have just inserted a new full cartridge and the ink level indicator will show it as being full, even though there is no cartridge in the printer. If you then put back the same cartridge, it will think the chamber has just become empty, and it will start keeping track of the amount of ink it thinks there is in the sponge, even though there may be very little, which is a dangerous situation.

Then toward the end it starts giving me a message (or perhaps I read this in the documentation somewhere) that the printer can be damaged if the cartridge is allowed to get too low. Is that true? If so, what part of the printer gets damaged?

Yes, that is true. Actually, there is no danger until the cartridge actually runs out of ink. Canon printers work by boiling the ink right next to a nozzle which causes it to be ejected through the nozzle. The fresh ink keeps the print head cool. If you let it run out of ink, you run the risk of permanently burning out the heaters for several nozzles. For this reason, it is not wise to thwart the normal ink level detection. In fact, if you are going to refill your cartridges, I recommend that you refill as soon as you get the yellow low ink level warning. And I recommend that you refill all three of your narrow dye ink cartridges whenever any one of them gives you a low ink level warning. Your wide pigment black cartridge should be refilled by itself whenever it gives you a low ink level warning.

One more thing I should mention: whenever you remove a cartridge that has an empty chamber, the printer will perform a "cleaning" cycle before it prints something, so you should make sure you have actually put in a full cartridge. It does this separately for the dye inks and the pigment ink. This is a process where the printer "sucks" on the bottom of the print head to get the ink flowing from the cartridges down through the nozzles. It's like "priming the pump".

4. Aren't there quality issues when using these refilled cartridges? If I were to order from inkjetcartridge.com, would I be able to expect print quality identical to the Canon Cartridges ?

Yes, there are quality issues with refilled ink but mainly just in the length of time you can expect your printouts to last. Canon makes the best ink for their printers but they also charge a very high price. If you don't print much or you don't mind the cost, you should stick with Canon original cartridges. But if you are reluctant to print something for fear that one of your cartridges will run out of ink, then refilling will cut the cost so low that you will then be concerned about the cost of your paper and not the ink.

A warning about inkjetcartridge.com: don't buy their prefilled cartridges--they are not made by Inktec and will have inferior ink and inferior cartridges. Just buy the syringe/bottles with the Inktec ink and refill Canon cartridges with the German refill method. If you ever find any of your photos fading, just print them again.

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Ghwellsjr,

you seems to be converted to the German Durchstich refill method as well ? I would remove your signature: "I vacuuum fill only Canon cartridges with Inktec Ink" and change it into: "I'm convert of the German Durchstich Refill method"

Did you know that there is something like the BCI-3 dye ink cartridges. In the early years of Canon the smaller cartridges were called BCI-3 C/M/Y and BCI-3eBK (pigment black) and it is sometimes confusing if someone writes down BCI-3: is it the older generation of dye ink based smaller cartridges (like the BCI-6 or CLI-8) or the pigment based text black BCI-3eBK (similar to the PGI-5Bk) ?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Thanks for the suggestion, I have changed my signature.

Yes, I'm aware that Canon first came out with the BCI-3 dye ink cartridges. They had only one sponge material in them. I have a couple that I got with a large batch of empties from eBay. Later, Canon changed their design to the two different sponge materials, the upper one to flow air and the lower one to flow ink and they called these the BCI-3e which are still available. They are physically identical to the BCI-6 cartridges but may have a different ink in them.

