Difference between BCI6BK&BCI3EBK Ink??

[Nifty]

drc023, so you swapped the 6bk with a different color? A few questions I'm still struggling with:

1) If BCI-3ebk is used in "plain paper mode" then what happens if I print a photo in plain paper mode... will BCI-3ebk be used?
2) Is the BCI-6bk used only for solid "black" or is it used for shading and gray?

Where is that Canon engineer when you need him?

 

[drc023]

#1 Yes, the BCI-3ebk is used for photos in plain paper mode. A simple test is to print a photo with a fair amount of black or dark areas using plain paper mode and again using any of the other modes. Notice the difference in print speeds. This is due to the much wider path of ink from the pigmented nozzles than from the photo nozzles.
#2 As I recall, the BCI-6bk is used for both when in other than plain paper mode.

Another way to observe both #1 or #2 above is to open the cover and use something to disable the cover interlock. A popsicle stick or rolled up piece of paper works fine on the iP4000. This way you will readily see the difference in the width of the black stripes.

 

[Nifty]

#1 Yes, the BCI-3ebk is used for photos in plain paper mode. A simple test is to print a photo with a fair amount of black or dark areas using plain paper mode and again using any of the other modes. Notice the difference in print speeds. This is due to the much wider path of ink from the pigmented nozzles than from the photo nozzles.

What's interesting is that Jerry at alotofthings suggested to me that the reason for the difference in print speed was because in photo paper mode the printer only prints in one direction (to allow the ink time to dry between passes) and during plain paper mode it prints bi-directionally.

 

[drc023]

I just did some printing in different modes and to me it appears that bi directional mode is used except for the higher quality settings. However it was very difficult to judge. Since only the plain paper mode allows quality settings of 4 or 5 that may be the reason. The carrier moves more slowly in the higher quality settings than at standard or below. Whatever the case, it's fast either way you go. I sure wish there was an option to get the printer with a clear plastic case instead of only opaque black. I know it wouldn't be a big seller, but for those of us who are more obsessing over the innards of the printer and watching it function it would be a nice thing to have.

 

[tyamada]

For what it's worth:

I have a Canon S600 which uses only 4 cartridges. The BCI-3ebk, BCI-3ec, BCI-3em and the BCI-3ey cartridges. The last time I refilled the BCI3ebk I used the wrong ink, by mistake I used MIS bulk black ink for the BCI-6 cartridge, the results when printing text isn't any different than with the pigmented black. The same shade of black is produced, dark black and not a composite looking green black. I did my taxes last year using pigmented black and this year they were printed using photo black, a comparison of the printed tax returns don't show any different in the shade of black (DARK BLACK).

 

[pete]

To get the printer to use the bc6 cart, i simply changed the paper type. I could well be wrong, but i believe this to force the printer into using the bc6...

The text look slightly crisper than when i printed with the pigment black, when using the dye ink, but as i mentioned earlier, much lighter.

 

[Nifty]

Okay, for the good of the forum group I've undertaken a crazy experiment... I swapped my BCI-6bk with my BCI-6c. Cyan prints black, and black (sometimes) prints cyan.

Any requests while my printer is in this crazy mode?

So far I've determined that my 5 color Canon i860 uses pigment 3ebk in plain paper mode no matter what I print. Even in the high quality setting it uses the pigment black. Once I switched to photo paper pro everything got blue.

A sidenote that Grandad (in all his wisdom) pointed out is that the human eye sure does make adjustments for off colors. I showed one of my swapped prints to my wife (a test of regular paper and regular quality so blue was black, but black was still black) and she said it looked fine.

I'm running all my tests (so far) with this image:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/sample-images/tss_printer_test
Using my Wiredbeans Acujet cartridges.

 

[Nifty]

Okay, here is an update with images. Scroll down on this page:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/difference-canon-bci-3-bci-6.php

 

[jimread]

Dear All,

Thanks very much for this thread it has been an enormous help to me. I want to print some limited edition prints using my iP4000. The prints are taken from pencil drawings that I have made.

I'd investigated the Giclee caper and thought hmmm thats a bit expensive. After some searching with Google I came across this thread the Rob's page about the BC1-3eBK cartridge. I was amazed to see that it's pigment ink in there!

I quickly tried a print on paper using the Plain Paper setting, High Quality and the Graphic setting. It printed what seemed to me to be alarmingly fast, but the print was fine. I then tried a print using Somerset Soft Velvet 150gsm watercolur paper and this turned out almost as good as the original drawing.

This gives me complete control over my editions.

I can't thank you enough.

Regards - Jim Read

 

[Nifty]

Hey Jim,

Welcome to the forum! I'm so glad that the you found the forum and the you found the information helpful. It was a pretty fun / crazy experiment that I did swapping the blue and black cartridges, but it was the only way for sure I could determine when the dye based BCI-6bk was and wasn't being used.