Prints have a reddish tint (Canon 9000) - Generic Ink Recommendations?

[ivanalbright]

OP here

I am learning a lot from reading the discussion of people who have more experience with different inks and troubleshooting--good stuff! From my further testing and the info presented, currently I believe that there MAY be somewhat restricted flow on my Cyan printhead nozzle in addition to the unpredictable colors of the cheap inks. I am currently able to get acceptable colors by changing the printer driver's color adjustment settings to -20 magenta, +20 cyan, and "dark" brightness.

There are a couple questions i had that have been lost in the thread, unanswered:

Can anyone recommend a specific trustworthy website to purchase this good quality ink to refill my own cartridges (IS and OCP inks have been mentioned)?

Can anyone link to a tutorial on refilling CLI-8 cartridges? I know I saw a really good tutorial with step by step photos and all (I think on this forum), but I can't locate it now. Do you have to use canon brand cartridges to do this? (at least $70 or $80 for a brand name set, and I would want multiple sets...)

Since it seems the cyan nozzle may be partially clogged(?) I am going to try cleaning the printhead. The most common instructions I've found include soaking in a mixture of distilled water and ammonia. I also read somewhere that I could try spraying high pressure water (such as from a garden hose sprayer) into the nozzles...is that safe to do? Any other tips on cleaning the canon 9000 printhead? Thanks!

 

[fotofreek]

Ivanalbright - My apologies for this thread getting far afield from what you need to know. I don't know where you are located, but if you are in the US or Canada, Precision Colors is the vendor that I use for IS inks. I've never used OCP inks, but as you may surmise by my responses to a very persistant, questioning participant, IS inks have worked well for me for about 8 years. Their web site is under construction but their current store is on ebay at http://stores.ebay.ca/PrecisionColors . You can click on the canon 8 carts link and you will see various sizes of ink sets. You can go to http://www.precisioncolors.com/contact.html for US or Canada phone numbers and an email address so you can contact them with any questions you might have. They may also be able to direct you to a tutorial. Since I was accused of touting their ink and ignoring the fact that the cli-8 IS ink isn't an exact replica of the newer Canon OEM inks I am hereby stating the disclaimer that 1) I have no financial or other interest in Precision Colors or IS, 2)There may be other inks that are equally as good but I don't have personal experience with them, 3) I am not acting through any bias or from heresay as I am just a happy user of the product and am equally happy to share what I have learned through experience.

I looked on ebay for used OEM cli-8 carts and it seems that they are available in large lots, but the lots are each one color only. Doesn't make sense for you or me. Also Craig's list in the SF area didn't have any today. Precision Colors does sell reprocessed carts but I don't know what the prices are or if they have set them up for refilling. If you find your own source of used carts you will have to first purge them and then prepare them for refilling. Lots of source material on the forum for that. You will have to decide to either top fill or use the German method. I happen to use the top fill method - some people like the German method. You will need to have some simple equipment - either syringes or, my preference, squeeze bottles.

First order of business is to try to clear you printhead. Don't use any sort of high pressure at all. That is for purging carts if you have opened a top fill hole. Again, if you are in the US, buy some original Windex with Ammonia. Rather than spend some time reproducing what has already been written many times I'll try to spend some time finding links that would be helpful for printhead cleaning and for purging carts. The important thing to remember when cleaning the printhead is to first do the least potentially destructive thing. If that doesn't work you then move on in increments to more potent cleaning methods. More to follow, either when I have the time or if someone else wants to jump in.

 

[fotofreek]

Here is a recent thread that would be helpful for printhead cleaning. http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=57131#p57131. There is a link within the link by Octoink that is very good, and there is also a response by me that is the approach I have used to unclog printheads. You can also look up the thread on printhead cleaning that is very long and has lots of information, some of which may be more helpful than others.

 

[ivanalbright]

Okay, I have soaked the carts using the ammonia+distilled water / set the printhead on a pad of paper towels. I soaked it for about 3-4 hours and replaced the paper towels and ammonia mixture until no ink was coming out. I then let it dry for a good 12 hours next to a fan, and then installed all G&G brand generic cli-8 cartridges. Thanks for the info about not using water pressure.

The color results are back to how they should be! No red tint and no manually tweaking of the color adjustments in the printer settings needed like before.

Everything is working now EXCEPT the nozzle checks for the yellow ink now show a blank streak--strange since it was never the yellow that had an issue before? Before cleaning the printhead, the yellow nozzle check was absolutely perfect. I've since done some printer driver cleaning cycles and it might be improving slightly...

fotofreek, I appreciate the link to the eBay store. I am in the US and it looks like they ship from Canada. Also it seems they only have black canon ink available right now?

Can you anyone recommend any other sources to get OCP or IS ink (for the united states)? I'm surprised how tough it is to find resellers for this ink. Nobody seems to mention the brand name of their bulk ink and google searches are just showing me a bunch of people who recommend these inks, not where exactly to buy them

 

[MiniMe]

Okay, I have soaked the carts using the ammonia+distilled water / set the printhead on a pad of paper towels. I soaked it for about 3-4 hours and replaced the paper towels and ammonia mixture until no ink was coming out. I then let it dry for a good 12 hours next to a fan, and then installed all G&G brand generic cli-8 cartridges. Thanks for the info about not using water pressure.

