What 3rd Party Ink?

[mccoady]

Klubber you're saying if I order Pro Color ink cartridges from alotofthings then this is Formulab ink and this should work well with my ip5000? Forgive me for my stupidity but all these different inks and whether to buy prefilled or bulk is all new to me, I've been buying OEM for the last year afraid to pull the trigger on third party inks. How soon will you get your order and did you order cartridges or bulk? I'm not sure whether to go ahead and order some or wait until you try it out.

I may eventually go to bulk ink but I do want to try 3rd party cartridges first. When you first switch over do you just replace all your OEM at once even though some will still have ink in them or can you just gradually mix in the 3rd party inks as you run out of OEM?

 

[hpnetserver]

McCoady, if you decide to go for 3rd party you may want to just bypass prefilled carts from them. It's unlikely those 3rd party retailers prefill their carts with exactly their ink here (in the states). Most likely those carts are prefilled by their vendors. They just get them from their vendors and resell them. A lot of those are probably directly from China where the labor cost of prefilling is the cheapest. I am not saying those carts are bad. But there is always a chance that the ink in the carts is not the same that they sell. Well, jump into bulk ink and refill is a big step. But it will be rewarding. All the vendors mentioned in this thread have smaller packages for beginners. Based on reports from forum members they are all good. Just pick one to try. Good luck.

 

[nelda]

mccroady, if you do decide to go the bulk ink route, consider Hobbicolors. They are available on ebay, and the "kit" includes ink (for several refills), instructions, and empty (virgin) cartridges. These cartridges are already adapted for refilling and have a screw that removes for refilling. There is no need to modify an exisiting cartridge. The cost is very reasonable - about $20-$25 dollars for most of the kits (much less than the cost of a set of new OEM cartridges and even cheaper than most prefilled non-OEM carts). Check them out on ebay.
Some individuals use them for the cartridges alone becuaee the price is so reasonable (most empty virgin carts from other vendors sell for about $5 each). I use them for both the cartridges and the ink. I have been very happy with both their service and the quality of the ink. I have modified and refilled OEM cartridges in the past - not hard to do but a bit messy at times, and I always worried about sealing the refill hole. I can tell you from personal experience that the Hobbicolors kit is nothing but simplicity itself, and it not very messy. I have had no problems using the exisiting screw to seal the refill hole. I personally recommend them.
You may want to do a search on Hobbicolors and read the posts. I think that you will be pleased at the ease of use and the price.

 

[Osage]

As someone who just ordered two hobbicolor kits---a four color kit for my Canon MP 730---and a five color kit for my wife's ip4000-----I am somewhat up on exact prices.
The five color medium kit you would need for the ip5000 is $21.95 which contains a syringe----four empty BCI-6 blanks---one empty BCI-3eblk blank---and four oz's of pigmented black----plus 2 oz's each of the four required colors. Extra virgin BCI-6 cartridges cost $1.65 each---and an extra BCI-3eblk blank costs $2.50. Shipping costs depend on location------But hobbicolors unlike many vendors will ship outside of the USA---but I did email hobbicolors and found Dave very responsive to any and all inquiries----plus he can and will send a pdf instruction sheet prior to you placing an order. You can search ebay using the search term hobbicolors or find their web site which is still being constructed. And by the way, advertised ink shelf life is two years.

Prior to ordering from hobbicolors I had used prefilled cartridges from www.bulkinkjetcarts.com-----which provided me with about a 7x cost reduction
over OEM----find a 6+ page review of that vendor on these forums by JV----they also are easy to deal with but I don't think they ship outside of the USA----And I remain happy with them-----just wanted to try refilling my own.

But there are also threads on these forums about European vendors of prefilled cartridges-----and remember something else-----color balance is also effected by the type of photopaper you choose-----depending how fussy you are about color balance---the trick is to find an ink and paper combination that works well----and then prey none of your vendors change suppliers. But why buy a pig in the poke when so many vendors have been reviewed on these forums.----then you pays your money and takes your chances------but I sure check my vendors out well.
If they don't bother to reply back they don't get my business.

 

[mccoady]

On the Hobbicolors cartridges, do you ever notice if the ink leaks where the plastic screw screws in?Or do you just tighten it snuggly and it's a leak proof seal? Also I wish there was a better way than using a rubber band to hold the cap on the exit port, especially for storing. It sure looks like they could make a screw on cap or something.

How many cartridge refills can you get from the Hobbicolors 2oz bottle?

