Latest report on Inkgrabber inks..... (BCI 6 carts)

[ssteve731]

well, first off, I want to give credit where its due. The girl over at Ink Grabber is so sweet, and gives such great customer service....
Also, of course Ink Grabber ink is already SOOO cheap compared to OEM carts from Best Buy, or someplace stupid like that, but then, to make it an even better deal, I had gotten the e-mail coupon for "either" 20% off of my next order, or free shipping...... She gave me BOTH ! How cool was that ? Then, they ended up giving me a couple extra carts, that I didn't even order !
Long story short, I got 42 carts, for right at $3 a cart !

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Now, I've been using InkGrabber ink for a few years now..... In fact, the only OEM ink my iP6000D has ever seen, is the set of OEM carts that came with it. So, 6 or 8 months after I had been using Ink Grabber carts (maybe 3 or 4 full color sets) my print head became hopelessly clogged, and had to be replaced. {$50 from Precisionroller.com}.

Now I've been printing for another 6 or 8 months, and my print head has become clogged, 2 or 3 more times.... but each time I have been able to get it cleaned out and working again..... but for how long ???

The other big issue...... Leaking carts, which spill there whole load into my printer, and contaminate carts on either side. Black in the yellow is the worst, of course. This is a problem which had started WAY back with my InkGrabber ink from 2 orders ago.....
But right before I got my latest order, I had a black empty out, and ruin the yellow. Both of the Mag's were so low, I just tossed those too..... and since Cyans have been the worst "cloggers"..... What the heck, tossed them all, cleaned the print head with my forced water method, and used all new InkGrabber carts, from my latest order {although I should add, my latest InkGrabber carts came in 3 different packages ? What's up with that ?)

So for now, my prints are looking good.... but for how long ?
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Ya' know, I've calculated that I could replace my print head for "every" set of ink that goes through it, and still break even, on $ spent (with InkGrabber ink) ! Then, if only two sets go through it and work properly, I'm already saving money.... But what a pain in the arse this is !

So, here's the 10K question;
Is their another ink company out there nowadays that makes ink carts that:

1) have excellent color (I've always been happy with Ink Grabber in this respect)
2) will not leak out into my printer, and waste the other carts beside it
3) are close to the same great price as Ink Grabber
4) and although it might just be a mental thing.... > but of which, all come in the same packaging ???

Hmmmm...
Anybody ?
Fish

 

[on30trainman]

IMHO Canon cartridges are the best. But, of course, you don't want to be paying the price for new Canons. Have you considered refilling? Purge empty Canon cartridges and refill. The only non-Canon cartridges I have tried have been Hobbicolor's. They were OK but they never seemed to seat as tight in the printhead as the Canon ones did. Bought a bunch of empty BCI-6 cartridges on E-Bay, purged and refilled them with Hobbicolor inks. Members on this forum seem to have good luck with either MIS or Hobbicolor inks. Refilling isn't as messy as it sounds, especially refilling BCI-6 type cartridges. I use the refill from the top method while some on here swear by the so-called German method. Both work well - just my preference to fill from the top.

Steve W.

 

[ssteve731]

Thank you Steve. Actually, yes I have refilled a bunch of carts (with Colorbat inks), and I became pretty efficient at it.... It was just kind of a pain in the butt, and I always seemed to have a cart go empty, when I was in a hurry, and just wanted to do a couple quick prints, on my way out of the house....
Not to mention, in my experiences, it seemed that after 3 to 6 refills, the sponge side of the cart would keep emptying, but the resovoir side would quit flowing over, and so the cart would go dry :-(

When I saw your response to my other post, I was hoping you used Hobbicolor after market carts.....

Like I say, I've just been around the refill block enough times already.

So, does Hobbicolor also offer prefilled carts ? No being lazy.... I will check later, unless you tell me they don't before I go there...

Thanks again,
Fish

 

[on30trainman]

So, does Hobbicolor also offer prefilled carts ? No being lazy.... I will check later, unless you tell me they don't before I go there...