The color results are back to how they should be! No red tint and no manually tweaking of the color adjustments in the printer settings needed like before.

Everything is working now EXCEPT the nozzle checks for the yellow ink now show a blank streak--strange since it was never the yellow that had an issue before? Before cleaning the printhead, the yellow nozzle check was absolutely perfect. I've since done some printer driver cleaning cycles and it might be improving slightly...

fotofreek, I appreciate the link to the eBay store. I am in the US and it looks like they ship from Canada. Also it seems they only have black canon ink available right now?

Can you anyone recommend any other sources to get OCP or IS ink (for the united states)? I'm surprised how tough it is to find resellers for this ink. Nobody seems to mention the brand name of their bulk ink and google searches are just showing me a bunch of people who recommend these inks, not where exactly to buy them

I looked on the Precision Colors site this morning and I see that they have 8 color inksets for CLI-8/Pro 9000 in stock.

The way I see it you have several options:

1.....Continue to use the carts you used before the color issues

2.....Buy new inks and refill the G&G carts. Not recommended

3.....Buy new OEM Canon carts and refill with new ink. Better but expensive.

4.....Try to get virgin used OEMs and refill with new ink. The odd color carts..ie PM, PC, red, green my be difficult to get and it is recommended that they be purged and then you still need reliable chips. A bit of a hassle but not a bad option.

5.....Order the inks from Precision Colors and buy refillable carts with auto reset chips. A forum member on here (Mapsy) and one other dependable retailer in the US I know of sells them. Not recommended by most forum members but it is one of the available options.

If it were me I would print a few 1" yellow strips to try and clear that yellow channel and call it a day and just order the generic carts from the retailer that you used before you had the color issues...but that's just my opinion!.....Good Luck.

 

[fotofreek]

The color results are back to how they should be! No red tint and no manually tweaking of the color adjustments in the printer settings needed like before.

Everything is working now EXCEPT the nozzle checks for the yellow ink now show a blank streak--strange since it was never the yellow that had an issue before? Before cleaning the printhead, the yellow nozzle check was absolutely perfect. I've since done some printer driver cleaning cycles and it might be improving slightly...

fotofreek, I appreciate the link to the eBay store. I am in the US and it looks like they ship from Canada. Also it seems they only have black canon ink available right now?

Can you anyone recommend any other sources to get OCP or IS ink (for the united states)? I'm surprised how tough it is to find resellers for this ink. Nobody seems to mention the brand name of their bulk ink and google searches are just showing me a bunch of people who recommend these inks, not where exactly to buy them

If the yellow nozzles don't clear completely with several cleanings you might consider either making a cleaning cart with windex (original formula with "ammonia-D") or simply leaving the printhead in place, remove the yellow cart, and use a syringe to drip windex onto the ink intake screen in the printhead. Let is soak for several minutes, replace the yellow cart, and then repeat a cleaning cycle and dripping windex a few times. Then check the nozzle test again.

Minime has pretty well laid out your alternatives. Before I sent you my last long email I checked the links that I included regarding Precision colors. There is no problem ordering and receiving merchandise from them in the US. If you have difficulty you can call Precision Colors (their US phone number) and talk to them directly. With their web site construction in progress and the need to buy full sets of inks on the eBay store, it can be confusing. I usually call directly for my orders as I can buy specific colors when I need them instead of a full set each time. I would be surprised if they don't have the full range of inks that you need. I believe that they also have reconditioned OEM carts. I don't know if they sell them prefilled or ready for refilling.

Regarding vendors identifying what inks they sell - MIS (inksupply.com) is listed on the IS website as selling their inks. I haven't been on their web site lately, but the last time I looked they didn't identify the source of their inks. Precision Colors is the only vendor, to my knowledge, that actually identifies, both on his web site and on the label, that they sell IS inks. In the UK I believe that Octoink also identifies the ink he sells as IS. I don't think that any other vendors state the source of the inks they sell. I used ink from MIS for several years before changing to Precision Colors because they absolutely identified their inks as IS. Both firms have been very reliable and professional .

Glad to hear that your printhead is functioning so much better and that you are getting normal color prints without tweaking.

 

[fotofreek]

There is another alternative that I hadn't mentioned - in the event that your printhead had been clogged or damaged to the point where you were not able to produce prints to your satisfaction. there are so many Canon Pro 9000 MkII printers on Craigs list as a result of Canon bundling them with sales of their high end cameras. In the San Francisco Bay Area they are listed generally for $150 to $250 and are new, unused, in the factory sealed box. I waited until there was one advertised for $100 and bought it. The value of the unopened OEM ink carts alone was more than that. The factory sealed, unopened printhead was close to that value. If a printhead dies it makes more sense to buy one of these units when the price is right rather than bother with buying a printhead to replace a dead one. I'm sure that the price would be negotiable if several were for sale in the area at the same time.