Ink Refilling questions on CLI-251 Printers

[Harvey]

I think this is very plausible. See this thread, and specially notice the posts by @Harvey . It seems that not only dye black can be affected by the fuzzy printing problem, but other dye colours can be affected as well.

Only the photo black has a visible defect in the nozzle pattern. The other colors band look perfect even when magnified, but not on their respective blocks. Remember the blocks in every color is a mix of all of the other colors. The reason for the not perfect blocks is because the photo black is damaged and when its nozzles print in other color blocks they are printed bad. Even with perfect dots on the color bands prints are not good.

Upper section MP620, bottom MG6120 with fuzzy black. This was printed in the same sheet with same ink for both printers.

 

[James Mike]

What I would do is to get rid of this printer by selling it and providing a nozzle check print to let the buyer know the printhead is perfect. Get a previous Canon printer generation for an AIO you can get from a MP6x0 or a MGx120 series and you can forget about dealing with the tiny cartridges or the aftermarket ones.

If you go the Epson way you can get any C, M, Y, LM, LC, K printer or AIO, (i.e R260 R280 R380 RX580 RX595 RX680) a set of refillable cartridges with ARC and then you get genuine ink for L800/L805 for around U$105 that has better longevity and fade resistance than any 3rd party Canon ink.

the 22x gen would had been preferable as until recently we had a mg6270 that we had been top refilling using PC inks and 221 carts and would have liked that they shared the same carts however individual ink tank printers(non-ciss) rarely show up on listings new/used here.As for moving to an epson i'm a bit hesitant on considering a used one as they along with the tricolor canons and hps are popular with printshops here and may have been printed to the last hundred pages of its life.

 

[Harvey]

Epson printheads last longer as they are not heated, therefore they dont need a good coolant agent in the ink as the Canon/HP. Epson sometimes is complicated with air bubbles trapped in the printhead which might lead you to think is a clog. Ink quality however is better than 3rd party Canon. That was the reason I recommended that.

Certainly Canon printer are more friendly to refill, faster to print and very loyal until its end of life. In my country finding an individual ink printer is hard, Epson has plagued the market with its CISS printers.

Epson L805, which is a photographic 6 ink printer is available in your country. You just refill the ink tanks and the quality is good. I have seen the colors and fade resistance. You must know it is not Claria nor Chromalife equivalent ink. Epson sells the T60 for around P$ 9,495 that you can refill with L805 OEM ink, which is a good individual cartridge printer. An AIO Epson would help you to get rid of refilling ink constantly small cartridges and always getting good colors, although AIO printers wont print good photos nor they will last. Just my humble opinion.

Now that you are on the Canon wagon, well you are in Asia. Just buy some ARC refillabe carts and experiment with this printer. They are cheap in China and you should get them fast. This way you only spend a little and the printer is running. The ink you already have is good for your printer and you should not have any problems with it. That is what I would do!.