Opinions needed on refillable carts.

[The Hat]

Hello, I have a question about refilling canon carts.

My printer uses CLI-221 and PGI-220 but they are opaque which makes flushing a bit more challenging. I would like to switch to the CLI-521 and PGI-520 carts because I understand they are the same size and are clear. Is it possible to do this? Will I need to swap the chips over from my old 221 and 220 carts?

Thanks

You can use the 521/520 instead of your 221/220 as @Tudor said, if you like by changing the chips from one to the other and you can also get OEM empty cartridges in some of the good ink suppliers, so there’s no need to buy new ones.

I never knew that the 220/221 carts were completely opaque, so even I’m learning something new.

 

[rrreinig]

Thanks Hat.
The 220/221 carts have a clear opening over the ink tank but are opaque over the sponge/air side, making it difficult to tell how clean the sponges are during purging.

I would like to verify that the 520/521 carts are clear over the sponge area before purchasing them. I don't mind changing over the chips if I gain the ability to see inside the carts while flushing.

 

[PeterBJ]

As stated by Tudor the 220/221 and 520/521 cartridges are identical apart from the chip. This means both cartridge sets have transparent windows to the ink chambers and sponge chambers are mostly obscured by black plastic. Canon OEM PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges are not fully transparent.

Fully transparent third party cartridges do exist, but only Canon OEM cartridges are recommended for refill, as third party cartridges often cause ink flow problems.

 

[The Hat]

I never knew that the 220/221 carts were completely opaque, so even I’m learning something new.

thanks @PeterBJ see I did learn something..

 

[rrreinig]

Thanks everyone.

I actually found a picture of the 521 on the octoinkjet web site and it does indeed show that the sponge area is covered by black plastic the same as my 221.
http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Canon-CLI%2d521-EMPTY-Cartridge.html

So I will keep flushing until the water runs clear and then a while longer just to be sure.

 

[stratman]

So I will keep flushing until the water runs clear

 

[ccc]

Different icc profiles perhaps?