Is clogging an issue changing from pigment to dye based ink?

[mrelmo]

i recommend getting the ink and supplies from precision colors in canada the shipping is a little slow but the inks are great no clogging and mike is very helpful if you have any questions, i have been buying from precision colors for years now, i just ordered 2 of the mp990s and will put them in storage as i want to switch to a wireless printer, when my 4200 dies (it's like an old chevy it just keeps running) i will have to hide the printers when they arrive my wife is starting to wonder what am i doing with all these new printers still in the boxes. lol i think these990s are going to be soldout soon they may be 1 of the last good refillables but i said that about the 3 560s and the 640s that i bought

 

[ghwellsjr]

guyg
I'm in the Dallas area and I was wondering where you are buying your inks for your MP990?
Am I understanding correctly for the MP990: the large black cartridge is pigment ink, and the smaller black, gray, yellow, magenta, & cyan are die based?
If I am only to refill OEM carts can these be purchased empty?
Thanks to guyg and all who can help.

Yes, you are correct about the large black being pigment and the others being dye. You can buy empty OEM cartridges on eBay but you may have to buy more than you really need or want.

Here's what I would do. Buy a second refurbished MP990. That will get you a second set of cartridges for less than the price of just buying them new separately. Don't set up the printer, especially don't take the print head out of its wrapper, just have it for a spare for when something goes wrong with your current printer, hopefully several years from now. There's nothing worse than having your printer die on you just when you have something important to print and you have to make a decision about what new printer to switch to. Having a second identical printer also helps diagnose problems because you can swap print heads and/or cartridges between them to figure out what part is going wrong. You should take the printer out of its box because the styrofoam can outgas and deposit a film on both sides of the scanner glass. You can put the printer back in its box without the styrofoam if you want.

Now you have a second set of cartridges. Then when one of the cartridges in your printer runs out of ink you will have a second cartridge ready to go and you will have plenty of time to learn how to refill your empty one. Don't forget to get a resetter.

BTW, I have purchased inks from precision colors and I never thought the shipping was excessive.

 

[mrelmo]

i live 150 miles away from toronto where they ship from, since it is international shipping it takes a little over a week to get, you would think 3 or 4 business days would be all it would take, this is not a complaint just an observation, when i need to order ink i order well ahead of time, as i said i am very happy with precision colors their responce to questions or adjusting an order has always been very prompt and helpful

 

[inkadinkado]

Thanks to all for your valued help. I'm seriously thinking about taking your advice and purchasing a second MP990. Getting the OEM cartridges filled with ink and the replacement value of those is worth it, not to mention the advantages of having a back up and a way to diagnose problems. I'll be purchasing my inks from Precion Colors per your advice and I will take the printer out of the box so the styrofoam won't glaze over the scanner glass with gunk, and I'll keep the printhead in the original wrapper to protect it until needed. I will remember to get a chip resetter as well.

BTW, I bitched to Canon profusely about buying the MP990 for $89.99 and that or the next day the price dropped to 71.99. I told them that I was under the assumption that their limited offer was to mean that the price would go up after their cut off date, and that it was a limited offer alright, but the limit meant until the price went down not up. I told them that I had felt scammed and that they owed me $18.00. Apparently, they agreed. I have renewed faith in Canon and especially since they had come so highly recommended from several unrelated sources.

You all have been a God-send. Thank you.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I told them that I had felt scammed and that they owed me $18.00. Apparently, they agreed.

Agreeing is one thing--did they actually send you a refund?

 

[inkadinkado]

This happened today so who knows if they will or not, but they called me, I didn't call them so I'm guessing that they probably will. We'll see. If they don't I do know how to complain to all the interested parties which has been effective in the past.

 

[mikling]

The MP980/990 as of June 2011 has become my favorite dye printer in the letter size category. Why? decent scanner worth the price of entry. The gray ink seems seems like it is was made to be part of the CLI-221 family. Why? the color balance is so even relative to the the same inkset without the gray. For the nominal price difference and the superior scanner relative to the 5 tank models..it is a must have printer if you want "new" and do not need to print wide.

The gray ink may give an impression of offering black and white capability however relative to the Epson advanced black and white drivers, it is simply not there as serious B&W print hardware. Once you use the Epson Advanced B&W software, you'll easily see why but that printer is in another snack bracket.

As a general purpose color photo printer, for the not high volume photo applications it is highly recommended.
Profiled images with Red River Ultra Pro Satin and Glossy papers are gorgeous with this machine.

If you need a new printer, don't print high volume, don't need wide, and want a very capable machines, go get a 980/990. The MG6220 and MG8220 are a drag with the 225/226 opaque cartridges so grab those 980/990s while you still can.

Is it superior to the output of the Pro9000? Maybe it is not technically, but in subjective viewings the balance is so correct that it never really stumbles but errs so gracefully it never shouts its weakness and thus always makes a nice image.

Summary: Nice printer especially if you can pick one up for the prices listed above.

 

[inkadinkado]

Thanks mikling for your input on this subject. I'm ordering my second MP990 today.

 

[Tin Ho]

If you read Canon's note about the features of MP990 you will find that in terms of color photo printing it is really a 5 color printer, a good 5 color printer. The additional gray ink is sugar added to the coffee. Do you really need the sugar? It depends.

The addition of the gray ink is for black and white photos. This is noted in Canon's web site. It has nothing to do with the color balance in printing color photos. This is easy to understand. If the color is shifted and out of balance a gray ink which is colorless will not shift it back. Gray is not a variable in color balance. If this printer yields better color balance It is probably having a set of better profiles.

If you don't care about black and white photo printing this printer can be a bad choice for you. It will only cost extra money to you for the gray ink wasted in keeping the gray nozzles clean. It's not a great multifunction if you need to copy a stack of documents double sided.

 

[The Hat]

I have to say that I am on the other side of the fence on this one.
Black is not one of the colours used in printing colour photos, your printer
just uses the C, M, Y and if grey is present then that will be given preference
over the photo black for an even better shadow effect overall..