 

[hpnetserver]

I have been using my 2nd 8 colors refill kit from Hobbicolors. That means I have the 2nd set of carts to rotate. It's been over a year and a couple of months. Never had any leak. The plastic screw isn't very tight but never leaks. I think using plastic screw is less likely to leak without need to screw in very tight. If use a metal screw you do need to tighten a bit more. The plastic screw is simple and it's quite effective. Using rubber band may be a hassle. But think about it. It is effective and cheap. You can find rubber band easily. The carts won't leak without those caps. The caps are for preventing ink from vaporizing. I collect lots of rubber bands from my newspaper bag daily especially in winter. My newspaper always come in a bag wrapped with a rubber band. I have so many of them that I have to throw away some from time to time. When I refill the same rubber band is sufficient to keep ink in the tank with no leak.

I don't always wait until the last drop to refill. So I don't recall how many refills I got from the bottle. I got 8 bottles from one kit. That's really a lot of ink. I will probably need to order again since my reserve is low now. I will buy a kit again. I really like to have more carts. Those carts have more value than the ink I think. I can always find good ink to buy but good veirgin cartridges are a little hard to come by. I do end up with a lot more red and green ink. They are consumed slower.

Costco's kirkland paper has become my only choice for general printing of snap shots. I was concerned at times that they may be sold out and be replaced by something new. They (4x6 and letter size) have been there long enough that I believe they will continue to be available.

 

[klubber]

Mccocady,

I am only one step ahead of you here. I had read and absorbed all the advice as did you. I tried to order Image Specialist ink from MIS initially and due to confusion caused by their website, ended up with the wrong item. I then got an IP4000 and ordered cartridges from Alotofthings. I had gone to an early post on this site and picked up on a recomendation that formulabs ink was used in arrow ink. After I ordered i read that it had since changed to OCB. I then called alotofthings and talked to Joe. He said that the change was correct. He told me he was going to change the order to Procolors as they are using formulabs ink. He changed the order for me. I orderd these is thought that if I liked the ink, I would modify the cartridge and buy the formulabs bulk ink. I am trusting Joe, as so far, he has gone out of his way to help. I have not used any after market inks except for MIS pro inks in an epson r200 that I was very disappointed in. I will post when I get my canon carts from alotofthings and let you know.

 

[mccoady]

hpnetserver,
I thought the caps were to keep the ink from leaking not evaporation so thats good to know. Is there any reason if you have backup cartridges ready to go that you can't just wait for the printer to let you know when a color is out before you change it?

Klubber,
Are you saying the formulabs ink bought from Alotofthings is available in prefilled cartridges as well as bulk as long as you order Procolors ink?

Any idea if there would be much difference between the Hobbicolors ink vs Formulabs ink?

You guys have definitely convinced me to try 3rd party inks (either Hobbicolors or Formulab) just don't know which yet and whether prefilled or bulk, I may wait until Klubbers gets his first or I may just pick one and order. How I wish I would have known about Canon's new printers having chipped cartridges so I could have picked up another ip5000.

 

[drc023]

Mccoady,
I've been a long time user of Formulabs ink from Alotofthings and more recently have been using HobbiColors ink and have done a bit of comparison testing between those two inks, Canon OEM and some very inexpensive no-name generic cartridges which I purchased mainly as a way of getting cartridge blanks for subsequent refilling. The generics were a waste of money since the HobbiColors kit I later ordered came with virgin cartridges, but that was prior to my ordering anything from HobbiColors. The ink tests were run on both an ip4000 and ip3000. The results showed that even the no-name cartridge gave fairly acceptable results, but not up to the quality of Formulabs, HC or Canon. There was very little difference at all between those three inks, although different shades of blue seemed to have a better gamut with HobbiColors than with Formulabs or Canon. You won't go wrong with either Formulabs or HobbiColors. What makes HobbiColors such a great deal is that David supplies a complete refill kit with virgin cartridges for considerably less money than most other vendors charge for ink alone. Having been a long term customer of Alotofthings and now HobbiColors, I can recommend either vendor. Both offer high quality ink at reasonable prices and the customer service from them is excellent.
--
Ron

 

[klubber]

Mccoady,

I again have not even had a cartridge delivered yet. If I was reading today I would try Hobbicolors on DC's recomendation. If I did not like it, I would have some very good refillable carts left to order Formulabs ink for from alotofthings. If every thing works well from alotofthings for me, I probably will be faithful to them. As DC said. Both are reliable. I still will post a review as soon as I get my Pro Color Carts. If they are as people here have described, they will be a great option for those who do not want to refill.