Canon Pixma560 using Armor replacement cartridges

[cypriana]

I have just bought Armor replacement cartridges for my Canon Pixma 560. When I remove the replacement from it's packaging the instructions say to remove the strip of tape which covers the ink tank but makes no mention of the small piece of foam rubber that is located between the end of cartridge and the clip that holds the cartridge in place. If I leave the foam in place, when the print head moves along it's carriageway the top of the foam catches on the printer case. Logic would say remove the foam but in the absence of any instructions to the contrary I am not sure what to do.
Has anyone else used Armor or offer any help?

Thanks

cypriana

 

[PeterBJ]

I guess your printer is Canon Pixma MP 560, which uses the PGI520/CLI521 cartridges in the EU or the PGI220/CLI221 cartridges in the US. I don't know these cartridges, I own pixma's IP 4000, 4200 and 5200 which use the BCI 3/6 and PGI5/CLI8 series of cartridges, but the 220/520 series of cartridges look very similar.

The Canon OEM cartridges do not have any foam rubber attached. Maybe the foam rubber on the Armor cartridges is for protection in shipment and can be removed ? Or maybe the the clip that holds the cartridge in place isn't springy enough, so the foam rubber is an attempt to cure this error ? In that case I would suggest cutting away that part of the foam rubber that protrudes above the clip. In that way you will still have the "spring improvement action" of the foam rubber. I have had just that problem with a compatible cartridge and cured the malady with a piece of foam cut from a kitchen cleaning sponge placed between the clip and the end of the cartridge.

I don't know if you read German, I do to some extent. If you read German then you should check out http://www.druckerchannel.de They have a good printer forum, good tests and good articles. Here is a test of ink cartridges for your printer, both Canon OEM and compatibles: http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2805&seite=1&t=guenstiger_drucken_mit_fremdtinte
on page 2 it says roughly translated, that the armor cartridge leaves something to be desired in quality of workmanship. On page 11 there is a table with the conclusions of the test. Armor and Pearl score a "-" in workmanship, the other cartridges score a "++". The Armor cartridge gets an overall score of "good" though.

So I suggest you cut away that part of the foam rubber that catches on the printer case and leave the rest of the foam rubber in place. If you remove all foam rubber, the cartridges might not lock properly in place.

Best regards
Peter

 

[mrelmo]

can you post a picture of the cartridges

 

[PeterBJ]

Druckerchannel.de has 3 pictures of the Armor cartridges. The content of the site is copyrighted, so I cannot upload the pictures, but they can be found here:

http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2805&seite=2&t=die_testkandidaten_im_berblick

Scroll down to the paragraph "Die Artech (Armor) Patronen " Here are 3 pictures of the cartridges, without foam rubber. Click the images to enlarge. Click the enlarged picture to close. "Fenster schliessen" means "close window".

Cypriana, are these cartridges the same as yours or different (except for foam rubber) ?

 

[PeterBJ]

I have attached some foam rubber to two Canon CLI8 cartridges, and placed in my scanner, HP scanjet 4070. I have uploaded the image,

Cypriana, does your cartridges look somewhat like the cartridge in top of the image ? If so I think you should cut the foam like the cartridge in the bottom of the image. That way the foam still helps lock the cartridge in place. A cartridge that is not fitting properly may leak, and that can cause a lot of problems.

As you see, a scanner is well suited for taking pictures of ink cartridges and similar flat objects. The difficult part was uploading the image. I admit I had to try a couple of times. There is a learning curve to anything new Could you please give it a try and upload a scanned image of the Armor cartridge ?

Peter

 

[cypriana]

Thanks for your replies mralmo and peterbj.
I have uploaded a picture of the Armor cartridge (well it said it was successfully uploaded) but so far I can't find it to add into my reply.
I think I will do as you suggest and cut off the top part of the foam rubber so it does not catch on the casing as the carriage moves up and down. Armor make no mention of it in their instructions and they have not replied to an email from me asking them to explain why it has been fitted.

Thanks
cypriana

 

[cypriana]

Hello again

As you can see after half an hour I managed to work out how to add the picture to my message.
Is this any help to you guys?