Thanks again,
Fish

I don't believe so - I have never seen filled cartridges in any of his offerings. If you would decide to go with Hobbicolor inks, get his latest UW-8 inks. They are actually geared towards the newer chipped cartridge Canon printers, but have worked very well for me in both my ip4000 and ip6000D. They are supposedly a wider gamut ink as the latest Canon inks are. I found the colors to be better, especially when coupled with profiles specifically for my ink/paper combination. I use the Costco Kirkland glossy paper. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Steve W.

 

[fotofreek]

Definitely keep your pre-chipped Canon printers going as long as you can! Since you already have been refilling, you should consider using Canon OEM carts, purging them when they stop feeding well, and keeping one or two refilled carts in reserve to avoid the problem you mentioned with having a cart empty in the middle of a print run. I picked up a large number of empty bci-6 carts at Staples where they have a return policy for certain inkjet carts and a credit toward ink purchases. This program excludes Canon carts, but some of their customers left bci-6 carts in their cart return bin anyway. The manager was more than happy to let me have them. I got rid of all of my non-OEM carts and am also noting on each cart the number and date of all refills to be sure that I rotate the carts in use and purge them in groups.

Refilling with a known good quality ink is the best way to go. Formulabs (from Alotofthings), MIS (presumed to be Imaging Specialist ink), Precision Colors (this IS Imaging Specialist ink), and Hobbicolors (origin unknown) are the inks that seem to be most often recommended here. I've used MIS inks for four years, but when Precision Colors started selling Imaging Specialist inks I switched to them. Better price and good service.

I've refilled carts for about five years for my i960 and ip5000 printers and never had a leaky cart. I use the top fill method with a stainless steel screw/o-ring used to seal the fill hole. I check the ink flow every time I refill a cart, and if it seems at all sluggish I purge the cart. This makes it function as new again. I've had some carts in the refill cycle for over four years and they keep working extremely well due to an occasional purge.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I have had the same problem with brand new Inkgrabber (G&G) cartridges leaking and contaminating other cartridges. I have also had feed problems with them. That is why I use Canon cartridges exclusively and I vacuum refill them so I never have to worry about the cartridges leaking. I refill for other people so it is very important to me that my refilled cartridges will not have problems for these other people. An independent study showed that Inktec ink has the best fade resistance of all the inks tested so now I use only Inktec ink:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=12198835

Check the bottom line of my profile to see if you can become one of those lucky people.

 

[slobjones]

Bought a bunch of empty BCI-6 cartridges on E-Bay, purged and refilled them with Hobbicolor inks.

How do you refill the original Canon cartridges?

I see no way to remove the top plug, as it seems to be made of hard plastic.

On the other hand, the Arrow OEM cartridges I bought from alotofthings have soft plastic plugs that are relatively easy to remove with a pushpin.

Thanks.

 

[pharmacist]

Slobjones,

try this method: it is the easiest way of refilling your cartridges.

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2465

 

[on30trainman]

How do you refill the original Canon cartridges?

I see no way to remove the top plug, as it seems to be made of hard plastic.

On the other hand, the Arrow OEM cartridges I bought from alotofthings have soft plastic plugs that are relatively easy to remove with a pushpin.

Thanks.

It is not hard to remove that plastic ball if you have the proper tools. I use a small drill (#55 to #60 or such) in a pin vise to drill a small diameter hole in the ball, thread in a small diameter screw and pull the ball out with a pair of pliers. As I said - if you have access to the proper tools. My other hobby - model railroading - provides the source of the tools and the little screws.
I am still an advocate of the top fill method and sealing with a #6 stainless steel metal (not machine) screw and a small "O" ring. For me the Canon OEM cartridges have always been the best performing cartridges for refilling.

Steve W.

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

I am still an advocate of the top fill method and sealing with a #6 stainless steel metal (not machine) screw and a small "O" ring. For me the Canon OEM cartridges have always been the best performing cartridges for refilling.

Steve W.

I've been pleased using a #6 tap and using #6 nylon screws without an o ring. Though once and a while I get the hole wrong and have to move up to a #8 nylon screw. The label plastic seems to provide an adequate seal.

Lowes has them at about 25c/pop.

To prevent over filling the sponge I tape the cartridge caps on wrapping around the vent hole.