The All New Canon 551 Carts. !

[The Hat]

These 551 cartridges have been around for some time now and its strange
that they have not come up for any discussion at all in the forum.

Are guys just avoiding them or are the new printer owners happy to keep buying these expensive cartridges,
or better still no one is actually buying the new printers at all.

Sooner or later someone is going to have to pull apart a cartridge and see if they can be refilled,
not to mention finding a way around their all new chip..

 

[PeterBJ]

The Hat wrote:

Sooner or later someone is going to have to pull apart a cartridge and see if they can be refilled,

Some Germans have already done this and provided refill instructions: http://www.druckerchannel.de/artike..._betanken_sie_canons_neue_single_ink_patronen or a google translation: http://translate.google.dk/translat..._betanken_sie_canons_neue_single_ink_patronen

And here is one more instruction from a German website, this instruction is in English: http://www.octopus-office.de/en/inf...51/refill-instructions-canon-pgi-550-cli-551/

They have more info about the cartridges, but only in German: http://www.octopus-office.de/info/n...canon-pgi-550-und-canon-cli-551-das-gehaeuse/ , http://www.octopus-office.de/info/n...n-cli-551-die-kammern-im-inneren-der-patrone/ and http://www.octopus-office.de/info/n...li-551/canon-pgi-550-cli-551-chip-und-prisma/ or Google translations: http://translate.google.dk/translat...canon-pgi-550-und-canon-cli-551-das-gehaeuse/ , http://translate.google.dk/translat...n-cli-551-die-kammern-im-inneren-der-patrone/ and http://translate.google.dk/translat...li-551/canon-pgi-550-cli-551-chip-und-prisma/

Here you see the new three sponge design of these cartridges http://blog.tintenalarm.de/insider-...gen-canon-cli-551-pgi-550pgbk-druckerpatronen or a translation: http://translate.google.dk/translat...gen-canon-cli-551-pgi-550pgbk-druckerpatronen . I think the new lower sponge is actually an extension of the outlet filter used in older generation cartridges.

Canon has also introduced a new higher capacity pigment black cartridge for use in an office AIO, the PGI-555PGBK XXL with a capacity of 37 ml, which they claim should print 1000 pages. See this: http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Multifunctionals/Inkjet/PIXMA_MX925/ Click the Accessories and supplies tab and scroll down to XL inks to see the new PGI-555PGBK XXL cartridge.

I noted on the druckerchannel site that attempting to remove the chip destroys it, so no use of compatible cartridges is possible. This and the lack of a resetter I think keep many people from buying the new printers. Now the formerly unpopular opaque PGI-x25/CLI-x26 cartridge printers will become popular and sought after, I think.

The suggested refill method is (of course?) the German method, but I think topfilling using a wooden toothpick/cocktail stick to gauge ink levels is easier. I used that method to refill totally opaque HP 364/564 XL cartridges with success.

I think that they may read this forum at druckerchannel, see this: http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=3269&seite=5&t=schritt_2_kanuele_einfuehren or a translation: http://translate.google.dk/translat...D=3269&seite=5&t=schritt_2_kanuele_einfuehren .Scroll down to the picture "Let there be light" and compare this post by gigigogu: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=51359#p51359

 

[The Hat]

The German method mentioned and described in the druckerchannel instructions are not exactly that easy to use at all
and the top fill method as you say could in fact be the one to use.

Now the chip on these cartridges is something else, I wonder how many time can you expect to refill the cartridge
while the ink monitoring is disabled before the printer refuses to print any further. (New Cartridge needed)

The other problem about this cartridge is its small size; with the ink monitoring disabled when the printer is switched on
it will run unnecessary cleaning cycles which can empty the cart very quickly.

There are an afoul lot of new unknowns about the cartridge /chip combination that is going to catch out a lot of people
and only time will tell if they can be successfully refilled satisfactory or not.

Thasnk you for the translations..

 

[PeterBJ]

You are right. The situation is much like it was when Canon introduced the The PGI-5/CLI-8 generation of printers, before the resetter was invented. But these new opaque cartridges are worse as you cannot monitor ink levels visually.

We can only hope a resetter will be available soon. Until then I think refillers will not buy these new printers. But I think refillers are not Canon's most valued customers.

There was one thing I forgot to mention. The introduction of setup cartridges. According to druckerchannel.de or maybe some other site, the use of these cartridges is mandatory when setting up the printer. I hope it is written in the EEPROM that the setup cartridges have been used, and not stored on the computer. That would necessitate the use of setup cartridges again if you install the printer on a new computer. I'm looking for documentation of the mandatory use of setup cartridges, and will post links when I find it.

 

[The Hat]

You are right. The situation is much like it was when Canon introduced the The PGI-5/CLI-8 generation of printers, before the resetter was invented. But these new opaque cartridges are worse as you cannot monitor ink levels visually.

