Spongeless cartridge from inkjetreset.com

[lin]

I had already send an email to mapsy(Michele), hopefully she sees it. And hopefully I had the opportunity to test out this cart.

Update: I had sent 2 email one on Sat and one today. I really hope mapsy would reply to the emails soon.

 

[lin]

Hi irvweiner, do you have any idea how long does Mapsy (Michele) respond to email? It has been several days and 2 emails had been sent.

 

[irvweiner]

lin, my response experiences are similar to yours-a few days to a few weeks. This has not been a problem for me, the carts and ARC chips purchased went smoothly. However, replacing a cart took a few 'whiles', my request was followed up by 1-2 phone call messages.
Her inkjetreset phone # is: 541.863.6631 Mail address is: 125 Susan St Myrtle Creek OR 97457 (from my bill)
This is convenient if you are located in the US, otherwise Skype may get you thru.

good luck, irv weiner

 

[mapsy]

Sorry all for the delay, I have been with my family. a long awaited visit that kept me from the net and even from most phone calls. But I am back now and have already sent Lin a reply. I will send Lin a test cart to any US address. So much catching up to do. Thanks for giving out my info Irv. Sorry if I missed anyone's questions, as i get through my emails, I will connect. Best to all, Michele

 

[lin]

@irvweiner, thanks for replying. I had received her email reply.

 

[lin]

Received a cart (CLI-8) from Mapsy.

So far I had used the Mapsy CLI-8 cart without much of the problem. Though I cannot say about the PGI-5 cart since I didn't had a full set to test. But I had decided to get the rest of the cartridges to complete the set but at this point I hadn't gotten them yet.

Now, I had to stress that just because I used the cart without problem does not mean every individual will not encounter any problem whatsoever and how they use this cart. Likewise, when it comes to using any product, just because others had no problem does not mean I may not had any problem.

And like what Michele (mapsy) had said, her client who had to use these carts because of cake icing design. I can understand why. Probably they needed a cart with lesser amount of sponge and easier to clean something they need for regularly cleaning. So for majority of the refiller folks here, you have the best cart (original canon cartridges) at your disposal to use for refill.

My test checklist:

A) Ink leaking out from cartridge
After refilling I left the cartridge sat for 15-20 mins to see if any ink drip out.
- No ink was dripped into the glass [ See Picture a]

B) Ink leaking into the printer.
After installing the cart into the printerhead that was park at the center, I left the cartridge overnight to see if the ink will leak out of the cartridge, onto the printhead and onto the printer.
- No ink spill into the printer.[See Picture b]
(Laterly part of the test, when I begin parking the printhead with the mapsy 'cigarette lookalike sponge' cart installed, at the waste pad on purge unit. Similarly I didn't experience any leak when the printhead was parked at the waste pad on the purge unit overnight).

C) Ink leaking out when wick on the printhead filter and Having a big pool of ink forming at the printhead ink pickup port
- Didn't occur in my case. There is no very big pool of ink at the printhead ink pickup port. [See Picture c]

D) Ink leaking out of the printhead nozzles.
Parked the printhead at the center of the printer overnight.
- The ink didn't leak out of the printhead nozzles. [See Picture d]

E) Ink starvation during consecutive heaving printing
- I didn't encounter in my case.

The Do and Don't
- When refilling the cart, you may closed up the air inlet hole depending on how much ink you intend to refill the cart.
- When using this cart in the printer, remember to pierce the adhesive tape sealing the air inlet hole. And the air inlet hole must be opened when installing into the printer for printing. [See Picture]
- When sealing the exit port, avoid applying too much pressure to make the cart exit port cap snap at the front plastic. I almost cracked the cartridge plastic at the bottom because I was overzealous trying to snap the orange cap tab above the transparent plastic. [See Picture] Any crack on a cartridge ink chamber will cause ink leaking.
- Don't lose the refill hole seal plug as it's a different size from the common one used for Epson or Canon original cartridges. Unless of course you can find alternative plug with the right size.

Some thoughts on this cart
F) I like how the cigarette sponge is easy to remove to clean. (However it was way too easy to make the sponge out of the cart)
A very hard tab at the top of the cart or shake/swing the cart, could make the sponge poof out of the cart exit port. But handle with care, it should be alright.
Else you could use a needle and insert into air inlet hole and the sponge will come off from the cart. [See Picture f1]

Initially, before I received the cart I thought the sponge was remove via the top where there might be a plug where the sponge can then be extracted. So I was rather surprise it was in fact at the bottom and how the cart sponge was so easily remove (poofing out of the exit port). As such, I was a bit concerned as what would happened if I accidentally make a mess where I acccidentally hit the cart against something such as the top of printhead carriage lock lever (the bar where it show the cartridge color CMYKBK) or accidentally mishandle the cart. Would all the ink leak out if the a bit of the sponge was poof out of the cart exit port? So I tested removing the sponge while there are some ink left inside the cart and sit the cart over a glass to see what would happened.

- The ink didn't drip out into the glass. [See Picture f2 and Picture f3] But I certainly wouldn't want to go about dropping the cart.

