Refilling Pixma Pro-100 / Beginner

[stratman]

IIRC, two fill cycles is enough to get full benefit from Precision Colors' profiles? Does this take into account that the carts take wildly varying amounts of ink, or are PCs' inks so close to Canon's that there's no worry?

The output of your printer is subjective for each observer. If you like it then so be it. However, if you are selling your prints, for instance, then either flush the cartridges and refill with the IS inks or wait several refills - 4 or more.

How much "old" ink in the cartridge will affect how long it takes to "use it up", especially if you refill before the "Empty" warning from the printer. Allow more refills if you use the low but not empty warning as there will be many grams of ink left in the sponge at that point.


I don't think anyone tested long enough with injecting ink through the silicone plug as you would use a needle/syringe with a medicine vial. I don't think the two materials are the same in a silicone plug and a medicine vial stopper, nor are they the same thickness. I would think a silicone plug would malfunction with fewer needle sticks than a medicine vial stopper from the cutting/slicing action of the needle and the shearing forces of a silicone plug. Mikling of Precision Colors once remarked: "If you nick them, they will tear if you force them too much."

(http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...ore-cartridge-flushing.2639/page-2#post-18217)

 

[George in Georgia]

If Precision Colors advises against injection through the plug, I'll follow their lead. Also I doubt that med vials get anywhere near the sticks we would subject our carts to. Selling prints? My main concern would the permanence of the image, rather than absolute fidelity to my monitor. For selling I'd either have to outsource, or resurrect my Epson R1800.

Thanks for all the posts and friendly advice. This is a great forum.

 

[stratman]

If Precision Colors advises against injection through the plug, I'll follow their lead. Also I doubt that med vials get anywhere near the sticks we would subject our carts to. Selling prints? My main concern would the permanence of the image, rather than absolute fidelity to my monitor. For selling I'd either have to outsource, or resurrect my Epson R1800.

I don't recall if Precision Colors specifically stated to not use the silicone plug as a medicine vial stopper to inject through. The quote from mikling of Precision Colors noted the fragility of the silicone plug to shearing. Introduction of a needle, as well as sharp cartridge surfaces, cutting into a plug will cause premature failure of the plug by inference of the quote. We all would appreciate someone testing the hypothesis of refilling through the silicone plug - would you be willing to do this?

There are multidose medicine vials designed to withstand several needle sticks and possible more. I would bet you dollars to donuts that a medical grade vial stopper would hold up longer than the silicon plug to needle sticks.

I did not comment about monitor appearance as this is a different area, though for optimization, profiling your monitor is preferential. If longevity of a print is your priority then you should use OEM inks. No aftermarket ink will survive as long as OEM ink. Sure, you could improve the longevity of a print with museum grade glass and consider certain sprays to coat and protect the print, but nothing will last as long as OEM ink for your Canon printer on an apples to apples ink comparison.

Happy to see you are enjoying the forum. You sound like you could be a printeraholic like many of us here. We don't judge how many printers you have, only how well you can hide them from your significant other. (joking!) Welcome!

 

[The Hat]

If longevity of a print is your priority then you should use OEM inks. No aftermarket ink will survive as long as OEM ink. Sure, you could improve the longevity of a print with museum grade glass and consider certain sprays to coat and protect the print, but nothing will last as long as OEM ink for your Canon printer on an apples to apples ink comparison.

I would like to correct your statement a tad regarding longevity of prints made when using OEM inks.

It certainly does matter which inks you use on your prints as far as longevity is concerned, while some inks are clearly bad and some are very good, you also must include OEM inks in that statement too.

Because what really matters the most is the surface you choose to print your ink upon, i.e. the paper itself that’s the most important part of the formula not just the ink alone.

Using OEM ink is not a sure guarantee for longevity at all, unless that is you’re prepared to use OEM paper also, now you can eat them apples..

 

[stratman]

Using OEM ink is not a sure guarantee for longevity at all, unless that is you’re prepared to use OEM paper also, now you can eat them apples..

I certainly agree that the choice of paper can make a world of difference. There are other factors as well, some of which I mentioned.

I do not know if only OEM paper will give the longevity with OEM inks you mention, though it may be true as you say especially since we'd like to believe Canon spent mucho dinero researching optimal ink/paper combinations.