Yes but with these cartridges you could at least see the ink levels inside them and carry on.

There was one thing I forgot to mention. The introduction of setup cartridges. According to druckerchannel.de or maybe some other site, the use of these cartridges is mandatory when setting up the printer. I hope it is written in the EEPROM that the setup cartridges have been used, and not stored on the computer. That would necessitate the use of setup cartridges again if you install the printer on a new computer. I'm looking for documentation of the mandatory use of setup cartridges, and will post links when I find it.

The setup cartridge seems to be a bit of a bummer alright and is designed to beat the refillers before they even start
and god knows what surprises are hidden in these fancy chips.

I wouldnt be a bit surprised by what new measures Canon has introduced
because their print drivers have been so badly written over the years which only ever favour them and never a taught for the users,
i.e. paper sizes, borderless print, Panorama prints, margins, CD prints, duplex prints etc.. (Crazy)

Any information you can get will be appreciated..

 

[PeterBJ]

I have now found the site mentioning that the use of setup cartridges is mandatory, the info was on one of the sites I linked to in post #2: http://blog.tintenalarm.de/insider-...gen-canon-cli-551-pgi-550pgbk-druckerpatronen or a Google translation: http://translate.google.dk/translat...gen-canon-cli-551-pgi-550pgbk-druckerpatronen

From the translated site:

When buying printer cartridges are now special setup included. The first time you use the printer, these cartridges are used. The printer accepts this only during initial setup cartridges. Canon especially so would pre-empt the ebay traders who often new printer with compatible cartridges sold the enclosed original cartridges are then offered extra.

The translation of this paragraph is not quite clear in my opinion, here is the German text and my translation:

Beim Druckerkauf sind nun spezielle Setup-Patronen im Lieferumfang. Bei der ersten Inbetriebnahme des Druckers mssen diese Patronen eingesetzt werden. Der Drucker akzeptiert bei der Erstinbetriebnahme nur diese Setup-Patronen. Damit mchte Canon vorallem den ebay Hndlern zuvorkommen, die oft neue Drucker mit kompatiblen Druckerpatronen verkauft und die beiligenden Originalpatronen dann extra angeboten haben.

Which I would translate to:

Special Setup cartridges are now included when buying this printer. These cartridges must be used when using the printer for the first time. The printer accepts only these cartridges for setup. Probably Canon would make it more difficult for Ebay sellers, who sell new printers with the original cartridges replaced by compatible cartridges and offer the original cartridges separately.

Also note that the ink set seems to have been changed, magenta and yellow are changed. I see the remarks about viscosity only as general advice only to use special ink designed for your printer when refilling, and of course the site offers the proper ink. I don't think the new inks have different properties, I think the Google translation is fairly accurate on this item, I read the German text in the same way, but maybe one of the forum's German members could comment?

The writer of the site guesses that one possible reason for the mandatory use of setup cartridges is to prevent buyers of these printer from selling the printer on Ebay without cartridges. I think that another reason could be to sell at least one more set of cartridges, probably XL version, to the buyer of the printer.

"recharging with the puncture method" means "refilling using the Durchstich method", one translation of "Durchstich" is "puncture" I guess that if we had used the name "puncture method" instead of "German refill method" the method would have been less popular

 

[FastForward]

These 551 cartridges have been around for some time now and its strange
that they have not come up for any discussion at all in the forum.

Are guys just avoiding them or are the new printer owners happy to keep buying these expensive cartridges,
or better still no one is actually buying the new printers at all.

Sooner or later someone is going to have to pull apart a cartridge and see if they can be refilled,
not to mention finding a way around their all new chip..

It is not strange at all, as most people who provide advice here are using printers from 3-5 years back. The MG/MX advice for the last round of 225/525 models on here is mostly given by people who don't own these printers or refill the carts that come with them. People should give advice on what they know or stay silent IMHO.

 

[The Hat]

These 551 cartridges have been around for some time now and its strange
that they have not come up for any discussion at all in the forum.

Are guys just avoiding them or are the new printer owners happy to keep buying these expensive cartridges,
or better still no one is actually buying the new printers at all.

Sooner or later someone is going to have to pull apart a cartridge and see if they can be refilled,
not to mention finding a way around their all new chip..

It is not strange at all, as most people who provide advice here are using printers from 3-5 years back. The MG/MX advice for the last round of 225/525 models on here is mostly given by people who don't own these printers or refill the carts that come with them. People should give advice on what they know or stay silent IMHO.

Is there anything I write on this forum agreeable to you at all.
For whatever reason I seem to have vexed you in some little way for which I'm sorry
but saying that it does not change a thing, in my IMHO.