Refilling the new Canon PG-40, PG-50, CL 41 and CL 51

[RSole]

Indeed, I did get a 2nd unit today. If I want a lifetime supply of cartridges (with a multifunction printer as a bonus with each set) I would need a lot of storage place for those huge boxes.
I'm going to put my i560 into storage. I flushed out it's BCI-6 cartridges with water (my cheeks are killing me from blowing the water through them), then I will print out full sheets of all ink colors to flush out the heads (which seem to have a leak between the magenta and yellow) and put it aside as a spare text-only printer should I ever need one. I hope the flushing works. The cart will also have to be dried of their water content or I might get mold growth I would assume.
I will post my success with the refilling as time goes on.

 

[RSole]

Now I wonder if $30 is a good deal for the MX310. Here's a Lexmark X4550 wireless multifunction printer for $19.95 (after rebate)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=018476&cid=PR.392.217

I've heard Lexmark is the king of high priced consumables and that they had habit tracking software that called home unless you opted not to install some certain program. Is that still the case?
Two years ago, Lexmark had a $50 off coupon for a certain printer that Walmart sold for $49. I didn't get one.

 

[RSole]

You guys here probably know all about Lexmark spyware:

Lexmark denies spyware allegations



No black helicopters here, says printer outfit

By Lucy Sherriff Get more from this author

Posted in ID, 15th November 2004 17:15 GMT



Lexmark has firmly denied installing spyware on its customers' computers, after allegations appeared on a Usenet newsgroup that its printers install software that sends personal information back to the company.

The poster, calling himself Commander, writes on the comp.periphs.printers Usenet newsgroup, that while he was installing a new Lexmark printer, he noticed that a program called Lx_CATS had been added to the program files directory. He determined that it was programmed to collect data on his printing and scanning habits and send it to a domain owned by Lexmark at 30 day intervals. He added: "Furthermore, it is embedded into the system registry, so average users would likely never know it was there and active."

He states that Lexmark did not ask his permission to install the program, or to gather this information at any time during the installation. He adds that when he called Lexmark to complain, the company originally denied all knowledge of the program, only to cough to it when confronted with his evidence.

Lexmark UK has issued a statement in response to the allegations: "Lexmark Connect is a voluntary program that is fully disclosed to all users during the installation process for a new printer. During this process, a registration screen will appear that will allow the user to choose to participate, or not participate in this program. A user MUST review this page and click "continue", or the registration process will not install the program or the printer."

Fair enough, but it looks on the following screen grab like both the registration and Lexmark Connect options are "opt-out", so you have to physically deselect the latter to avoid being registered in the programmme. We asked Lexmark to confirm but this the company had not been able to do so at time of publication.

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Now I wonder if $30 is a good deal for the MX310. Here's a Lexmark X4550 wireless multifunction printer for $19.95 (after rebate)
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=018476&cid=PR.392.217

Well, as of late, it seems HP has the highest prices for their thimble class of cartridges. But let's look. I'm going to use US prices

Lexmark X4550
I'm a little confused as to what cartridges it takes

Black: 23(4), 23A, 34 High Yield
Color: 24(4), 24A, 35 High Yield
Photo: 31

For the moment, I'm going to presume #34/35 cartridges, though I'm not presently sure on the #31 cartridge.

#34/35 set $53

#34 Black $25 475p 5.2c/page coverage
#35 Color $35 475p 7.3c/page 5% coverage
* prices office depot, yield superwarehouse

Canon pg-50 $35 300-475p 12c-7.3c

I don't have an accurate page yield for the pg-50, but even presuming 475page yield, the Lexmark is cheaper for black. Quality logic doesn't list the x4550, nor the pg50/cl51 cartridges.



My color methodology doesn't seem to match Quality Logic's, but black at 5% yield is close enough to their ISO test.

Lexmark obviously has worse printers, this is not among them at least in terms of raw cost. You can swap out the black for lightload inks, I presume a tri color black, light cyan, light magenta. Other lexmarks offered a choice between cheap ink and archival ink.

At least with the Canon mx310, I've at least seen the output from other units that take the same cartridges. Text is little different than their higher end models. Color, while not the best they have to offer, isn't all that bad. The only issue is printing dark things on matte paper, the prints tend to get soggy. This would have been an issue for the i560 as well. The resolution is to select plain paper.

The x4550 might have wifi onboard, it might have a cheap entry price, but it doesn't review well in terms of quality.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2159718,00.asp

 

[RSole]

I'm not that comfortable with rebates, especially one that's $90. I've heard too many stories of rebates never received. The rebate companies' goal is to refuse as many as possible. In Canada vs the USA they write the date differently. One is D/M/Y, the other M/D/Y. One rebate I had was refused because it didn't fall within the eligible dates. The receipt was dated 1/28/06 and I had to explain that it wasn't the first day of the 28th month. They eventually paid.
IGExpandingPanda, your graphs indicate the cost if one buys fresh cartridges, of course. I would never buy a Lexmark on principle. Epson I vowed never to buy again after unknowingly buying a chipped model a few years ago. Now they are all doing it. I don't understand it, can't they make a profit selling a printer for $30 that weighs a ton and had to be shipped all the way from Thailand?

