Does CLI-521 ARC chip show the ink level?

[ColourKid]

I'm looking into buying a set of refillable CLI-521 carts, with an auto reset chip (ARC), to fill with a good quality ink. Before I used compatible disposable ones, which is more expensive and the ink quality is often unknown.

I also refilled cartridges a lot, and used a chip resetter, which worked for a while, but now the resetter stopped working (battery is ok).

Is there some way to refill carts but still being able to see the ink level? Are the ARCs capable of that? Also how do they work? What if the printer cord is unplugged? I read mixed stories about this.

For example here I read "The chips can show ink level at the first time. When the Chips run out of data, we can Shield chip data information, then the chip will work again. The only difference is the chip will not show ink level. " Whatever that means exactly.

But this looks like the same product but says: "The chips on the cartridges are automatically reset when installing the cartridges, ink level is then 100% and will drop according to consumption. You don't have to do anything for this yourself."

And here we have "Please pay attention that you do not disconnect the printer from the power supply; otherwise the level indicator may not work correctly any more. Shutting down the printer has no influence." This indicates that it should work but you cannot unplug the power.

So to me it's unclear what the ARC does.

(This is for an old MX-870 with which I print photos and everything else.)

 

[PeterBJ]

There are two kinds of ARCs, the old type and a new or "Intelligent" type.

The old type resets to full each time the power is restored after having been off. It is therefore important that the printer is always turned on, to avoid unwanted resets. These chips are intended to reset when the cartridge is reinstalled in the printer after a refill.

The new or "Intelligent type does not reset if the power is turned off. It can only reset if the cartridge is removed from the printer after the cartridge has been declared empty. Turning the printer off if the chip still shows ink in the cartridge does not cause a reset.

I have tested a set of refillable PGI-550/CLI-551 cartridges with intelligent chips. This was not a success. some of the cartridges developed problems with ink starvation, some leaked and over time the ink indication came out of sync with the ink level in the cartridge, so you needed to check the cartridges visually and keep them topped up.

OEM cartridges and chips are a much higher build quality. The PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges are windowed so they are suitable for both the "German" method refill and for top filling. So I strongly recommend to repair or replace the resetter and continue refilling the OEM cartridges.

What brand and model of resetter do you have? and what battery/ies does it use? Sometimes batteries bought to be new and OK are not. If you own a digital multimeter you can test the batteries. Without load the new and unused alkaline LR41 cells should have a no-load voltage of 1.55-1.6V and the new and unused Lithium CR2032 cells should have a no-load voltage of around 3.30V. You can read more about batteries and resetters in this thread.

I have used resetters for the PGI-5/CLI-8, PGI-520/CLI-521 and PGI-525/CLI-526 cartridges. All were Original redsetters which I recommend as I think they are high quality. If you cannot get your resetter working again I suggest to buy a new USB powered redsetter as you will then have no more battery problems. This resetter is available here and here and from more sellers.