As you can see the top of the foam protrudes quite a bit and catches on the casing.

cypriana

 

[ghwellsjr]

Every cartridge of this type that I have seen comes with an orange clip to seal off the outlet port. On Canon OEM cartridges, the orange clip is welded on to the bottom of the cartridge and once you remove it, it will never stay on the outlet port unless you use rubber bands or tape or something. On most third-party cartridges that I have seen, there is a clip that extends up the front of the cartridge allowing it to be snapped in place and held securely there without any other fastener.

So the question is: do these cartridges come with an orange clip of the second kind? I'll bet they do, and I'll bet that piece of foam rubber is there merely to make the orange clip a little more secure prior to inserting it in the printer. I'll also bet that if you remove the piece of foam entirely when you install the cartridge, it will stay in place without any further assistance from a piece of foam.

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi cypriana

Nice picture of the cartridge. I had the same difficulties in attaching the picture to my post, uploading is only step one. Just curious: did you use the scanner in the Pixma 560 or a camera?

Adding that piece of foam to the cartridge adds to the costs of manufacturing, so it must be put there for a reason. My guess still is that it has been put there to cure a loose fit. I don't see how it could secure the orange clip at the bottom of the cartridge in place ?

If my guess is right, it could explain why the instructions say nothing of the foam. That might look like admitting poor quality in workmanship. But again I'm only guessing.

You could do a test : Does the cartridge click firmly in place with and without the the foam in place? Place a finger on top of the cartridge and give it a gentle wiggle from side to side. Does the fit feel like the other cartridges? If you still have Canon OEM cartridges in the printer, they are the best to compare the armor cartridge to. If you have still got some Canon OEM's, then does the "spring action" of the locking clip feel the same on the Canon and on the Armor cartridges?

If the cartridge fits properly without the foam, then I would just remove it as ghwellsjr suggests.

If it only fits properly with the foam in place, then I would cut the foam at the top of the locking clip and test that the cartridge still fits properly.

If it does not fit properly with or without foam I would not use that cartridge at all. I've had problems with a loose fitting compatible cartridge leaking in a Pixma 4000. That left the underside of the printhead wet with cyan ink, and the printer refused to print any color at all. After a cleaning cycle the printer worked again, but the colors were wrong. Some cyan ink had been wicked up into the yellow and magenta. The photo black didn't seem to be affected, but maybe I just could't detect it because it is black. So I had to replace three cartridges and the printer was OK again. I don't use that particular brand of cartridge any more. It was not Armor brand, that gave the trouble.

Good luck in testing and printing.

Peter.

 

[cypriana]

Hi PeterBJ

The picture was taken with small digital camera 2MegaPixel (rather old).
I did a "wobble test" as you suggested and the result is that the Canon OEM cartridge is quite firm in it's holder and the Armor types have a very slight wobble. On the balance of reasoning that the foam is there for a purpose I have again taken your advice and trimming the tops off the foam so they do not catch on the casing.
However an interesting thing occured during this process. I got a "Printer Error 5100" message on the LCD screen and when I opened the lid, the print head slid along to the left and stopped, half hidden with no lamps lit. I think the extruding foam catching on the casing may have caused this. After a few attempts I managed to get the printhead to stop in the middle and I gave the foam a small cut off the top and they seem now to move easily under the casing at both ends. Whilst I was panicking I did a search on this site for "Error 5100" .The following is a quote from TheHat - Inkjet Master.

Quote
The error 5100 is a common error to get; it covers many things, like obstruction in the print head path, and paper path or dirt, ink on the timing strip.
If you cound check the paper path and make sure it's clear, now the timing strip for dirt, then print head path.
Turn on the printer and open the lid when the print head stops in the middle of the carriage way, pull out the power cord.
Examine the strip and if necessary give it a clean, then If you can move the print head back and forth easily by hand then you have also eliminated that possibility.
You could now try and reset your printer.
Try this.

1. Turn off printer
2. Hold down Resume button and press Power button.
3. Keep holding down Power button and let Resume button go.
4. Press Resume button twice then let both buttons go.
5. Green lights will flash and then stop blinking.
6. When green lights are solid, press the Resume button 4 times.
7. Press the Power button and the printer should turn off, if not press the Power button again.
8. Your printer should respond as normal on power on..

Unquote.

What I would like to know is , is there an equivqlent "Resume" button on the Pixma MP560, if so, where is it?

Cypriana

Sorry if I have gone off the original subject