replacement ink at discount prices ip4300?

[lakostra]

hi i want to buy new cartridges for my ip4300 online at discount price but some web sites are listing bci for my printer, the canon website only says cli-b are these the same, compatible? also how much do you actually save by learning to refill your cartridges with bulk ink? also can you recomend sites for discount cartridges? thanks alot.:/

 

[ghwellsjr]

No, you cannot use BCI cartridges in place of CLI cartridges. Even if they would fit, you require the electronic chip that is in the CLI cartridge in order for the printer to recognize the cartridge. There are no compatible CLI cartridges that come with the required chip so you have to transfer the chip from an OEM cartridge. And when you do this, the printer disables the ink level sensor so you have to be very careful to periodically check your cartridges to look for low or empty ones, or just top off all the cartridges on a regular basis.

This is why I recommend buying an older model Canon printer from eBay that uses the BCI cartridges. There are still new (and used) ones available.

How much you save will depend on how much ink you use but you can generally consider that the cost of ink will be around $1 to completely fill an empty BCI or CLI cartridge. Of course, there is some additional one-time cost for your equipment. I recommend vacuum filling. See how easy it is with this article:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/vacuum-fill-canon-cartridges.php

With vacuum filling, you don't have to drill any holes or plug them up. You will want to buy some extra OEM cartridges so you'll always have a spare. Other people have strong opinions on other ways of filling and I'm sure they will post links to them.

 

[Defcon2k]

I think 90+% of the people in this forum fill their carts by drilling a hole in the ink chamber, refill and seal it afterwards with hot glue or a screw.

I use this refill technique.

Imho the method used is just a matter of personal preference, but I can definitely recommend refilling. It's fast and easy with these printers, you save money and you know exactly what ink is in your carts.