HobbiColors now offers "new" version of Black Pigment ink!

[turbguy]

Per the latest listings in eBay:

New Version of Ultra-Flow black pigment ink

Hopefully it doesn't has the purge unit/waste pad clogging issues I have experienced with past PGM-BK inks from HobbiColors. At least it's a change...does Dave listen in here??

Anyone wanna run an absorbency test??

Wayne

 

[ghwellsjr]

does Dave listen in here??

Apparently he does:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hobbicolors...22?pt=US_Ink_Refills_Kits&hash=item3a791a1ae2

Scroll half way down the page.

 

[slocumeddie]

Does Hobbicolors have a more comprehensive list of products ?

I only find 12 items listed at the ebay store.


Same inkset for Canon 6 and Canon 8 series carts ?


I thought the magenta changed.....

 

[ghwellsjr]

Per the latest listings in eBay:

New Version of Ultra-Flow black pigment ink

Hopefully it doesn't has the purge unit/waste pad clogging issues I have experienced with past PGM-BK inks from HobbiColors. At least it's a change...does Dave listen in here??

Anyone wanna run an absorbency test??

Wayne

I notice that some of his auctions still have the older ink. Why don't you ask him what is the difference between them and the New Version of ink?

 

[turbguy]

That's a good idea.

Here's what I sent...

What is different about the revised black pigment ink in this kit from your prior offering? Specifically, what properties have changed, as I suffered clogging of my purge unit and gelling of waste ink in the waste absorbers when using your prior black pigment in my MP730?? Will this new ink correct that issue?

Wayne

Here's Dave's response...


Dear turbguy,

Dear Wayne:

Thank you very much for contacting Hobbicolors. We appreciate your past businesses with us.

Could you tell me when did this happen? I found your past purchase record from 2008, 2009, 2010 through May 2011, which was for a 2x 4 oz of PMT-BK. Our PMT-BK (black pigment ink) was constantly revised by the factory due to Canon's releases of new ink cartridges as well as other quality improvement reasons. The latest PMT-BK should be the best of all revisions. It is still compatible with BCI-3eBK. It should be much better than the old one formulated only for BCI-3eBK.

I was contacted by email from Jim, a customer. He provided me a link to nifty stuff forum. I also got an email a few days ago from George Wells, a customers too. He also inquired about our PMT-BK and I became more aware of the problem discussed on the forum. I am surprised. I have never heard of any complaints from anyone about clogged purge unit. Your are the first to contact us for this problem. We have at least 10,000 customers world wide.

George asked about the question you ask too. Let me explain the words in our advertisement on eBay. Those words may be the reason of the question from George and you. The words are "new version with ultra-flow formulation".

Will continue in the next message. EBay has a limit on the length of the message.

Continuing from the first reply to you.

In January we invested in a bottle sealing equipment. We have since sealed our ink bottles with aluminum foil liner. We also redesigned the labels for the ink bottles. We redesigned our eBay listing a few months later too. Those words were added to the PMT-BK listing in May. The reason we added the words was not because of a new ink. It was added to emphasize that PMT-BK works extremely well in Canon OEM PGI cartridges. We had a very high confidence in that because of the use of the ink on a few of our printers that have used the ink for about 8 years.

I can send you a sample bottle of the production PMT-BK we ship daily now for your evaluation. I sent one to George yesterday. If George and you both tell me the ink is not good we have the option of replacing it with another one from another manufacturer. Both are American manufacturers by the way.

I am really sorry to hear about the issue. I asked Gerge to look at a bigger picture that we have thousands of satisfied customers. A lot of them use a lot more PMT-BK repeatedly for years.

Please provide me more information if it is not too much trouble for you. Thanks a lot.

Best wishes,

Dave at Hobbicolors


I'm formulating a reply.

