German "Durchstich" refill method for the PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges

[Photofan1986]

Hi there!
I'm new to this forum and I am considering refilling my MP540 cartridges as I find the prices of the OEM inks to be wayyyy exaggerated.
Now, I have a few questions:
- My printer uses CLI-520/521 cartridges. Are those Canon CLI inks http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Bulk-Ink/Canon-Compatible/?sort=alphaasc compatible?
- Do I need a chip resetter, or is it only useful to get an idea of the remaining ink in the cartridges?
- Are those OktoInkjet inks good quality ones? Are they comparable to original Canon?

Thanks in advance, and sorry if those questions have already been answered before. I used the search tool, but really want to be sure before ordering

 

[The Hat]

Photofan1986..

Photofan1986 wrote:- - My printer uses CLI-520/521 cartridges. Are those Canon CLI inks http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Bul t=alphaasc compatible?
- Do I need a chip resetter, or is it only useful to get an idea of the remaining ink in the cartridges?
- Are those OktoInkjet inks good quality ones? Are they comparable to original Canon?

You will be very satisfied with your choice of Octoink its a very good quality ink. They also do Auto Reset Chips for some cartridges (not sure which). So if youre going to start refilling you couldnt have made a better choice of ink..

 

[websnail]

- My printer uses CLI-520/521 cartridges. Are those Canon CLI inks http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Bulk-Ink/Canon-Compatible/?sort=alphaasc compatible?

Those inks are actually for the earlier CLI8 and PG5BK inks but I do have the correct inks for the 520/521 inks as well, I just haven't actually listed them yet.

Do I need a chip resetter, or is it only useful to get an idea of the remaining ink in the cartridges?

If you intend to refill your cartridges and you want to know what the ink levels are then yes, I would definitely recommend a resetter but unfortunately I don't stock those.

Are those OktoInkjet inks good quality ones? Are they comparable to original Canon?

The inks on my store are from Image Specialists which tend to be one of the inks that get a lot of positive reviews and recommendations. There are others such as Hobbicolours and OCP.. In terms of comparison to Canon, they obviously aren't going to be spot on but they are a good match.

Thanks in advance, and sorry if those questions have already been answered before. I used the search tool, but really want to be sure before ordering

Ah... so that was you I watched in my Woopra realtime stats tool

The canon information will be going into the QuickFind Tool, I just have to make a number of changes to the php code that runs it and test it all...

Always a good idea to ask first and I'm sure someone else may chip in with their own 10 penneth worth. As with all things get more than one opinion, especially if the individual answering actually runs the store ... Biased? Moi? Surely not!

 

[Photofan1986]

Thanks a lot for the info!
So, where can I order those MP540 compatible inks if they are not listed on you site ?

 

[websnail]

Thanks a lot for the info!
So, where can I order those MP540 compatible inks if they are not listed on you site ?

Well, as luck would have it I've just finished bottling and putting them online.

I'm bottling the new batch of Canon inks (some of which are relevant to your printer) over the next couple of hours (oh the joy!)... They'll be listed once I'm done.

 

[Photofan1986]

Cool! Thanks a lot^^
I'll have to wait until some money is transferred to my Paypal account

 

[Rock Slide]

Rockslide: Try these two vendors:

Hobbicolors (U.S.) on EBAY here:
http://shop.ebay.com/kbay2002/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

Precision Colors (Canada) on EBAY here:
http://shop.ebay.com/chubs380/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

Both seem to be highly recommended this forum and I use them in my Canon printers as well.

For refill tools and equipment try OctoInkjet (UK) here:
http://www.octoink.co.uk/index.php

[url]http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/uploads/thumbs/4795_img_2203a.png[/url]

Again, thanks for the info. Just placed an ink order w/ Hobbicolors. Dave seems to be a great guy to work with. Very fast responses to all my questions.

Paulcroft,

What you can do -to avoid spilling of precious Canon ink- is to blow out the ink into the corresponding Hobbicolors UW-8 bottle. Suppose your Canon magenta is -15 % compared to the corresponding UW-8 magenta and suppose the cartridge is half empty (6 ml) and the bottle contains 4 oz (about 120 ml) and I will mix the inks together: -15/(6+120)= -0.12 % off, which is negligible over the total ink amount. Do this with every corresponding colour (put your mouth over the vent hole) and blow steadily until all the ink has escaped the cartridge into the ink bottle, but be careful: at the end the ink tends to foam and can make mess. After the cart and presumable the sponge is empty and nearly dry, drill the hole for the German Durchstich refill method and refill the cartridge with the "mixed" ink in from the Hobbicolors bottle. Execute 1 or 2 normal cleaning cycles and then you are ready to profile your new ink with the corresponding paper the ink is sprayed on.

Next time you will buy a new bottle of Hobbicolors UW-8 ink the colour will be less then 1 % off compared to the mixed Canon/Hobbicolors ink and in real life this is hardly noticable and you can use the same profile and you will not spill ink.

This might be a stupid question, but do the ink PGBK520/CLI521 carts have these vent holes to blow into? And if so, where are they?

when using syringes, i used/cleaned a separate needle for each cartridge. good to have spare needles, so whoever you order from best to try to order extras.

i have since switched to squeeze bottles, they take the same needles as syringes. much less cleanup time. see pics at http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4450

one of our UK members recently started selling kits with squeeze bottles, needles and scabbards all in one pkg
http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Refill-Tools%2fKits/

Never having refilled oem carts before, I'll first try it using syringes...then work my way up to squeeze bottles being as I already have a pair of syringes that will work.

BTW, what's the best way to clean syringes between colors? Or does everyone just purchase X amount of syringes per color?

And lastly, how do you know when to refill your carts if you're not using a chip resetter? It's nice having the printer tell me when my carts are low, but if I'm refilling my oem carts, I no longer get the low ink warning message correct? Do you guess just guess when to refill or pull out the tanks periodically and check levels?

 

[Photofan1986]

Hi Websnail,

I've tried to order some stuff in your web shop but I stumbled across a message saying that the items cannot be sent to my address (Belgium).
But I saw elsewhere on your site that you usually ship to European countries. Is there something I'm doing wrong?
Thanks for your help.

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Photofan1986,

I'm from Belgium too (near Gent). Did you already have the resetter from Tintenalarm.de ? It costs only 15 euro.

 

[websnail]

Hey... I'm aware of a problem with the shipping module and I'm looking into it... Not sure what the heck has happened but it's being worked on.

EDIT: Oh good grief... just as well you didn't manage to buy anything... 500ml of ink does not equal 2kg in weight... Erm... *blush*. Time to check all the weights on my items it seems.

I've also discovered a "bug" in my general shipping provision as I have nothing to handle shipping for orders over 2kg at present... *smacks head* :/

So, apologies for this cluster flop... I will fix tonight after dinner.