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

[paulcroft]

pharmacist

Thanks for that. Re purging, is it necessary to remove all trace of the Canon ink from the cartridge before refilling with another ink or is it sufficient to refill simply when the tank itself is empty? If I need to purge all trace of the Canon ink first how do I do this? I've just done a search using 'purge' and similar and nothing obvious came to the fore.

I plan to replace all the OEM inks for non-OEM at the same time because this obviously makes sense and in all likelihood I will be using HobbiColors.

Paul

 

[passenger]

Hello, great forum!
I'm new here, I've decided not to pay expensive inks anymore for my Canon MP540, so I'm trying to find best solution..

You showed that german method, is that the same as used with "Sudhaus" product? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390138546913&ssPageName=ADME:X:eRTM:GB:1123

You recommend Hobbicolors inks, anyone heard of these german "Sudhaus" ? I've read it is very good quality in Europe..

Is it necessary to use resetter when refilling or not? Resetter for cli-521 cartridge is available as showed at the link above?

Thanks

 

[jimbo123]

welcome to the forum.

resetter not necessary, just inspect the cartridges every now and then to see if/when they need to be refilled. can always buy one later if needed. also this resetter is new so over time the price will come down

needles need to 2" or longer to refill via the german refill method

hobbicolors ink works well for me and others here. http://shop.ebay.com/kbay2002/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

to make it easy, get in touch with hobbicolors(dave), tell him are are from the niftystuff forum and you need 2" needles to refill using the german method

dave will take care of you

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printers: Canon Pixma MP830, IP4500(spare), MP830(2 spares)
Method: German Durchstich Method using Canon Cartridges
Ink: Hobbicolors, great guy to deal with
Misc: Squeeze bottles, needles, scabbards from Howard Electronics

 

[passenger]

Thanks for advice, do you know what is the lifetime of those ink bottles when opened?

Is it enough to use only one syringe and needle for all 5 cartridges, is it easy to clean every time?

 

[SpideRMaN]

The lifetime of those ink bottles is 2 years as should be with all ink bottles (when opened)

I use 2 syringes one for pigment and one for dye ink (I clean and make sure not to contaminate the ink)

 

[passenger]

2 years sounds great!

What about mixing ink when refilling original cartridges, I supose some original ink must remain inside, will that affect on printhead?

 

[equity44]

This is a reply to the several recent inquiries about Hobbicolors inks. For those of us using the Canon MP980 there is a unique problem -- it has an extra ink tank, the CLI-221-GY (Gray), the design of which was to extend the tonal range in black and white photo printing. However, the gray ink gets sucked up in ALL your printing uses just like the rest of the colors in the tiny tanks. Refilling is particularly critical for MP980 users due to the reduced size of the cartridges. But try to find alternative sources for the gray ink anywhere!!! Hobbicolors doesn't have it (in fact, it's not that easy to find the cartridge itself on Canon's own web site -- it's there but you have to hunt). At the time I posted the first inquiry in this thread I searched the web for non-OEM ink sellers and sent inquiries out to a number of them. Nobody had it.

Thanks to a post left by them on another thread in this forum I located Computer Friends. They have a number of websites, but the link provided will take you to their listings for the MP980 inks and carts. I've never used Hobbicolors so I can't compare the inks. For my top filling of my old IP4200 I used inks from a seller on eBay called DPrinters Ink. I can say the Computer Friends ink is as good and probably better than my former supplier. What I can tell you is this: Computer Friends, located in Portland, Oregon, is extremely customer friendly -- easily reachable on the phone and very responsive to your inquiries and problems when you do reach them. Specifically, when they filled my order they forgot to send the Gray ink (probably because they were used to filling the usual Canon orders that did not require Gray ink). They had not charged me for it. They just didn't include it on the order. When I called to complain they were immediately responsive and were going to send it at a reduced price. I refused the reduced price but we did agree that they would cover the shipping because I wouldn't have paid anything extra for shipping if they had included it with the rest of the bulk inks. It arrived the next day. I'm very happy with them as a company.

http://www.discountinkjetcartridges.com/inkjetprinter_Canon Pixma MP980.htm

At the time of my search in August 2009 they were the ONLY ink seller I could locate that had gray ink. If anyone else has located another seller, please post. It appears that they will sell and ship internationally because the following appears on their website: "Please send the details of your problem to support@discountinkjetcartridges.com or call toll free 866 808 5387. From outside the US, call +1 503 972 0360."

 

[passenger]

Can someone please tell me the difference between black dye ink and pigment ink? Do I have to decide which to buy or is it defined which to use for appropriate model?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Pigment ink has very small colored particles in it that lay on top of the medium you are printing on whereas dye ink is absorbed into the medium. You do not want to interchange them because the nozzles for pigment are larger than the nozzles for dye. If you use pigment where the nozzles are designed for dye, you can easily clog the nozzles. Generally it is safe to use dye where pigment is specified but there have been reports of the dye ink leaking through the nozzles when no printing is going on.

Also, if you use dye when you should be using pigment, you are giving up the advantage of pigment which is that it won't smear on plain paper if it gets wet. Each cartridge is designed for either pigment or dye and in many models, there is one pigment black cartridge for printing on plain paper and another dye black cartridge for printing on photo paper.

So you should buy which ever your printer/cartridges are designed for.

 

[pharmacist]

Check with Mikling at www.precisioncolors.com: they have a complete set for the MP980/MP990, including the grey CLI-221/521 refill ink. Precisioncolors.com is Image Specialist's ink and is on pair with Hobbicolors UW-8 refill ink. Both Hobbicolors and Precisioncolors are outstanding in ink quality and service. I use both refill inks and it is just fantastic. Dave at Hobbicolors should also introduce a grey refill ink and add this to their famous UW-8 refill inks.