Canon Pixma Pro 1 Ink and refill options.

[Samuel Laycock]

OK, I finished my Pro-1 inkset and there is now an excellent option for refillers.

However, let me get something out of the way. This printer is really meant for the really picky person who understands fully what available tools in photography is for. If you shoot Jpegs..this machine will likely be wasted. This machine wants an image that was shot raw and then properly processed.

Why? If you don't know how to do proper adjustments in Lightroom or a raw coverter, this printer would be wasted. If you don't understand what a Spydercube is for or similar device, this printer is going to be wasted. If you don't have your monitor calibrated super tight, this printer will be wasted. If you don't edit in a controlled environment, this printer will be wasted.

This printer is like having a megabuck amplifier versus a kilobuck amplifier. It's the subtleties that it is able to bring out..not the volume or frequencies it can reproduce. You need to look closely and know what to look for. Lesser printers can match the colors and brightness but not the subtlety. In reality the Pro-10 is probably more suited for the masses.

The Pro-1 really thrives on good quality papers with high ink limits. Using budget papers will not reward the user with its real capabilities. It's a thoroughbred of a printer. Really.

Not to be a snob but once you get the Pro-1 you need to make sure that your workflow is correct and you really know what you're doing to get what this printer is all about. This printer impresses with its qualities over an Epson P800.

I agree, and I'm still waiting on mine coming back from the service center. Nearly a month now :-/

How are you refilling please and can I ask where your buying your inks and how do we refill the cartridge. Do we need to buy a special cartridge?

 

[jtoolman]

You refill original PGI-29 carts.
You install single use chips purchased from China.
Alibaba or aliexpress.
About $2.50 per color.
Precisioncolors will have chips but not this very minute.
Inks are from precisioncolors.
I have empty and pre modified carts to accept the fatter Chinese single use chips.
For the time being, I can only ship to USA addresses.
Brian The Hat knows all about the refilling and chipping process!
Joe

 

[Samuel Laycock]

Hi again, they finally replaced the printer because it wouldnt print to disk ... I bought another set of 12 inks from Alibaba and put 6 original inks in & 6 aftermarket inks in ... New printer, 17 flash error .. I am now going to find a sharp knife and end it all

Well I'm not but you get my meaning...

 

[The Hat]

Hi Samuel, so you finally got a new printer, but at what cost. !

I reckon they may have nobbled the firmware to make life difficult for you to use 3rd party cartridges, but the 17 light error is very puzzling because I have that down as “ Paper eject encoder error” (Error 6010)

Go back to all OEM’s carts and start with just one compatible cart and so on...

 

[HoneyBadger]

Greetings Gentlemen,

I was pointed in your direction by the great jtoolman, who has graciously offered his time and expert advice. I've hit a wall with my Pixma Pro-1, and he said if The Hat can't solve the mystery...noone can.

This is my first post, and it will be rather long. My hope is that providing these details will make a diagnosis easier, and in the process possibly assist others encountering the same problem.

I purchased a Canon Pixma Pro-1 printer in March 2014. At that time, I had also done enough research to know that purchasing OEM ink refills was going to be too expensive, so I found a seller of aftermarket refill carts. They had good reviews on eBay, so I purchased a full set to have on hand when the day come to replace the OEM carts. After some initial use, my printer sat mostly unused for about a year and a half. That had nothing to do with the printer, I just got very busy with other activities. I started getting into printing my photos again in November and December last year. The printer still had the original OEM ink carts. During those two months time I printed roughly 150-200 photos, mostly 8x10 and some 4x6 and 5x7. I use Canon’s My Image Garden software, which works great for my needs. I also use mostly Canon photo paper, but have dabbled a little bit with one or two others. I have been very impressed with the quality of the prints.

During that time, the chrome optimizer and first color(s) ran out. So I got out my box of replacement carts that I ordered in 2014 and replaced each one as-needed. Each cart was vacuum sealed in clear plastic. I would continue printing until the software said a cart was empty, rather than change them at the first warning “you’re almost out of ink”. Everything worked fine with the first 3 replacements, and I was able to continue printing with the same quality of images. It got to a point where I had 3 carts replaced with aftermarket carts, and 9 originals still in use, but all of the originals were soon showing warnings about the ink levels getting low. As far as I could tell, everything was still normal.

I will say here that I did not leave the power turned on for extended periods of time, and I do not know if the 45-day issue was ever a factor with my printer issue(s). But I think that wouldn’t be an issue here, regardless of what’s gone wrong. My understanding is that the only variation would be the ink depleting faster due to repeated cleaning cycles.

About a month and a half went by, and I wanted to print some more photos earlier this week. I powered up the printer, launched My Image Garden and selected a photo to print. As the printer finished its warm-up cycle, the existing ink level warnings that were there before showed up again as expected. Before it would print the first photo, the software indicated it would not proceed until I replaced an empty ink cart. And again, this was no different than what happened before. I replaced it and pressed the alarm button on the printer, which was flashing orange. The printer went through its (cleaning?) cycle for a few minutes, then the software popped up the same warning that it wouldn’t proceed until another (different) color was replaced. I repeated the steps and replaced that color. After going through this cycle for about 5 of the remaining 9 OEM carts that were low when I started, I said “screw it” and replaced the remaining 4 OEM carts at one time to be done with it. Keep in mind, it still had not printed the photo.

