Refilling Newbie Has Questions :o)

[Acoustics4me]

Hey'a everyone,

I've been reading your forums, and I have to say it struck me how nice you all seem! So who's acting, cos you can't all be THAT nice....lol.

Anyway, being totally new to this, I have some questions. Please use layman's speak, as I wont understand the terminology else...

Ok, firstly, I have a Canon Pixma ip4000.

For this particular printer, which is better (more economical), CIS or refilling?

I have read about Hobbicolor's fantastic service (and reputation), and if it works out as cheaper than I may be able to get in NZ (including postage, exchange rate, etc) then I'll have a go with them. If I do, which kit would I need? (Have looked on ebay for the available kits).

Aproximately how many times can a cartridge be refilled before the cartridge itself starts to deteriorate and become unfillable?

What is an OEM cartridge, and what's the alternative called? (sorry, told you I was a newbie...lol).

I currently buy Canon compatible ink cartridges at $10 NZD per colour (aprox. $6.34 USD at time of this post) and have no postage costs. Can I fill these compatible cartridges with ink, or do I have to get the canon manufactured cartridges?

And final question, does anyone have a really sweet, gentlemanly father who I can match up with my 'Powerful Choleric' personality type mother?

Ok, that should do it for now.

Thanks....

Cheers,

Me

 

[DRoss]

Welcom to the forum.
Refilling for the ip4000 is the way to go, CIS for canon printers is hit or miss, mostly miss. with refilling so easy for the Canon it is not worth the effort and cost to us a CIS, (been there done that)

I love Hobbiecolors get the 5 color kit http://cgi.ebay.com/Hobbicolors-Can...ryZ16199QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A cartrige can be refilled at 10-20 or more I try to refill mine while there is still ink in the reservoir side and this seems to extend the life ot the cartridge.

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer so Canon made ink , paper or replacement parts would be "oem" for a Canon printer. Others would be generic, 3rd party, non oem, replacemnet part (without mention of who made it) ect.

You can use the empties from Canon inks see tread on sealing the fill hole, the good thing with Hobbiecolors is you get easy to fill carts with each order.

Your on your own with hooking up your mother.

Doug

 

[Nifty]

So who's acting, cos you can't all be THAT nice....lol.

haha.... Honestly, I'm the only one acting... every one else here really is as nice, or nicer than they seem on the forum!

I agree with DRoss, while CIS is possible with Canon printers, unless you are printing and using gallons of ink a year, then you'll be just fine with dropping a needle into the tank portion of the cartridges and squeezing in some ink.

Again, welcome to the forum. Keep us posted with what you go with and how it all works out!

 

[Acoustics4me]

G'day Dross,

Thanks for the link to the correct colour kit, and for all your other very helpful information.

Of course, my subconscious managed to think up another question while I was sleeping the night away...

If I don't go with Hobbicolors (because of freight, etc...) then I want to be sure I don't get some cheap ink that will kill my printer. What should I be looking out for with regards to quality of ink?

And sorry, but I didn't get what you meant by this.... 'You can use the empties from Canon inks "see tread" on sealing the fill hole'.

Is 'Tread' a person or what?

Thanks again, you're marvellous!

G'day Nifty Stuff. Yeah, I knew it! I knew you couldn't ALL be that nice!....lol. I will certainly keep you posted on what I end up doing, and how I get on.

Cheers you two...

Me

Oh, and if there's anything else you guys think I need to know....then please, don't be shy

 

[fotofreek]

Dross meant "thead", the terminology for a series of posts following a question or statement. The original Canon OEM (original equipment manufacturer) cartridges can be refilled several times. You have to make a hole in top of the reservoir area, the chamber without the sponge, and after refilling you must get an absolute airtight seal. The inks that several people have found acceptable, in addition to Hobbicolors, are Sensient Formulabs (commonly called just Formulabs) and IS, Imaging Specialists inks which are sold by Weinks and also, from what we've been led to believe, by MIS at www.inksupply.com I use MIS bulk inks to refill canon OEM and other brand cartridges. They are much cheaper from MIS than from Weinks. Hobbicolors is the least expensive as they include empty cartridges with the ink refill kits. In Europe the ink that I've heard is the largest seller is OCP, made in Germany.

