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Empty BCI-3e/6 cartridges might be difficult to find, but CLI-8 cartridges can be used as replacements for BCI-6 cartridges.
But you cannot use a PGI-5 cartridge instead of a BCI-3e cartridge, the PGI-5 will not click in place when used in a BCI-3e printer.
The cartridges are locked in place in the print head carriage by wedges on the locking tab. These wedges are the cause of the problems when trying to use a PGI-5 as a BCI-3e replacement. Here is a scan of the locking tabs, I used a CD marker to make the wedges more clear in the scanned image:
The first cartridge is an unmodified OEM PGI-5, the width of the wedges is 13 mm. The second cartridge is an OEM BCI-3e, the width of the wedges is 9 mm. The third cartridge is an OEM PGI-5 on which the width of the outer wedges has been trimmed using a Stanley knife so the width of the wedges now is 9 mm.
The modified cartridge now fits nicely in a BCI-3e printer, and the trimmed wedges still lock the cartridge firmly in place when used in a PGI-5 printer, so you have now got a universal PGI-5/BCI-3e cartridge.
But you cannot use a PGI-5 cartridge instead of a BCI-3e cartridge, the PGI-5 will not click in place when used in a BCI-3e printer.
The cartridges are locked in place in the print head carriage by wedges on the locking tab. These wedges are the cause of the problems when trying to use a PGI-5 as a BCI-3e replacement. Here is a scan of the locking tabs, I used a CD marker to make the wedges more clear in the scanned image:
The first cartridge is an unmodified OEM PGI-5, the width of the wedges is 13 mm. The second cartridge is an OEM BCI-3e, the width of the wedges is 9 mm. The third cartridge is an OEM PGI-5 on which the width of the outer wedges has been trimmed using a Stanley knife so the width of the wedges now is 9 mm.
The modified cartridge now fits nicely in a BCI-3e printer, and the trimmed wedges still lock the cartridge firmly in place when used in a PGI-5 printer, so you have now got a universal PGI-5/BCI-3e cartridge.