 

[turbguy]

My reply:

I believe the issue occurred in mid-2011. Again , it's a Canon MP730. After changing a Black Pigment Cart (the prior carts, say 4 or 5) had been filled with your PMT-BK), the printer stopped printing black. Investigation (flooding the Black Pigment parking pad with Windex) finally revealed that the purge unit was not pulling fluid away. I disassembled the printer and pulled the internals of the purge pump. The purge pump and inlet manifold was clogged with a hard deposit. I could not dissolve all of it. I mechanically cleared the remaining deposits with thin wires. The waste pad in the discharge area of the purge pump adjacent to the Pigment waste discharge tube had "gelled" black ink in the "pocket" in the waste pads and they were not absorbing the waste ink. I washed an dried the waste pads and reused them. I also switched to Precision Colors pigment ink, as that seemed to perform better in George's "Absorbancy Test" of various inks as discussed in the forum. I have continued to purchase dye inks from you. I've never had a problem with your dye inks. Certainly, I'd like a sample bottle or your current formulation.

Keep in mind I reside at 7400' in a cool, dry climate (if that makes a difference). Hope this helps!

Wayne

 

[turbguy]

And a further response:

By the way, Thank you for your prompt response! I have shared it on the forum. I take it from your response that your Pigment Black ink formulations have been revised since my last purchases? I am not surprised that this is the first you heard of it. The cause could be another issue altogether. Hopefully you will have a moment to examine the past absorbancy testing done as posted in the forum at:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5674

Wayne

 

[The Hat]

turbguy

I wouldnt feel very confident or comfortable using Hobbicolors pigment ink after the response you got from this guy Dave in Hobbicolors.

For a supplier to say they werent aware of any problems is utter bull considering the amount of changes
that were made (Allegedly) to their pigment ink in the recent past.

I could poke holes in this guy reply all day but it wouldnt get anywhere because it was all just a sales pitch on his part
and pretending nothing was wrong just doesnt cut it for me.

Their current batch of pigment ink maybe very acceptable and their best yet but I still couldnt recommend their pigment ink to anyone
simply based on this sales pitch alone, sorry for being so negative but only time can tell..

 

[panos]

I think Dave@Hobbicolors made an honest statement here. Congratulations to turbguy for his objective research for the truth.

 

[ghwellsjr]

turbguy

I wouldnt feel very confident or comfortable using Hobbicolors pigment ink after the response you got from this guy Dave in Hobbicolors.

For a supplier to say they werent aware of any problems is utter bull considering the amount of changes
that were made (Allegedly) to their pigment ink in the recent past.

I could poke holes in this guy reply all day but it wouldnt get anywhere because it was all just a sales pitch on his part
and pretending nothing was wrong just doesnt cut it for me.

Their current batch of pigment ink maybe very acceptable and their best yet but I still couldnt recommend their pigment ink to anyone
simply based on this sales pitch alone, sorry for being so negative but only time can tell..

The Hat, I don't think it is appropriate or fair for you to be calling Dave a liar. I have had extensive communication with him and I don't believe that he was aware of the problem. Nobody ever contacted him about the problem, not any of the five people that had clogs in their printers nor I.

He has had an MP780 used daily in his office for eight years without a clogging problem and two other Canon printers used for a lesser time.

We were hoping that the "new" version of Ultra-Flow ink was specifically addressing the purge system clogging issue but as Dave explained, it had nothing to do with that. It was only related to his conclusion that it had less clogging problems in the cartridge itself so that customers did not have to purge the cartridge after repeated refillings like was required either with other brands of ink or with earlier supplies of Hobbicolors ink.

Now I noticed that the Inktec ink also clogged half of the 35 BCI-3eBk cartridges that I refilled a second time and after they had dried out. So it's quite likely that clogs in the sponge material can be correlated with clogs in the absorbent material inside the printer. It would make sense.

When I get the latest sample of ink from Dave, I'm going to retest three samples of ink from Hobbicolors; a second unopened bottle of the ink I tested two years ago, a second sample I purchased from Hobbicolors last year, and the one he is sending me now. I will, of course, also include most if not all of the original set of inks from the original test. The main difference between this test and the original test is that I have glued some nylon washers in the bottom of a bunch of pill bottles to simulate the way it is inside the printer. The purged ink is actually deposited into a little plastic-lined pocket at the bottom of the printer with walls about 3/8 inch high (if I remember correctly). At the top of the pocket is the first layer of absorber material.

The test probably won't be complete until the end of the year so please be patient.