 

[espressoguy]

Since your printer uses cartridges that do not have chips in them, the printer only knows when the chamber is empty of ink. It knows this by shining a light into the prism that is located on the bottom of the chamber and if there is no ink in the chamber, the light is reflected back down to a sensor. Any other condition, like a chamber with ink in it, or a missing cartridge, or a cartridge that isn't inserted all the way, will make the printer think there is ink in the chamber (even if there is no cartridge present). This means that unless your cartridge actually has an empty chamber, you should never get a low or empty ink warning. If you do, something is wrong. Under normal circumstances, whenever you replace a cartridge that has an empty chamber with a new cartridge full of ink, the printer will notice that you have removed the empty chamber cartridge and will assume that you have put in a full cartridge. At this point, it keeps track of how much ink is being used and when it thinks that it has used about half of the ink in the chamber, it registers a change in the ink level but does not issue a warning. It will stay this way until the chamber becomes empty and then it will give you the yellow low ink level warning. It now keeps track of the ink that is being used and when it thinks the sponge is almost dry, it issues the red empty ink level warning. You should heed that warning.

Note that this simple method of keeping track of the ink can be thwarted. For example, if you remove a cartridge that has an empty chamber and close the printer cover, the printer will think that you have just inserted a new full cartridge and the ink level indicator will show it as being full, even though there is no cartridge in the printer. If you then put back the same cartridge, it will think the chamber has just become empty, and it will start keeping track of the amount of ink it thinks there is in the sponge, even though there may be very little, which is a dangerous situation.

Yes, that is true. Actually, there is no danger until the cartridge actually runs out of ink. Canon printers work by boiling the ink right next to a nozzle which causes it to be ejected through the nozzle. The fresh ink keeps the print head cool. If you let it run out of ink, you run the risk of permanently burning out the heaters for several nozzles. For this reason, it is not wise to thwart the normal ink level detection. In fact, if you are going to refill your cartridges, I recommend that you refill as soon as you get the yellow low ink level warning. And I recommend that you refill all three of your narrow dye ink cartridges whenever any one of them gives you a low ink level warning. Your wide pigment black cartridge should be refilled by itself whenever it gives you a low ink level warning.

One more thing I should mention: whenever you remove a cartridge that has an empty chamber, the printer will perform a "cleaning" cycle before it prints something, so you should make sure you have actually put in a full cartridge. It does this separately for the dye inks and the pigment ink. This is a process where the printer "sucks" on the bottom of the print head to get the ink flowing from the cartridges down through the nozzles. It's like "priming the pump".

Okay so I have just replaced my Black Cartridge. If it gives me a warning again very soon after installing a new cartridge, what can I do? I think you're saying that I can't take out the cartridge to check the reservoir level and then put the same partially-empty cartridge back into the printer ...right? Should I take out the cartridge to inspect it even if I think it is too early? What if it isn't empty ...I can't put it back into the printer?

Also, regarding the possibility of "burning out the heaters for several nozzles" ...is there a fix for that or should I just assume that if that ever happens I might just as well dispose of the printer since the repair cost will be too high?

 

[ghwellsjr]

It is OK to remove any cartridge that gives you a low ink warning to inspect it and see if the ink chamber really is empty. It should be. If it isn't, there is something wrong with the ink level sensor and the following suggestions may not work because they depend on a functioning ink level sensor. I really doubt that you are going to get a low ink warning when the chamber is not really empty but if that happens, let us know.

If this is the first time the cartridge registered low and you removed the cartridge to inspect it and the chamber is low, then close the printer cover, wait for the noise to stop, open the cover and reinstall the cartridge. The printer will automatically do a head cleaning on that cartridge to get rid of any air that was introduced by removing and replacing the cartridge. Don't remove that cartridge again as long as it registers low or until you are ready to refill or replace it but if it registers empty you need to remove it and put in a full or refilled cartridge right away.

However, I recommend that if you are refilling your cartridges, you do it as soon as your cartridge registers low, assuming that the level sensor is working and the chamber is empty. If the cartridge is one of the three narrow dye ink cartridges, then I recommend you top off the other two dye ink cartridges before closing the printer cover. If it is the wide pigment black cartridge, don't refill any of the others.

It is also OK to remove any cartridge to inspect it, even if it does not have an empty chamber, but you should do a head cleaning after you put it back in. This will waste a little bit of ink, so you shouldn't do it too often.

If you burn out the heaters for several nozzles, you can buy a new print head, usually for around $50.