Actually, Nifty is the really nice guy on this forum and the rest of us have to work very hard to live up to his example.

There is a lot of information in this forum and on the ink seller's websites about refilling cartridges and you will need to do some self-education, after which you should ask any questions you like about technique refinement, etc.

 

[CanonPhreak]

I disagree with the premise about CIS for Canon only being useful for "gallons" per year. One distenct advantage that the camelflo crs I use in my Canon printers, is that the printer will print non-stop. Unlike the Epson and HP which have to reset the chips every so many pages, I can print 250 pages on my Canon printer (my average printing size) and the only action that I have to take is to re-load the paper tray. The longest single print job I ever performed was to print 750 flyers, full page full color, which took about about 2 hours on my Canon pixma ip3000.

I use about a pint of ink every six months or so for that printer, far less than, a gallon and have used it with a crs since April 2005. So far that has saved me about $3000.00 in the cost of Canon inkjet cartridges I would have had to use for the same printing or about $1600.00 in good quality compatibles. Also in that time I only had to replace the printhead once at my cost, I got a free replacement head since I exchanged the old used head with weink under their VIP exchange program they offer with their continuous systems, since I bought the new head from them.

If you do any multiple copy prints on your Canon, a continuous system makes sense. I got all of my continuous systems from weink.com, they were more expensive, but worth the cost.

So who's acting, cos you can't all be THAT nice....lol.

haha.... Honestly, I'm the only one acting... every one else here really is as nice, or nicer than they seem on the forum!

I agree with DRoss, while CIS is possible with Canon printers, unless you are printing and using gallons of ink a year, then you'll be just fine with dropping a needle into the tank portion of the cartridges and squeezing in some ink.

Again, welcome to the forum. Keep us posted with what you go with and how it all works out!

 

[Osage]

To Acoustics4me,

Who wonders why people on this forum are so nice. Its because we are having so much fun saving money.
And your ip4000 get you a good reason to join the party. These forums are for sharing techniques and knowledge. Its not an adversarial relationship where the requirement for a winner is to beat someone who then becomes a loser. If someone does not like a piece of advice they are free to ignore it---but even then, its still possible it may trigger someone else to have another good idea.

But sharing knowledge about good suppliers is also a key--because suppliers are often location specific.
And so are users---so what applies to someone in one location may not translate to somewhere else. So this forum helps much in that area too.

But at the end of the day, its a matter of reading up--- educating your self, and then finally you choose some supplier---pays your money---and takes your chances-----chances are you too will win in a big way.--------------I sure have thanks to the good people on these forums.

 

[Acoustics4me]

CanonPhreak, thanks for that commentary. There certainly is a lot to think about! I think my budget would limit me somewhat in what I would be prepared to pay for the initial setup cost of a CIS. That sure is a hang of a lot of money you've saved on your printing!

Osage, I hear what you are saying about it not being an 'adversarial relationship', however, that normally doesn't stop people from showing their not so nice side in most forums I've come across. Actually, it shames me to say this, but as a Born-Again Christian I've learned that some of the worst culprits of bad attitude, wrong reactions, and offense taking belong to us ( My non-Christian friends can be so much nicer than some of my Chrisitan friends. It's totally offputting to this conflict hating person, so if I see that sort of behaviour on a forum, I usually leave and never come back....lol. It's so nice to see a forum like this. However, you could improve your reputation if you find a husband for my mum

Anyway, getting back to ink....I have indeed been reading up on different techniques, how to make your refills refillable for longer (with video evidence...lol) and the like. Thanks again, and don't worry, I will have more questions!

Cheers you guys,

Me