New weapon of Canon: new carts to replace CLI-221/521 and PGI-220/520

[The Hat]

I dont imagine a great deal more than when using ARC chips on the cartridges.. :|

 

[Parhs]

pietermech

One of the best ways to print and refill with the new CLI-526 cartridges is to weigh the cartridge before you use it with a digital scales.
Then refill your cartridge when the printer warns of low ink.
Just fill it up to the same weight it was (when new) and it will be ready for use again.
When the printer warning shows (out of ink) just press and hold the resume button for 5 seconds and the printer will continue to print.
Periodically check the cartridge weight before use and top up if necessary.

Brilliant idea!!!!
I think this is useful for all cartidges! like my HPs

 

[pietermech]

pietermech

One of the best ways to print and refill with the new CLI-526 cartridges is to weigh the cartridge before you use it with a digital scales.
Then refill your cartridge when the printer warns of low ink.
Just fill it up to the same weight it was (when new) and it will be ready for use again.
When the printer warning shows (out of ink) just press and hold the resume button for 5 seconds and the printer will continue to print.
Periodically check the cartridge weight before use and top up if necessary.

Brilliant idea!!!!
I think this is useful for all cartidges! like my HPs

I have my doubts.. In my country (Belgium) are the cartridges filled for about 50%.. If that is the case you still don't know how much a full cartridge weighs..
I think I'm going to buy a new epson, with the epson printers it's very easy to find cartridges.

Cheers!

 

[panos]

I wonder how much cleaning cycles are increased on these newer printers when ink level monitoring is disabled?

What do you mean ? Do they increase cleaning cycles when the monitoring is disabled ? I was considering disabling it (even though I have a redsetter that works perfectly) because I found that the level warnings were too conservative and bothersome.

 

[The Hat]

panos What do you mean ? Do they increase cleaning cycles when the monitoring is disabled ? I was considering disabling it (even though I have a redsetter that works perfectly) because I found that the level warnings were too conservative and bothersome.

When you disable the ink monitoring the optical sensor on the cartridge becomes ineffective and the only way to know how much ink is left inside is by weight or visual inspection.
By resetting the chip in the cartridge the printer will then be able to give the first low ink warning notice, followed later by the ink out warning.
This method is far safer than disabling ink monitoring unless the printer is fitted with a CISS.
If a chip on the cartridge shows the contents as full when in fact the cartridge is almost empty.
Then optical sensor will pick up on that and give the ink out warning despite what the chip is registering..

 

[ghwellsjr]

If a chip on the cartridge shows the contents as full when in fact the cartridge is almost empty.
Then optical sensor will pick up on that and give the ink out warning despite what the chip is registering..

Are you sure about that? I have not been able to confirm that the optical sensor on CLI-8 printers does anything, even though it is present in the printer. If you know a way to demonstrate that it actually does something, I would sure be interested in knowing what it is.

 

[websnail]

Are you sure about that? I have not been able to confirm that the optical sensor on CLI-8 printers does anything, even though it is present in the printer. If you know a way to demonstrate that it actually does something, I would sure be interested in knowing what it is.

Easy way would be to drain a reset cartridge of the tank (spongeless side) and then replace in the printer... Almost certain that the printer will indicate a low ink level on the printer almost immediately. It won't indicate empty until the standard timeframe has been reached for the sponge to have emptied though.

The only other point really is that if the optical sensor wasn't being used you'd have to question why Canon would keep redesigning their cartridges to thwart refilling and yet retain that prism in the design.

Personally I suspect it's been retained to:
a) indicate when a cartridge has reached the "sponge only" point
b) act as a safety indicator for when a cartridge has been drained unexpectedly
c) indicate when a cartridge has been refilled (ie: prism indicated empty - printer writes chip to indicate empty, cart removed/refilled/replaced, prism indicates full again -> error)

 

[MP640]

I wonder how much cleaning cycles are increased on these newer printers when ink level monitoring is disabled?

What do you mean ? Do they increase cleaning cycles when the monitoring is disabled ? I was considering disabling it (even though I have a redsetter that works perfectly) because I found that the level warnings were too conservative and bothersome.

It is my experience that the cleaning cycles increase when the ink monitoring is disabled. Same with Auto reset Chips (on power up the chip resets and the printer thinks a new cartridge has been inserted and will start a cleaning cycle).

 

[stratman]

Are you sure about that? I have not been able to confirm that the optical sensor on CLI-8 printers does anything, even though it is present in the printer. If you know a way to demonstrate that it actually does something, I would sure be interested in knowing what it is.

Easy way would be to drain a reset cartridge of the tank (spongeless side) and then replace in the printer... Almost certain that the printer will indicate a low ink level on the printer almost immediately. It won't indicate empty until the standard timeframe has been reached for the sponge to have emptied though.

The only other point really is that if the optical sensor wasn't being used you'd have to question why Canon would keep redesigning their cartridges to thwart refilling and yet retain that prism in the design.

Personally I suspect it's been retained to:
a) indicate when a cartridge has reached the "sponge only" point
b) act as a safety indicator for when a cartridge has been drained unexpectedly
c) indicate when a cartridge has been refilled (ie: prism indicated empty - printer writes chip to indicate empty, cart removed/refilled/replaced, prism indicates full again -> error)

I inadvertently performed this sort of experiment this past week with my MP830. The short of it is the Yellow cartridge was very low on ink per the printer status window. I reset cartridges before refilling to help decrease the risk of ink on the resetter, and reset the Yellow cartridge. then I noticed the cartridge was virgin - never refilled, so I popped it back into the printer since there appeared to be a well saturated sponge but no ink in the spongeless side. I figured the cartridge would soon be recognized as low on ink by the LED prism, but no such luck. The printer, through multiple printings of various types - mixed color/text documents, photographs, and disks - on separate days where the machine had been powered off and on, never recognized the low ink level.

My conclusion, albeit based on the smallest sample possible (n = 1), is that the prism either is a vestigial remnant (which would be bizarre considering manufacturing costs), works in a different fashion than I suspected (the primary marker of no/low ink in the spongeless side) , or is not working in my printer.

BTW, yesterday I converted the cartridge to the Durchstitch method, reset it, and refilled it without issue. The sponge seemed very thirsty, with lots of bubbles appearing in the spongeless side during the refill process as the sponge took up ink.

 

[The Hat]

stratman The printer, through multiple printings of various types - mixed color/text documents, photographs, and disks - on separate days where the machine had been powered off and on, never recognized the low ink level.

That is correct, but the printer will eventually show the low ink warning and almost immediately (Seconds) later show ink out warning.

Another way to get round the opaque cartridges for a good while anyway, (2 or 3 fills worth) is to top up the cartridge when it is showing just below half full.
The top fill method might be better for this type of cartridge using this idea.
By refilling a cartridge before it showing low ink you can get away without having to disable the ink monitoring for quite some time.
Unfortunately this work round will only last till the low ink warning appears after which its useless.

If I overfill a cartridge and ink starts to spill out of it, I found that it can be much easier to vacuum up the spill with little or no mess at all using a SquEasy bottle.
As soon as you stop injecting ink the needle/bottle will suck back any ink around the needle tip..