"Adapting" wide format PFI ink to small printers with 1pl nozzles

[Pavel]

I managed to get couple of new OEM PFI-102/PFI-104 dye ink cartridges intended for Canon wide format printers and I thought i can use them for refilling CLI 526 or 551 carts.

I always flush the carts carefully and let them dry before filling with different ink. I have issues with Cyan ink - it does not work properly in 1pl nozzles, 5pl and 2pl are OK. It was probably not designed to be used in 1pl nozzles, but Magenta works fine (also Y and Black, but there are no 1pl nozzles for Y and BK).

When I print nozzle check repeatedly, 1pl nozzles start to have problems, if I wait for several minutes, first nozzle check is OK, then later the problems appear again.

I tried to add 10% of distilled water to Cyan ink (to dilute it a little bit) with not much success.
Is there a chance to try add another chemical to the bulk to allow the ink to work in small nozzles ?

 

[Artur5]

PFI inks are pigmented. You shouldn't use those inks on CLI carts which use dye inks !. No wonder you have problems.
I advice to remove all the pigmented inks inside the CLI carts and flush them thoroughly. Consider yourself lucky if you can restore afterwards the nozzles of your printer to full working order.

 

[Pavel]

You are not right, PFI 102 C/M/Y/BK are all dye inks (except MBK, which is pigment).

 

[palombian]

The ink may be dye, but the printers it is used in have the same printheads as the pigment printers if this generation.
I can imagine ink for plotters has particular properties.

FYI all the cartridge types for wide format pigment printers and plotters

 

[Pavel]

Yes, same 4pl droplet printhead was used (first PF-01, then later PF-03) for both plotters with dye ink (1 head) and photo printers with pigment inks (2 heads). I agree those plotter dye inks probably have different composition. The question is to what extent and if the surface tension (or other properties) which may block proper flow to smaller nozzles can be modified.
I know the problem requires a chemist having experience with inks formulation and may not have an easy answer, but I was ready to experiment with this a bit, as I have plenty of this ink and do not have any other usage for it. I would run tests with some partly damaged heads (for ex. not printing PGBK correctly).

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I don't think adding water is the right way - water is changing the boiling point of the ink - ciritical for the generation of the bubbles - and most likely changes the viscosity. You may have a look to the safety data sheets of the Canon inks and compare them if the large format inks have a different mix of glycoles and water than the inks for desktop printers. Or you get an Epson printer, its printhead is more foregiving in this respect when it comes to run with non-standard inks - in this case Canon inks in an Epson printer. I have done that frequently and used up leftover inks from fading tests this way - as well HP inks.

 

[Artur5]

You are not right, PFI 102 C/M/Y/BK are all dye inks (except MBK, which is pigment).

You’re right. I forgot that PFI carts didn’t start using pigment Lucia pigment inks until the PFI-105 series. PFI102-104 are dye, except for the MBK.
Thanks for the reminder.