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

I'm not that comfortable with rebates, especially one that's $90. ...


IGExpandingPanda, your graphs indicate the cost if one buys fresh cartridges, of course. I would never buy a Lexmark on principle. Epson I vowed never to buy again after unknowingly buying a chipped model a few years ago. Now they are all doing it. I don't understand it, can't they make a profit selling a printer for $30 that weighs a ton and had to be shipped all the way from Thailand?

To be clear, they are not MY graphs, they are from Qualitylogic's oct 2008 report.

Epsons cost a little more, but what's not reflected is the durabrite inks is among these most archival inks on the market. Not so good for photos, but damn good for documents. Also not reflected is their ability to lend them selves to CIS systems and take bulk ink pigment ink, dye sublimation, pretty much any thing that is liquid. My only complaint with Epson is they don't offer a general purpose inkjet like HP, Canon, Brother, Lexmark. They do have some great photo printers. My Epson 1280 is a tad outdated but it still does a good job.

I have no idea if Shenzhen designed the chips for the redsetter, but they are the makers of the infamous "blue lable" cartridges. They have since corrected their spelling. I wasn't pleased with the cartridges for my epson r200. They were spongeless and had no air vent anywhere. They may have been designed for a CISS. They may have since corrected the design mistake. My CISS is also made by Shenzhen I believe. There have been comments about their CISS system not being good for Canon due to their use of silicon lubricant. I've not used their products for Canon, unless they made the blank cartridges.

The problem is the inkjet business model. In the early 90s it was the norm to sell a printer for some $300+ and charge pennies for the consumables. It's now the norm to sell a printer for $100 and charge more for the ink. Personally I would be happy spending $300 for a good printer with good cheap ink. Canon aftermarket ink isn't as archival as OEM, except perhaps the pigmented black.

 

[RSole]

The problem is the inkjet business model. In the early 90s it was the norm to sell a printer for some $300+ and charge pennies for the consumables. It's now the norm to sell a printer for $100 and charge more for the ink. Personally I would be happy spending $300 for a good printer with good cheap ink.

We now have the better deal: almost free printers and cheap ink if refilling. Most consumers find the refilling too daunting a task, but for those more technically adept, it's a bargain.

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

We now have the better deal: almost free printers and cheap ink if refilling. Most consumers find the refilling too daunting a task, but for those more technically adept, it's a bargain.

Well, keep in mind that the bulk dye solutions for most printers is not very archival.

Also keep in mind the cost of the cartridges is not non-existent for bulk fillers.These PG/CL series do cost a pretty penny. It's a question of how many fills per cartridge you get. Your $30 printer may require 2 sets of cartridges before it's end of life, another $120 in it's lifetime. A set of 10 cartridges, which wouldn't be unreasonable for some printers, would be $600 easily. Call me silly but I rather like the old business model. $300 printers and cheaper consumables. Obviously you would need to print alot to hit 10 * x cartridges and refill. Odds are the printer will break down before that happens.

That's rather why I got the CIS for the Epson. I didn't want to monkey around with cartridges which to be fair cost $50 a set. I do plan to spend more for the pigmented ink, but at least that goes toward printing it self.

 

[headphonesman]

IGExpandingPanda and headphonesman,


As far as removing the foam, I learned that it serves to maintain a slight negative pressure on the ink, preventing it from just pouring out the bottom. If it were a "sloshing" issue then just layer of foam at the top would prevent this. headphonesman, you topped up the ink just to the point of covering the foam, what happened if you slightly overfilled it? Did it immediately leak out the bottom? If not then it's possible that cartridges with integrated heads won't leak. The foam is put there for a reason, though, and I fear I will find out why when I remove it. I will post my finding here though it may be a few weeks from now.

I never experienced drip from this type of cart regardless of how full i had filled it. I believe the foam , (in this type of cart ) ,is there to take up space , prevent aeration/foaming due to sloshing about and to keep the ink volume " regulated" in its supply to the firing nozzles.

I still think the main danger in removing the foam is to the surrounding environment , not to the head itself .

 

[RSole]

I now have a total of four of these MX310 printers. One I had left in my car overnight with temperatures down to minus 15 Celsius. I had forgotten about the water based ink in the cartridges. Can I assume that the cartridges have frozen and are now ruined?

When I get to the point of having a spare set of cartridges I will try to remove the foam and see the results. If they leak I will try to glue a thin layer of foam on the bottom and a thin layer at the top to prevent sloshing. If it foams between the layers, the bottom piece of foam should filter out any bubbles. I wonder what percentage of the capacity the foam occupies.