New Printers that are beyond the 225/226 or 525/526. Time to hoard!

[The Hat]

Here are two different ways I tried at refilling these 551 cartridges,
there not ideal but they do work none the less and can be developed even further with a little bit of know how.

Its something to start with for now and more will follow later thats for sure..

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=65182#p65182
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=65390#p65390

 

[PeterBJ]

pennyblue wrote:

What I dont understand is why the insistence on using heat to glue a window of some sort? Why not just find a suitable stiff clear plastic and use silicone around the hole to stick the window to the cartridge? You'd only need a thin layer, since the tanks don't have any pressure to blow it off.

The problem is that the cartridges are made from polypropylene, a plastic that is very difficult to get a reliable bond to. Ordinary epoxies and cyanoacrylates (10 second glues) are no good. Silicone sealant is also no good. Some hot melt glues are suitable but most are not. Special adhesives for polypropylene do exist, but may be restricted to professional use only.

If you buy a small set of epoxy glue for home use you might get a mixing plate and mixing spatula. After the epoxy has cured it can be peeled from the plate and spatula, which are made from polypropylene. Also silicone sealant comes in cartridges made from polypropylene and the nozzle for the cartridge is also made from polypropylene. If some silicone sealant has cured inside the nozzle between uses, it can be easily removed.

It is very important to get a reliable seal if you want to put a window into a Canon ink cartridge. The smallest air leak will cause the cartridge to leak. In a worst case scenario a leaking cartridge can cause a short circuit that ruins the print head, and the shorted print head can ruin the logic board in the printer, making the printer a total loss.

 

[mikling]

After the thought I started to experiment with the Epson.
With the opaque cartridges, putting a window on is not difficult, keeping it sealed long term as PeterBJ has outlined can prove to be difficult. In my sceario, I could get the hot melt glue to hold onto the cartridge but the material I used did not stick to the glue as well. I used a technique similar to ironing on. I place a fine bead of glue around the hole on the cartridge and then placed the window on top of the glue and then heated the glue through the clear window, thus I was able to achieve a close thin bond. The clear material needed to be heat resistant to do this.

I think the easiest way is to either be prepared to wipe a bit when refilling or use a scale to determine how full the ink is. Yes, a good digital scale will likely become a standard tool for refillers down the road. Fortunately they are not expensive.

 

[barfl2]

Regarding the glue problem, has anybody tried the Loctite Super R plastic glue which claims to glue ALL plastics. This is a 2 part product with a primer and then the super glue itself.

The instructions clearly states will adhere to polypropylene. I used it on acrylic and it worked Ok on a Freedom jig I constructed. Got mine from Amazon, not cheap though.

 

[websnail]

Regarding the glue problem, has anybody tried the Loctite Super R plastic glue which claims to glue ALL plastics. This is a 2 part product with a primer and then the super glue itself.

The instructions clearly states will adhere to polypropylene. I used it on acrylic and it worked Ok on a Freedom jig I constructed. Got mine from Amazon, not cheap though.

Not sure I've tried that type exactly but certainly something very similar and frankly it was a complete waste of time. Ink was always able to break down the bond over time and the process of priming was pretty inexact as well...

In my experience, not a practical option... Hot glue has proven far more effective but if I'm honest I'm not sure the creation of such "windows" is worth the effort, especially when you consider the way black inks just fog up the cartridge and need a fair wait before they've settled.

 

[barfl2]

Regarding the glue problem, has anybody tried the Loctite Super R plastic glue which claims to glue ALL plastics. This is a 2 part product with a primer and then the super glue itself.

The instructions clearly states will adhere to polypropylene. I used it on acrylic and it worked Ok on a Freedom jig I constructed. Got mine from Amazon, not cheap though.

Not sure I've tried that type exactly but certainly something very similar and frankly it was a complete waste of time. Ink was always able to break down the bond over time and the process of priming was pretty inexact as well...

In my experience, not a practical option... Hot glue has proven far more effective but if I'm honest I'm not sure the creation of such "windows" is worth the effort, especially when you consider the way black inks just fog up the cartridge and need a fair wait before they've settled.

Pretty sure you are correct. My joint has only been subjected to water. The hassle finding and modifying XL carts probably not worth it. I am definitely leaning towards an Epson for the next printer what with the present feelings/difficulties with the current Canon offerings.

 

[websnail]

Pretty sure you are correct. My joint has only been subjected to water. The hassle finding and modifying XL carts probably not worth it.

I think the supplies will be out there eventually but I suspect Canon will promptly discover that the third party consumables market will eat up their potential profit margin in very short order. Printer owners for these are likely to be going over to the compatibles almost immediately so it'll be interesting to see what sort of recycling supply of the XL OEM's there will be, if any...

I am definitely leaning towards an Epson for the next printer what with the present feelings/difficulties with the current Canon offerings.

Given the information developed for the XP600 on up, I'd have to agree...

 

[Lucas28]

Clear non OEM cartridges of this type are now offered on internet. Is the sponge a problem? Maybe the sponge can be replaced by one from an OEM cartridge.

Also available now: empty refillable cartridges:
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/ink-refill-kit-for-canon-cli--551.html

Only the chips arent available yet.

So this seems business as usual. And, of course, Epson becomes more attractive

 

[Borut]

Those are not right?
http://www.octopus-office.de/shop/e...or-canon-pgi-550-cli-551-with-autoreset-chips

 

[The Hat]

Those are not right?
http://www.octopus-office.de/shop/e...or-canon-pgi-550-cli-551-with-autoreset-chips

What’s the problem...?