Got a new ip4300, have questions about refilling

[GrantCee]

Up until now the only Canon cart cartridges I've refilled are for my ix6520, using the pre-prepped OEM carts from Precision Colors (which work great!) I've also used some generic (new) carts on other printers. I'm used to dealing with syringes and ink spills.

Now with this ip4300 (and it is NEW - bought it in the sealed box last week for a whopping $30!) I'm looking to refill the original carts when they run low, probably using the "German" method (sorry, don't remember the name) I learned about right here on this forum.

My main question is about flushing the cartridges, about which I see many references. Is that something I need to do before switching over to the PC inks? What happens if I don't? Do I need to do so periodically for some reason?

 

[PeterBJ]

If you refill the original cartridges when they are empty, and don't allow them to dry out, no flushing is necessary. But if you get some empty OEM cartridges that might have dried out, flushing would be a good idea. Remember to keep the orange clips, so you can seal your empty cartridges to avoid them drying out.

Although you can refill the cartridge and disable the ink level monitor to continue printing, this is not recommended. Instead you should use a resetter. This makes the printer "think" the refilled cartridge is new and unused, and ink level monitoring is still active. If you have not already done so, I recommend you order a resetter with your PC inks. Here is a resetter for your cartridges.

Some of the PGI-5/CLI-8 printers are among the best printers for home use IMO and iP4300 is one of these best printers. I have one and like it very much.

 

[GrantCee]

Thanks for the info - makes sense. I also have a resetter that I use for my ix6520 carts, so I'm good in that department.

I bought the 4300 because my wife prints a lot of instructional booklets, and the HP 551dw we have has proven to be very unreliable (constant clogs of the black ink path.) It's a superb printer in terms of speed - something like 80 ppm, faster than a lot of lasers - but the print quality leaves a little to be desired and coupled with the aforementioned clogs meant that we needed something else. The criteria were a) as fast a printer as we could find, b) with auto duplexing, and c) easy cartridge refilling. The 4300 seems to fit, and although it runs at 1/5 the speed of the HP I think we'll be happier with it.

Now if I can just find another one new-in-the-box for $30 on Craigslist...!

 

[The Hat]

@GrantCee, I am sorry to disappoint you but your current resetter wont work with your new printer, but the good news is that the inks will, O’ and you’ve had your go at finding the end of the rainbow, but what a find, its a marvellous printer and a real gem..

 

[GrantCee]

Damn...I thought the resetter would work. Oh, well, they're cheap enough.

On the other hand, Precision Colors lists different inks for the two printers as well. You don't believe that's necessary?

("O’ and you’ve had your go at finding the end of the rainbow, but what a find, its a marvellous printer and a real gem.." -- that sounds like a challenge to me!)

 

[The Hat]

Nope just good wishes and congratulations..

 

[PeterBJ]

Using a wrong type of resetter for the cartridges could ruin the chips and it won't reset the chips, so a resetter for PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges is a must have IMO.

Canon print heads rely on a steady supply of ink for cooling, else they risk burning out. Printing with refilled cartridges and Ink level disabled is risky, as you could empty the cartridges without any warning.

 

[websnail]

@GrantCee, I am sorry to disappoint you but your current resetter wont work with your new printer, but the good news is that the inks will, O’ and you’ve had your go at finding the end of the rainbow, but what a find, its a marvellous printer and a real gem..

Hold up a tick... I think you might have gotten a little confused there @The Hat ... The OP has managed to lay their hands on an iP4300 which, unless I'm mistaken is the one they want to refill. If that's the case then @PeterBJ 's linked REdSETTER will be compatible with the cartridges and chips the iP4300 uses as they are PGI-5 / CLI-8 type.

I suspect the confusion is that a much more recent model was mentioned first and that's scrambled the logic circuits a little

EDIT: Oh, wait... that'll teach me to read everything properly... Ok... Yes the linked resetter will work with the iP4300, but as correctly noted by The Hat, the OP's existing resetter (the one for the IX6xxx) will not reset the PGI-5, CLI-8 cartridges. Somewhere in the middle of all that, there still seems to have been confusion although now I wonder if it was mine... Babies eh? *oops*

Changing tac a little though, we've had no issues at all with the HP 551DW but I'm aware that we lucked out big style on the inks... When we've looked about it seems many retailers are using an "It'll do" ink that was formulated originally for earlier HP models that use the HP 950/951 cartridges but Inktec did develop something very specific for the HP970/971's.

We're using it on our 451DW and 551DW and clogs are virtually non-existent despite deliberately leaving each machine to do nothing for nearly a month just to test how clog-proof the inks are.

Hope that's of some use to you...

 

[PeterBJ]

.....On the other hand, Precision Colors lists different inks for the two printers as well. You don't believe that's necessary?.....

I think you can use the dye inks for CLI-226 cartridges in the CLI-8 cartridges without other problems than colour matching might be off. This could give bad results in photo printing but might be OK for plain paper documents.

The pigment ink is different for the PGI-5 and the PGI-225 cartridges. The types are C1020P for PGI-5 and C1128P for PGI-225. One difference might be viscosity and for a thermal print head like used by Canon, a steady supply of ink for cooling is vital. I cannot tell if it would be OK to use the C1128P ink in the PGI-5 cartridge.

So I recommend to buy the proper ink set for the iP4300. Canon doesn't make printers of this quality for home use any more, so I think the iP4300 deserves the best care. A new print head might easily cost more than 100$ if it is at all available. Beware of "refurbished" print heads from the far East, sold as new.

 

[GrantCee]

Thanks Peter. I was hoping that I could get away stocking only one ink set, but as you point out they have a different set for a reason. The color issues don't bother me so much for text and business graphics, but printhead longevity certainly does.