CLI-8 and CLI-521/526 swap

[Tudor]

Well, Brian, I finished modding the MG5350 to accept cli-8s. I used hot wire to cut the plastic. Had to cut a little more than I initially thought and came pretty close to the lid switch, but I think it's ok. The lid will be kept opened with the help of a sponge. This will also limit the amount of dust entering the printer.
I'll wait for the two sets of cli-8s I ordered from Martin and post some pictures when they're installed.

 

[The Hat]

Well, Brian, I finished modding the MG5350 to accept cli-8s. I used hot wire to cut the plastic. Had to cut a little more than I initially thought and came pretty close to the lid switch, but I think it's ok. The lid will be kept opened with the help of a sponge. This will also limit the amount of dust entering the printer.
I'll wait for the two sets of cli-8s I ordered from Martin and post some pictures when they're installed.

I too had to cut a lot more out of my print head carriage that I need too because I went a bit mad with the hot soldering iron, thankfully it worked, a Dremel tool is what is need instead. (Bring on the Pictures)

I wanted to ask you about the KMP ink you're using and how you find it, are you using the Universal or 220 black.

Thanks for the up-date..

 

[Tudor]

First I used PGI-520 KMP , and now PGI-5 KMP (got it from the "Bargain bucket" ). Maybe it's the same ink, I don't know, but it's great. Never used Universal KMP. Can you tell the difference between them?

 

[Tudor]

Here are some pictures of the modded MG5350:

Before:
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After:
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And a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53UtUnAgsxI

I glued a piece of sponge on the lid to keep dust out of the machine. Additional piece of wood (balsa, I love balsa) on the right to keep the lid leveled when closed and a piece of tubing to press the lid sensor.

It works great, couldn't be happier!

 

[The Hat]

You asked about the two different KMP inks, well I use both and to tell you the truth they are much the same really except the 220 is darker and a bit shaper then the Universal black and of course neither clog up the print head, I prefer to use the 220 but still have a couple of bottles of universal left.

Its great to see you finally got the 5350 running with your bigger cartridges in;
you did a much neater job that me, all you trimmings look really great.

Now all you have to do is re-label the cartridges so you don't mix them up with any other CLI8 carts,I need to get an extra set of cartridges to keep as spare ones.

I wonder if the extra weight will cause a problem with the tracking of the carriage where it sits on the retailing rail; the older CLI-8 printers have a rounded rail and were much stronger.

Now we have the two printers converted, we will just have to wait and see if the carriage can take the extra weight without it causing any major problems, only time will tell.

Good shooting with your video it shows off your handy work better than the photos.
Top work and well presented well done..

 

[Tudor]

Thank you for the compliment!
I don't have to relabel any cartridge as I don't own any printer that uses cli-8s (except this one).
I wish you didn't mention the weight problem, now you got me a little worried... Maybe the extra 26g won't break the thing...

 

[Tudor]

An update: the first ink low warning on magenta came after 8ml of ink were consumed. The cartridge weight 16,8g at that moment, but the ink chamber was empty for quite some time/pages before I received the warning.

 

[The Hat]

An update: the first ink low warning on magenta came after 8ml of ink were consumed. The cartridge weight 16,8g at that moment, but the ink chamber was empty for quite some time/pages before I received the warning.

Phew it works then..

 

[PeterBJ]

Tudor wrote:

...I wish you didn't mention the weight problem, now you got me a little worried... Maybe the extra 26g won't break the thing...

The weight of a 5-set of PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges is around 110 grammes, the weight of a print head around 60 grammes and I estimate the weight of the print head carriage to be 100 grammes, total 270 grammes. The extra 26 grammes is less than a 10% increase of the mass the carriage moving mechanism has to handle. In my opinion that is no cause for worry.

 

[Martijn]

This is fascinating. Do you notice a difference in print quality when using cartridges not meant for the specific printer? I imagine Canon doesn't use the same ink formula for CLI-8 and CLI-526.