Canon CIS's something to watch out for

[canonfodder]

The Sinopis systems have been in place in an office setup for 2 yrs now and the colour cartridges are not supplying ink adequately, this is not a real problem as black has been reliable. I think the sponge resistance is increasing with time and the cartridges may need replacing- ( interestingly the black cartridge was the only one to be fitted with an extra crude silicon washer under the cartridge).

Ocular, it may well be that ANY sponged cartridge will require cleaning or purging after so many refills or after so much ink in the CIS which uses sponged carts.

Rather than replace your carts, consider the purging method developed by Grandad35. It has been tried by many cart refillers and all report that the carts worked like new.

The link is: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/docs/canon-BCI-6-cartridges.php

 

[websnail]

Just to throw more variables into the mix

I've been getting some rather weird results when it comes to the whole magenta cartridges (yes, it's always THAT colour) and my ink supplier suggested that maybe part of the the problem was that I was feeding ink in from above the sponge rather than from above the reservoir.

Now I'm not entirely sure that this is valid but I'd like to throw it open to anyone for discussion..

The big problem with the approach is the printer design which doesn't allow ANY space above the reservoir end of the cartridge, thus you either require a drastically remanufactured/altered cartridge or you have to take some cutting tools to your canon to clear the way, so's to speak.

I'm getting ready to give this a shot with one particular iP4200 which has caused me a lot of problems so I'm prepared to sacrifice it but I thought I'd see what people thought about placement of the ink feed...

 

[Xalky]

I've been getting some rather weird results when it comes to the whole magenta cartridges (yes, it's always THAT colour) and my ink supplier suggested that maybe part of the the problem was that I was feeding ink in from above the sponge rather than from above the reservoir.

Well it's funny that you should mention magenta. On my ip5000, which is mothballed right now, I replaced the printhead twice. That's a total of 3 printheads incl. the original. All 3 times it was the magenta color that failed. I'm not sure if the blame should go to the magenta inks properties or the printhead design for the magenta slot in the print head. I suspect that there's something in the magenta ink that causes flow problems or clogs.

These observations are all with cheap chineese 3rd party ink cartridges. My observation is not cis related, but more ink related. You might be observing a magenta ink problem or a printhead problem as it relates to 3rd party magenta ink.

Just some ideas:
a)The magenta ink might have a tendency to dry quicker than the other colors.
b)The magenta ink might have more "solids" in it which cause it to clog the print head.
c)The magenta slot in the print head might be predisposed to overheating causing the magenta to stop flowing.

My instinct tells me that it's directly related to the chemical makeup in the magenta ink. All colors are not created equal. The different colors are produced with different chemical constituents which make them react differently to heat and light.

Magenta is not technically red but it's has red in it. Anybody that's spent some time with coatings or paint, automotive or commercial, knows that reds are always the most difficult colors to work with and also the most expensive to produce and/or buy.

 

[websnail]

For what it's worth Xalky, I've been told that the inks for the iP4000, 5000, etc.. there were some issues with the strength of the Magenta (ie: it was too strong) but no "clogging" stories..

I've no idea what the connection could be in all honesty especially as time and some random printhead swapping seems to resolve most problems with my CIS's.. but I guess we'll see...

 

[ocular]

Websnail,

My undersatnding of fluid dynamics of ink in canon sponged cartridges has no theoretical basis, but only practical experience. I have two different CISS setups on IP3000/MP730 (same printhead). One has the tube feed over the sponged compartment and the other setup has the feed over the compartment with no sponge. I have not observed any difference in performance as a result of the different entry points for the ink tubing.

I have found that the push fit elbows ( that came with the CISS) with the silastic sleeves take up less height than the threaded elbows and are more suited to see forward in the printer where there is less clearance. I don't know where you source these elbows.

 

[ps.ijpf]

I've been getting some rather weird results when it comes to the whole magenta cartridges (yes, it's always THAT colour) and my ink supplier suggested that maybe part of the the problem was that I was feeding ink in from above the sponge rather than from above the reservoir.

Well it's funny that you should mention magenta. On my ip5000, which is mothballed right now, I replaced the printhead twice. That's a total of 3 printheads incl. the original. All 3 times it was the magenta color that failed. I'm not sure if the blame should go to the magenta inks properties or the printhead design for the magenta slot in the print head. I suspect that there's something in the magenta ink that causes flow problems or clogs.
. . .

I've experienced this with 2 iP4000's. After a head replacement and a new Canon OEM cartridge didn't resolve the problem, I used some cleaning fluid on the purge system absorber sponges (where the head is primed/cleaned). Once those sponges were flushed clean of accumulation, the original head worked.
www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=53071#p53071