Canon Pro-10 ink refill options

[Rudix]

Since 90% of my photography is Landscapes it would be of little value to me to calibrate my cameras, I have not done any studio work for a very long time.

I agree that it makes sense to calibrate my scanners. They are mostly used to scan photos/transparencies and negatives for other people, calibrating the scanner should lighten my workload and produce better results.

I still have a few hundred color slides from WW2 that I inherited that I want to scan, lots of very historic shots showing some major players on the German side. It will be a big project as they all need to be removed from their metal and glass mounts and cleaned first.

Yes, I love Vuescan, great software!

 

[Rudix]

The i1Studio arrived this afternoon. After calibrating the screen on the computer I use for printing I created 4 profiles for papers I have had for a long time but never got great results with. One of them, a heavy matt paper from Red Stone (NOT Red River!) always produced muddy results. With the newly created profile the results are great! Will leave a few prints in the sun for a while to see how it behaves. I don't think the company is around anymore (or maybe they are now Red River?), I took over stock of this paper from a shop shutting down around 2005 so it has been sitting a while.

The refill ink is also in the country, should have it soon. Before then I need to do some printing to empty a set of OEM cartridges!

 

[Rudix]

I have finally managed to empty (mostly) a set of OEM cartridges. I say mostly since some of them still had 2-3ml ink in them. I know it is probably advisable to flush the cartridges but since the Inkowl instructions specifically say you don't have to I thought I would try just refilling.

The actual chip reset and refill was easy using the drip method. The cartridges absorbs the ink quicker than I thought it would so the process was quite fast.

I am planning to create new profiles but since it is not "pure" refill ink yet I decided to try the semi-gloss and matt profiles I created for my red-rock (not red river) paper that I have had for so long. Surprisingly I have to admit I cannot really see a difference between the OEM and Inkowl ink prints, I have printed about 10 A4's so far and I am really happy with the result. I will also try other papers when I get a chance.

I also created a B&W profile for the matt paper and Inkowl ink and I love the result! Absolutely no color cast and great tones. Think I will be creating and printing a lot more B&W images.

So far I am really happy with the results using the Inkowl inks, once I have refilled a set for the second time I will create new profiles and compare the color gamut of the Inkowl ink with the OEM ink.

I will keep a close lookout for any ink starvation issues, I am still a bit worried about my lazy "no flush" refill!

Thanks for the advice and help so far everyone!

 

[The Hat]

but since the Inkowl instructions specifically say you don't have to I thought I would try just refilling.

That’s correct no need to worry, there are no sponges in these carts so ink starvation is highly unlikely, and you can run these carts down to empty too, but don’t forget about the Domino effect..

 

[ioprappas]

Hi from Greece.
It's time to refill (for the first time) two of my PRO-10S genuine carts with ink (from Inktec).
I found in Youtube thw following instructions by the expert "PrinterMan" Jose Rodriguez (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV-3pdDAwY8):
"...The PRO-10 PGI-72 carts do not have a sponge so they can be run till fully empty by the chip reporting. Then you will reset and top off ALL the carts OR if you have a second set of PGI-72 carts reset and filled, you can swap the complete set of one empty and 9 partially filled for the full set. You will reduce the purge cycles from 10 to just one per exchange!".
Here is my question:
Is it necessary to change the full series of all the ten PGI-72 cartridges when a cart shows nearly empty?
Is it possible to change the cartridges one-by-one, each time one cart says is nearly empty?
Thank you in advance.

 

[palombian]

You can reset/refill a cartridge at every moment and with any level of ink.
Of coarse you may change only one cartridge, but when you close the cover all 10 (or at least the 5 of the same channel) will be purged as explained by José aka @jtoolman and @The Hat (domino effect).
This is less a concern about the lost ink (the PRO-10 is not an ink guzzler IMO), but it will also fill the waste ink absorber and this is not replaceable.
In the previous model PRO-9500(II) the counter could be reset and the purge tubes deviated to an external "potty".
Nobody yet tried this with the PRO-10 (meaning the waste absorber must be quite large).

If you don't have a second set, you can remove, reset, refill and replace the carts one by one (don't leave a printhead without cartridges for a long time), after 5-10 minutes the printhead will retract, but when you close/reopen the cover/push the button again you can continue your refill work (I am forced to do this now also for some colours since I don't have double cartridges for all the inks I am trying out and I only want to empty some samples).

PS: tell us about the Inktec ink

 

[ioprappas]

You can reset/refill a cartridge at every moment and with any level of ink.
Of coarse you may change only one cartridge, but when you close the cover all 10 (or at least the 5 of the same channel) will be purged.
This is less a concern about the lost ink (the PRO-10 is not an ink guzzler), but it will will also fill the waste ink absorber and this is not replaceable.

Thank you palombian for your detailed answer.
As a result, I think that replacing ALL 10 cartridges would be a good practice to protect waste ink absorber from filling with waste ink. Is this right?
Thank you in advance. Stay home and healthy!!!

 

[palombian]

Thank you palombian for your detailed answer.
As a result, I think that replacing ALL 10 cartridges would be a good practice to protect waste ink absorber from filling with waste ink. Is this right?
Thank you in advance. Stay home and healthy!!!

Indeed, you have to top them up all when it is the same ink.

BUT the first time, when there is still OEM ink in, you would have a mixture of ink giving a "sliding" colour change.

I remember José advised to wait the first time until the OEM ink is empty, this way you only have 1-2 ml OEM left and the real effect of the 3th party ink will be visible sooner.
Don't bother about the ink absorber for one time, people who buy OEM ink will see it filled faster (and as said, I still have to hear about this happening ...).

 

[The Hat]

Here is my question:
Is it necessary to change the full series of all the ten PGI-72 cartridges when a cart shows nearly empty?
Is it possible to change the cartridges one-by-one, each time one cart says is nearly empty?
Thank you in advance.

Congratulations on getting the best Pro printer today, now there are two ways of using the Pro 10, with OEM inks only or with 3rd party inks, extra carts and resetter.

You don’t have to do anything special when using it with OEM inks, just enjoy the wonderful prints you get from it, and replace each cart when empty. BUT !

If you do that, the cost of printing can be expensive and your printer won’t last as long, because the waste ink pads will fill much faster and need replacing sooner or later.

On the other hand, if you decide to use 3rd party inks, the initial start-up cost is a bit hefty, because you got to get inks, extra carts and a resetter, but that setup will last for years with carts and resetter and so will your printer, and you only need to get ink once a year or longer.

The two ways to print are, (1) use OEM inks and change each cart as they empty and you will get a complete purge cycle every time you do that, so 10 cart changes = ten purge cycles. That what’s known as the Domino effect and Canon will love you..

(2) Use 3rd party inks and change every cart when one cart get low or empty (Replace the lot) and leave them to one side till later, this way you only get one purge cycle for all ten carts, this gives you a huge saving on ink and stop your waste ink pads from filling faster…You decide…

 

[palombian]

Avoiding the domino effect is important.
People sell their printer because they are terrified by this.
You can also refill all carts (or at least some of the critical colours) with OEM ink from larger carts.
I know people who bought a resetter only to harvest the remaining ink from the PGI-72 OEM carts to top up.

As said, once you have a resetter, extra carts and ink, you are free from these worries (and will search excuses to print ).