What is normally expected when replacing ink tanks.

[Music Image]

Hi,
I was tossing up whether to put this question in the general section or here, because it applies to both 3rd party carts as well as OEMs, though I think it leans more to this subforum.

Is it normally just a case of popping them in and away they go with no need of intervention, or can you expect to have to do a clean and/or nozzle checks. Do you usually get a bit of banding in nozzle checks or is that a typically bad sign.

My one and only experience I could draw from has been replacing the BCI-3eBK with an OEM, which went well. No nozzle checks or anything. I know the printer does a cleaning cycle on its own when you replace tanks anyway.

So what are your experiences in a general sense of how your 3rd party carts perform as apposed to OEMs in the change over procedure.

Thanks for any info on your experiences.
Music Image

 

[d86cfv]

In my experience I don't do head cleans unless something is wrong, however I tell all my customers to run a head clean every time they change a cartridge because half of them only print once a month and it takes then a year to get through their cartridges. A printer with regular use shouldn't need a head clean.

Sometimes a cartridge wont prime properly if it was very dry when re-filled, in which case a head clean can help it on its way. I only use re-fills with high performance OCP ink. I very rarely have a problem with my MP760 which takes the same cartridges as yours.

If I were to use 3rd party carts that needed a head clean when changing over, or at all during use I would question whether to use them again.

Regs,

Dan

 

[Music Image]

Thanks Dan, that is the type of reply I was looking for.

As it so happens 2 days ago I put in a new 3rd party set of Y,M, & C carts, and then yesterday I put in the 2 Blacks. I didnt print out any photos between the 2 lots of replacements. I did a big run on text printing (122pgs, {thats BIG for me}) before changing the Blacks. I printed out 2 photos on an A4 after 4 nozzle tests with a clean after the 2nd nozzle test which then cleared it all up.

I'd be interested in what people have to say about these 3 images. The other thing that interested me was whether the BCI-3eBK is pigmented like I was told it was, and hence the water test. Note, these have probably not been scanned at the correct resolution, and particularly the 1st image isnt quite correct in that on the printout I can see the numbers and letters inbetween the squares.

Image 1/, theres obviously the banding which to me looks particularly bad. Notice on the left there is a blotch. I initially thought it was from the 3eBK tank and as I wanted to test this tank to see whether it was pigmented, I dropped a drop of water on it, but it looks to be in line with the 6c.

Image 2/, as you can see, there is some smearing. I would estimate the printout to be about 18hours old. Would drying time be a factor to consider? I also put a drop of water on the 6C and 6Bk to compare the amount of smearing

Image 3/This is the OEM which is self explanatory as to what has happened, though this printout is about 6 or 7 weeks old. In comparing the 6Bk's of image 2 and 3, they look pretty similar, so I dont think the age difference is too much to worry about here.

 

[hpnetserver]

Music Image: Your 3ebk cartridge is leaking. Or it is overfilled which is causing a leak. The ink is probably not pigment ink. It's obvious that if it is pigment ink it will not smear like that. The banding reminds me when I overfilled my BCI-6 cartridges without following the instruction. Your nozzle test pattern looks very similar to mine. You will need to do many cleaning cycles to fix the problem. Well, if it is caused by leaking bci-3ebk you can expect to throw it away and replace with a good quality one with real pigment ink in it.

 

[Music Image]

hpnetserver,
Thanks for your comments. I didnt refill these, they were prefilled carts. I'm still in the throws of trying to source a supply for refill inks. In the meantime I think I'll stick with OEM.

Music Image

 

[d86cfv]

Those nozzel checks are terrible!!

What brand Compat's did you use? The colours dont look right, certainly the yellow is too orange, i dont know if you have some contamination going on there to make it so orangy.

Of my experience with the BCi's the colours will usually put up with slightly iffy ink, with the exception of the colour match. But the black can be difficult, being specially designed for Pigmented ink rather than dye based. Maybe some companies are trying to imitate it and making the pigment particles too big?

One thing that often isnt taken into account is that print head nozzels get smaller as time goes on, i think the 4000 has 1picolitre nozzels (correct me on this one if i'm wrong)

If the comp' manufacturers are testing on older machines then they are bound to get problems.