After replacing the last 4 carts, the printer went through its cycle again, and showed all 12 ink cart levels to be good on the My Image Garden window. This is what I expected, and I thought I was good to go. I tried to print the photo, but the feared and dreaded B500 error came up. I tried pressing the alarm button on the printer, and that didn’t do anything. I tried power-cycling the printer multiple times (via the power button, as well as unplugging it) and rebooting the computer and that didn’t work either.

I turned to the internet and found this thread where many others, including you, described similar issues. To my horror, I then discovered I couldn’t even get the doors open to check the carts and reset them. Thankfully there were instructions on how to take the panels off and get to the carts manually. So I did that, checking them one at a time and re-seating them. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. No leaking or apparent damage to any parts of the aftermarket carts. I tried this twice. Unfortunately, this did not fix the problem.

The alarm lamp (orange) and power lamp (white) flash alternately 8 times and then the power lamp stays solid for about a second, then the cycle repeats. The chart on the Canon manual says this coincides with numerous Support Codes, including B500. The description on the chart says “other cases than above”.

I’m at a loss here because 3 of those aftermarket carts worked and I was able to produce numerous prints with them equipped. And when I replaced the others at a later date, the software appeared to at least recognize them and the good ink levels. But once that B500 error came up, the printer went on lock-down. The software still shows the new aftermarket cart ink levels to be good. I have attached an image showing the ink level and error pop-up windows.

Do you know if this fixable, or has my printer turned into a 70lb boat anchor? The cost of sending it to Canon and having them do any repairs, not to mention ordering another set of OEM ink carts is almost cost-prohibitive at this point.

Before I ran into this problem, I was going to order another set of aftermarket carts from the same vendor, but they replied this week that they've gone out of business (see email at the bottom of this post). After reading about jtoolman's and Precision Colors products and solutions to the OEM-only problem, I realized that refilling modified carts is the way I want to go…IF I can get my printer working again. So I reached out to him for advice, and here are the steps he had me try.

“If you've already read [the message thread on printerknowledge.com] then I think your only option is reverting back to OEM which will be very costly and cannot even guarantee it will clear up the error. I assume you were able to manually open the cart lids and removed the carts.

Close everything back up not installing the carts, pull the power cord for 5-10 minutes. Replug and power up. The printer will complain about not having carts. Press the cart lid button. Hopefully it I'll open the two doors. Reinsert each cart left to right one at a time. If these compatibles have the led type chip and the light pipe, you will see the red light indicator as with OEM. Now close the ink compartment lids and cross fingers. If you are successful, then you can begin to consider using my OEM modified carts and single use chips and inks from precisioncolors.com. Otherwise if you can not clear off the error, my system will not help you.”

Performing these steps did clear the orange/white LED 8x flashing error, and they allowed me to open the doors via the button on top of the printer. The ink level window in My Image Garden also appeared to recognize them and their full levels. However, as soon as I attempted to print an image, the printer reverted back to the orange/white LED 8x flashing error and pop-up window indicating the B500 code.

At this point I called jtoolman, who was kind enough to explain some of these issues in more detail. In the end, since nothing was working, he recommended I approach the bench of judge The Hat and plead my case before the court.

Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated.

====================================================================================
Sorry but at the first of the year we had to make a hard decision to close our business.
Sorry but we no longer have any ink cartridges in stock.

Fred and Bobbie Graham

Ink It Up 4 Less, LLC
3841 Laurel Crest Drive
Mulberry FL 33860
863-370-6854 after 6pm EST
inkitup4less@verizon.net
----------------------------------------
Hello,

I purchased a set of ink cartridges for my Pixma Pro-1 from you through eBay in March of 2014.

Item #: 161155553636
Description: 12pk complete set non OEM pigment ink for Canon Pixma Pro-1 PGI 29 with new Chip.

The paper included with my order states that I can email you and make another purchase directly. Is that offer still available?
====================================================================================

-HoneyBadger

 

[HoneyBadger]

One follow up: I forgot to include some pictures I took of the aftermarket carts when I performed the final attempt at clearing the B500 error (removing them all and power-cycling the printer without any installed). I did a hack cut/paste image on some of these to clarify that they're stacked in the same order as the slots they were removed from.

 

[The Hat]

Hi @HoneyBadger, I have just seen your long post and will read through it carefully and then reply to you, preferably by PM, because most of it will be much the same as some of the older posts, but directly related to your problem...

 

[Samuel Laycock]

Hi again, I just powerd up the printer and began printing, it had 1 aftermarket ink in and showed 3 carts nearly empty. I printed one image, all 3 carts then showed "empty" i replaced 2 with aftermarket inks and one with an canon ink. closed the doors, asked it to print once it had charged the inks and boom.

"Eight (8) flashes:
Ink absorber is almost full

Summary

The ink absorber is almost full.
Press the printer's RESUME/CANCEL button to continue printing. Contact the service center."

Printer is a replacement because the old one had faults but both behaved exactly the same way when using more than 1 aftermnarket ink .... Go figure

I'd be intrested to know if you guys came up with any workarounds for this ? I'm kinda invested in the aftermarket inks now

 

[Samuel Laycock]

Sorry for another post but @The Hat .Can you tell me how to get to the firmware version ? I'd like to match yours and re-try the inks if poss.

 

[Samuel Laycock]

Bump