Which pigmented inks can be used in Canon i9950 /i9900 (BCI-6)?

[nickart]

I used the last month a cart from a supplier that I was not familiar with. Suddenly the prints faded much faster than I'm used to. I use a i9950 with BCI-6 carts.
Now I'm fed up with dye inks due to fading.

I read here an there that people used pigmented inks in these a3+ Canon printers. I'd like to test pigmented inks.

Which pigmented inks are used for this printer? Where to obtain (I'm in the EU). Are there thiings I have to be aware off?

 

[The Hat]

Nickart

When you use pigment ink in a Canon pigment ink printer it does all the work for you, like agitate, clean, unclog, and general maintenance so you dont have to worry about general print quality.
If you use pigment ink in Canon dye printer for it to work properly you have to do all the work and in a short space of time youll get peed off with it and go back to dye ink.
Only use OEM cartridges with good quality filled ink and you will be better off in the long run, and if you still want to use pigment ink then I will fill your i9950 OEM cartridges with pigment ink for you free (just p&p) if you still want to test out your idea.
Then there is the Pro 9500 mark II which surly would satisfy your need for pigment inks..

 

[nickart]

The Hat,

You suggest that I use good quality oem inks. Yes, that is what I was used to. But the prints are fading after 6-12 months anyway. Only from the last batch one dye was quite bad and gave a color shift after 1 month. Your offer to fill carts with your pigmented inks is great and I like to take on your offer to test my printer. I pm you. Ok?

Nick

 

[leo8088]

You should not use pigment based ink in i9950. It is not designed to handle pigment based ink. The print head nozzles are too small. the drivers and profiles all designed to handle dye based ink. Some may argue that you can use a custom profile to cope with using pigment based ink on this printer. But that's not the only problem to deal with a custom profile. Anyone selling you the idea of pigment based ink for this printer is ignoring the firmware built in this printer that is only for handling dye based ink. As HAT said you will have to do everything that the printer does not do, such as proper amount of ink, frequency and timing for priming the print head. You will face clogging issues all the time. This same stuff applies to Epson R series printers that are designed to print with dye based ink. They will have lots of clogging issues when are forced to print with pigment based ink. Custom profile will not solve those issues.

Printing with good quality dye inks and choosing the right quality photo paper is the way to go. The print will fade still but you will find the right combination of ink/paper that may be plenty good for you. I use Hobbicolors ink available on ebay on my Pro9000 and have been very happy so far. The print does last more than 1 year without color shift. I know it is not scientific to judge fading by naked eyes. A lot of cheap 3rd party ink and paper will not hold up for too long. You will have to try to find a combination that works for you.

You can try home brew pigment based ink too if you have the time to mess with all the problems that many have gone through.

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Leo8088,

actually I tested HP B9180 compatible pigment ink in my Canon i9950 printer and it does works remarkedly well, BUT the ink somehow does not adhere well on most photo papers (it can be rubbed off very easily). This actually the reason why I stopped testing, because I could not find a way to overcome this problem. Maybe someone brave could experiment with the pioneered tests on this printer, which I have sold now.

The printhead of the Canon i9950/i9900/IP8500 is very similar to the Canon Pro 9500. Both printheads have 2 rows of 5 nozzle banks, but the dye-based i9950/i9900/IP8500 has two banks disabled. So the configuration is changed from 2x5 to 1x5 +1x5-2=3. Could this be a coincidence ? We know that the two extra banks on the Pro 9500 are filled in with the matte black and the grey ink cartridges.

 

[nickart]

Perhaps I should sell my i9950 in order to get another printer.
Any idea what it might be worth?

Nick

 

[printfan1138]

Nick Read your problem with color rubbing off most photo papers. I'm no authority but I remember reading that a matte type paper is best for holding the pigmented inks and Red River papers also has a lot of information on their web site. Anyway I do think the key to your problem is the type of paper used. I hope this helps. Regards, printfan1138!