Canon and CISS - why everyone has issue with air?

[turbguy]

The PRO-100 carts have an identical contact connection to most other Canon printers. A thin plastic ring molded into the cart body (that surrounds the cart outlet) that is pressed against a soft elastomer "gasket" surrounding the ink inlet to the print head.

Don't know about the PRO-10 or PRO-1

 

[jtoolman]

The pro Consumer ones DO. PRO-10-100
The PRO-1 have non moving carts so they already feed ink to the head via lines similar to a ciss. But don't even get any ideas.
The IPF series also have non moving carts also feeding the print heads via lines just like a ciss. Also out of the question. You want a CISS printer to print as cheaply as possible? Get an EPSON. Hope to find a good CISS for it and then you will be fine!
Joe

 

[ILikeCanon]

I was wondering Epson, but unfortunately it has some drawbacks comparing to Canon:
- need to reset cartrides, so i need to click a button and it is wasting ink after this.
- from my observation it uses much more ink on cleaning than Canon
- need to often reset waste ink pad or box. Resetting pad costs about 10$, but when we have Epson with waste box we can (i'm not sure) use resetter from China and wash this box in water (i'm not sure).
- paper feed is inforior to Canon's. It is getting dirty and stop feed paper. In Canon however the problem is it always feeds, but sometimes a few sheets per once. The newest Canon models have setting to make this much less frequently.
- Canon quiet mode is much superior to Epson's

The benefit of Epson is of course more reliable CISS (as you all say) and all color pigment ink possibility.

I had SX525WD in past (without CISS) and these are my observations. I just wanted to summarize.

 

[turbguy]

So you have to click a button. So what?

I agree, an Epson uses an eye-opening amount of ink during cleaning. Waste ink is the least of your issues with a CISS on an Epson. Order a Printer Potty (a real TANK that you can dump out and reuse) and you get a free reset utility that you can use repeatedly.

I don't have any paper feed problems with my Artisan 800 (with cheap CISS and dye inks).

 

[ILikeCanon]

No, with Printer Potty you get only on-time reset key. If you want to repeat reset you have to buy next key.

See: http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Solo-Plus-Waste-Kit-&-Reset-Key-Bundle.html

Clicking button means the printer is less automatic that i want it to be But maybe it is just me

 

[ILikeCanon]

I wonder which glue I can use to make connection between printhead and cartridges 100% tight. What do you think about silicon sealant ? Is silicon safe to ink?

(Please do not do this at home! )

 

[berttheghost]

I wonder which glue I can use to make connection between printhead and cartridges 100% tight. What do you think about silicon?

(Please do not do this at home! )

How about none? The glue joints would probably fail before long due the very rocking motion you are trying to prevent.

There are other possibilities for air leaks besides the joints between the carts and printhead. The ink tube assembly is subjected to oscillating bending and tension loads and will eventually develop virtually invisible leaks. It should be considered a wear item. The joints between the carts and ink tubes are subjected to the same loads and may also develop fatigue cracks.

Did your CISS always suffer from air leaks or did the problem develop after a period of trouble free operation? Does the leakage rate appear constant or does it get progressively worse over a period of time? A delayed onset and worsening leakage rate would suggest a fatigue related issue.

The underlying problem here is that the cartridges bear the additional load of accelerating and decelerating the ink tubes every time the carriage assembly changes direction. This load is what rocks the cartridges back and forth causing leaks at the printhead. It is also the root cause of eventual fatigue cracks in the ink tubes and joints.

There should be some sort of bracket securing the ink tubes directly to the carriage (or printhead or printhead clamp) so that forces caused by the ink tubes' motion are carried by the carriage assembly rather than the cartridges. Designing, fabricating and installing such a bracket is more easily said than done, of course. It must fit within the confines of the carriage movement space and not interfere at the extreme ends of carriage movement (i.e.: purge unit location). It must not be excessively heavy so that it doesn't overload the carriage drive. It must be sturdy enough to not come apart during operation. That said, it might be within your abilities or those of someone you know.

 

[The Hat]

Forget about all these new inventions, I reckon it’s time to move on and dump the CISS and printer and get another new set-up, after all it did print 50K, it doesn’t owe you anything..

 

[berttheghost]

Forget about all these new inventions, I reckon it’s time to move on and dump the CISS and printer and get another new set-up, after all it did print 50K, it doesn’t owe you anything..

I mostly agree, except what I suggested could hardly be called an invention. It may be as trivial as an ink tube holder secured to the printhead clamp assembly with mounting tape and velcro.

It sounds to me like the OP wants to keep his current setup. I'd at least replace the ink tubes and the associated joints. I would also look for a CISS that has some way of securing the ink tubes at the carriage side. I would also have a replacement printer available since the current one is probably well past its design life.

 

[jtoolman]

All of this is all and good, until the printer drops dead anyway, after having printed over 50k pages. Or the waste pads are about to flow over!!

Joe