Reducing cleaning frequency to save ink

[Thien]

Hello friends,
I am thinking of getting a MG6120.
I know that this model and Mg6220 (already owning this model) do a lot of self-cleaning and in doing so ink is wasted! Will it be possible to lower the cleaning frequency through service tool to save ink? Anyone tried?
I will be getting third-party ink away, but saving even more ink would be nice.
Anyone found a good service tool version that actually works with Mg6220 and Mg6120?
Regards,
Thien

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm not aware of any firmware patch/trick to change that behaviour. that's what Canon thinks is necessary to maintain the readiness of the printer to print

 

[The Hat]

You already own an MG6220 so you know how many times it does cleaning maintenance and you obviously still like the printer enough to get another one.

The cleaning procedure on these printer are set and timed in such a way to insure that your print head is always kept clear and ready for the next print job, so trying to forcibly reduce them may have other consequences.

As you have already stated that you refill your own cartridges, then one of the best ways of reducing the cleaning cycles is to replace any cartridge that is at or below half full when you get a low ink notice on just one of them.

This has the effect of reducing the cleaning cycles down to just one after you have replaced your cartridges, instead of a clean cycle after every cartridge replacement, it can give you up to 80% saving on cartridges replacement..

 

[PeterBJ]

I don't know if this also applies to the MG6120, but for older printers like the iP4200 the amount of cleaning at power on is determined by firmware timers and drop counters. If the printer is connected to the mains constantly and only switched on and off using the printers on/off button, the cleaning at power on might be skipped or reduced depending on when the cleaning was last performed. If the printer is disconnected from the mains no values from the counter and timer are stored and the printer will do a full cleaning on power on. So at least for printers of the PGI-5/CLI-8 generation the advice is to always keep the printer connected to the mains to reduce amount of ink dumped into the absorbers.

The tip by The Hat is also very good advice to reduce amount of ink dumped.

The MG6150 and MG6120 are identical except being intended for different regions, so see this post and post #34 by @Łukasz . The version 3400 of the service tool was used. Also see this post by mswannie and following posts. @mswannie what version of the service tool and what procedure to enter service mode did you use, please?

 

[palombian]

I am using a comparable printer (among several other 525/526 printers).

The price of first quality 3th party ink is about 30-60 €/l depending on volume.
That's less than 0.30-0.60 per cartridge.
I really wouldn't be concerned about the ink consumption.

 

[martin0reg]

I will be getting third-party ink away, but saving even more ink would be...

...a bad idea because canon printheads are prone to die from ink starvation..
Do not save at the wrong end, let the printer do the flushing, and use quality ink.