G) The thing to watch out for when you install the cart to the printhead, is avoid causing the front lever to accidentally push inward causing the nib either to close up a bit of the air inlet hole or blocking the hole. So you may either remove lever since the one that lock or position the cart in place is via the back where the chip holder is. Else just be cautious not push the front lever against the printhead carriage when slotting in the cart too forcefully such that the nib on the lever is being pushed inward further. [See Picture g]. You probably may not notice any problem with your printing initially if your air inlet hole is closed up by the nib on the front lever. But you will up to some point begin to suffer ink starvation later as the air and ink exchange process could not carry out if the air inlet hole is closed up.

H) On the design wise, this cart lacks the front positioning tab because in order to keep the the air inlet hole opened (such that the nib do not cover up the hole), you will basically had to push the lever bottom part inwards. [See Picture h1] As a result, there is no front positioning tab like the original canon cartridges, where the both the front tab and back of the cart position and lock the cartridges in place. So this cigarette sponge cart basically lock itself in place via the back (where the chip holder is).

I) Of course, the design can be improved.
The remove of the sponge could probably be above instead of directly out the cartridge exit port.
The Orange exit port seal cap could have been better.
And because of the the front lever, I find the area of this section is not utilized optimally but wasted just to occupied the front lever.
As per canon box indicated, CLI-8 cartridges house a total of 13ml ink. There is no problem even if one under-filling 1 or 2 ml of ink into the canon original cartridge.
Here in this case, this cigarette sponge cart, when refill via the top method with the exit port facing downward, it could only refill 10ml as anything more, will cause back flow of ink out of the refill hole and air inlet hole. To refill up to 11 ml or 12 ml, you have to refill the cart upside down with a plug at the refill hole and insert the needle into the plug. [See Picture i1. The plug helps to prevent ink from flowing back out of the refill hole. But 11-12ml would have make the cart rather overly saturated. If the front was not used to occupied the front lever, but rather given additional space to hold the ink, I think it will be much easier to refill up to 11-12 ml.

At roughly about 10ml. [See Picture i2]
At roughly about 11-12ml. [See Picture i3]

I would think a good time to stop printing by the time the ink level drop to the same level as the air and ink exchange passage and start refilling.

[Additional info: I first refilled the with yellow ink for the above test, subsequently repeat the test with magenta ink]

 

[irvweiner]

lin, many thanks for revisiting this cartridge and substantiating my initial praise for the product--warts and all!
I thank you for reaffirming my upside-down refill method which met with some reproach earlier in these pages.

But most of all, my sincere thanks for following the scientific method of analysis and evaluation--not an anecdotal one.

The main difference between this cart and the OEM carts is ease of 're-use', the OEM's do not want their carts to be refilled ever and have gone to great extent to maximize the difficulty. The Epson carts interior pathways make a maze seem like a walk in the park! This Skyhorse CC8 cart is solid, robust and transparent-you can clearly see where the ink goes in, where it comes out and how much is left. The foam sponge is easily removed and washed should you be forced to change the ink to a different color.

A Canon CLI8 cart today sells for ~$17 +/- 1$, assume (in large quantity) $0.50 for the plastic cart, another $0.50 for the chip and another $0.50 cost to do the refill. This leaves $15.50 for the cost of the 10-12 cc of ink. Each time I refill a cart, OEM or other my cost is $.28 using OCP ink, the other respected inks mentioned (Hobbicolors,Image Specialist,Octoink) in this forum vary in cost from equal to >2Xper refill--but not >$15!!

The jury is still out concerning this cart, my usage is only 8 months and I do not print in large quantities but I do print larger format 13x19, 14x24--I'm not happy if an image in mid print loses a color channel due to an air leak or starvation. Another 6 months and I will report back.

thanks for listening Irv weiner

 

[irvweiner]

Just ordered my Epson 3880 today expect by Tues, will be using my Canon Pro9000 in parallel.

After years of posting help for many many Canon users I need some helpful info:
What carts and inks are presently available for refilling the 3880?

Present info:

InkRepublic Carts & Ink
http://www.inkrepublic.com/3880-iRefill.asp
http://www.inkrepublic.com/knowledgebase/3800-iRefill-faq.asp

EfillInk Carts & Ink
http://efillink.info/index.php?p=1_200_Epson-3880-CIS

Image Specialists Ink (IM-K4?)

http://www.image-specialists.com/...mp;pagegrp=1&currPage=3&qsearch=0

OCP (http://rjettek.com/) Under Dvlpmnt

http://www.ocp-inks.com/...php?seite=seiten/support_compatibilitylists_en.php

I'm interested in hearing from those who are running a refill setup for the 3880 and setting up a resource 'sticky' for our community.

irv weiner

 

[lin]

lin wrote:-

@Hat, you mentioned that you tired PGI-9 cartridges, by the way, what ink did you used on these PGI-9 cartridges, dye or pigment.

I use all pigment inks from Efillinks (Image Specialists I believe) ..

You mentioned you were using Pigment Ink from Efillinks in PGI-9 carts. I visited the Efillink website but didn't see that they carry any Pigment Ink for the Colored ones Ink for Canon or for canon 9500 in your case which you are using.

 

[The Hat]

lin
As I reported in #22, I got everything I needed to get started with refilling from Efillink.
I have put a link in below for you to follow if thats any help..

http://www.efillink.com/Canon/Canon_PIXMA_Pro_9500.html