I've just regected a whole batch of bci24's from our supplier as they were not working with the "i" range of printers, only the older ones. This is because the "i"range dropped the nozzel size.

I read an interview with canon that say they are constantly re-developing existing inks to work with the new printers, with the exception of the Cli range now which is meant to be a totally different ink.

Regs,


Dan

 

[Music Image]

d86cfv, thanks again for your input.

Those nozzel checks are terrible!!

mmm, as I thought.

As the person Im dealing with has been very good in that he has disclosed the brand of the manafacturer, given me these compats to try in exchange for what my thoughts are on the product, plus guarunteed that if I have any damage he'll support me, I have agreed not to name the brand. Hes been very willing to help and Im going to see if I can get hold of him today and see if we cant source some decent stuff.

In the meantime I wont be printing anything until I can get some new carts to put in which I havnt got. These babies have gotta go. Unfortunately it looks like it will be OEMs ...for now.

The ip4000 uses 2 picolitre nozzles, its the 5000 that uses 1 pic., though others printers have probably gone to 1 pic by now.

Music Image

 

[Osage]

To Music Image,

I also have a ip4000. Which has proved to be equally adept at using OEM cartridges,
third part prefilled cartridges, and refilled cartridges. I have never experienced nozzle checks like yours.

While the Canon OEM BCI-3ebk does use a pigemented ink, the prefilled cartridges I ordered used a dye based ink---they were very upfront about the matter and after using quite a number of them I can state they caused no problems. In fact the worry I would have is to order prefilled cartridges and discover they are substituting a dye based ink in the four dye based BCI-6 cartridges the ip4000 uses.--that do require a dye based ink. But a pigment based ink will be more water resistant--which was never a must have feature for me.

But there are a plethora of third party prefilled cartridge vendors who vend for the Canon type cartridges. Usually reliability is not the question but ink color balance seems to vary widely---with price a poor predictor of preformance. But I would certainly would never just try any vendor at random----there are many vendors who have been reviewed on these forums and I stuck with one of those who had been reviewed favorably on these forums. Which is one of the selling points of these forums and why spending some time here just reading pays off.

While I was and still am very happy with the third party vendor I selected, I am now refilling my own cartridges--which gives me greater savings and better color balance. Again this forum is a great place to find the concenus choices.

But one thing to always watch out for is a vendor who changes their supplier without
informing the customer. Because then quality can vary widely between orders. But if you have a vendor who is working with you, that is a good thing. I hope you do find that point where your cartridges are preforming in a flaw free way. Even OEM Canon cartridges are not 100% and are super pricey at that. But this forum is a great place to find vendors who are very cheap and very good at the same time.

 

[d86cfv]

Osage, have you noticed whether the ink your using is not as "deep a black" as the canon pigment based ink? I thought that was why they used the 3ebk, because the 6 didnt look black enough.

Regs

Dan

 

[Music Image]

Thanks Osage for your comments.

Believe it or not, from time to time, Ive actually spent hours on this forum and it has been wonderful, with so much knowledge that has been shared. When all is said and done, there are still many variables to this printing thing. One of those, and of which Ive recently posted about, is when you have to import from another country plus when you are "out on a limb", that all pushes the price up (import duty and the like) and you have to wonder if its worthwhile. Believe me, NZ is out on a limb. With the choices you have in the US you are indeed fortunate. Ive also spent literally hours trying to source a decent vendor here in NZ. For example, the ONLY source I can find for Formulabs doesnt even bother to answer your Emails, also of which Ive posted about here.

But I would certainly would never just try any vendor at random

This is wise advice, but when there IS next to no choice, you have to start from somewhere.

Ive just finished a discussion on the phone with the person Im dealing with. Ive expressed my interest and the likelihood of him obtaining inks recommended here. I spoke for some time with this person who was good to deal with. Hopefully things will progress from here, we'll see.

The issue of using/not using dyebased ink in the 3eBK seems to be somewhat divided on this Forum. Ive found seemingly sound recommendations for both views. Who am I to question either view, when both party's are more knowledgeable than I. My most prudent course of action then, would surely be to stick with the pigmented ink.

But one thing to always watch out for is a vendor who changes their supplier without informing the customer

Another wise piece of advice which I'll certainly keep in mind.

Music Image.