However, my "apples to apples" reference is the fudge factor that takes into account when using the same paper, same printer, same printer settings, same environment the print is exposed to, the same method of framing, etc..

Has anyone rigorously and scientifically tested OEM and high quality after market inks on a variety of photo papers using controlled conditions otherwise for longevity? Was there corroboration by others testing the same? We've had smatterings of reports from mostly citizen printers who did tests in their homes.

The best advice for a citizen printer is to keep the image file in order to make a reprint in the future. Other than that, use OEM inks and paper if longevity is a concern. Also, museum grade glass and other appropriate framing materials. To spray or not to spray, that is the question. Avoid direct sunlight, unstable temp and humidity ranges, and noxious fumes. Etc.

 

[Methodical]

Ok. I finally refilled my 1st set of cartridges and it was so easy after doing the 1st one. I had to refill 2 and top off 2, while 4 were pretty much still full. I do have several questions though.

1. The cartridges did not sit flat in the provided storage clips. I had to use a rubber band to make them sit flat in the carts. Aren't they suppose to sit flat with assistance? Did I get the wrong carts? I will contact PC.
2. Is it necessary to reset the cartridges that I did not refill or top off? I reset all of them to be on the safe side though because I was not sure.
3. I read in another post that you can reset the cartridge before refilling them, is this still true to do (http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/pro-100-happiness-file.8243/page-2)?
4. Do I remove the cartridge from the resetter once it lights solid or do I wait until the solid light goes out (not talking about the initial flickering light).

Btw, I am a glad that I went with the bottles that accept the refill needles. This takes much less time, effort and cleaning than having to use syringes.

Note: I had to refill the gray and light gray cartridge and notice they were a bit darker than Canon's. The only way I noticed this is because I had to refill in the middle of printing some portraits of my nephew and was able to compare - my daughter even notice the darker grays. However, without the comparison most would probably not notice (i.e if I printing an image for the 1st time). I think this would be moot if I redo the printer profile though.

Thanks...Al

 

[The Hat]

1. If you use the orange clips that came with your carts then you need a rubber band to hold them on, but if you got the newer compatible type ones then the answer is no, just push the release clip in under the hole provided on them first then they’ll snap in properly .
   
   
2. If you haven’t refilled or topped off the remaining carts then it’s unnecessary to remove them from the printer at all, but now that you have then they will just show (Low Ink) much earlier than you would think.
   
   
3. It is always easier to reset the carts before refilling them, (Reason) you are less lightly to dribble ink all over the redsetter, table and hands that way, you can’t reset the cart with the orange clip still on !
   
   
4. Place the cart in the redsetter and wait till you see a continuous red light for approx 5 seconds then remove it, if the light goes out after a couple of second that’s alright too, if by any chance the chip didn’t reset just repeat the same steps again. (It comes with Practice)

 

[stratman]

2. Is it necessary to reset the cartridges that I did not refill or top off? I reset all of them to be on the safe side though because I was not sure.

Do not reset a cartridge that is not being refilled or topped off. Resetting the cartridge may result in the printer thinking you have ink when in fact you have run out which could cause print head failure. The optical sensor is supposed to trigger a low ink alert when there is no more ink in the spongeless side of the cartridge but why take the risk? Reset a chip only when refilling or topping off.

 

[mikling]

http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/important-canon-pro-100-cli-42-yellow-ink.8498/

 

[Methodical]

1. If you use the orange clips that came with your carts then you need a rubber band to hold them on, but if you got the newer compatible type ones then the answer is no, just push the release clip in under the hole provided on them first then they’ll snap in properly
2. If you haven’t refilled or topped off the remaining carts then it’s unnecessary to remove them from the printer at all, but now that you have then they will just show (Low Ink) much earlier than you would think.
   
   
3. It is always easier to reset the carts before refilling them, (Reason) you are less lightly to dribble ink all over the redsetter, table and hands that way, you can’t reset the cart with the orange clip still on !
   
   
4. Place the cart in the redsetter and wait till you see a continuous red light for approx 5 seconds then remove it, if the light goes out after a couple of second that’s alright too, if by any chance the chip didn’t reset just repeat the same steps again. (It comes with Practice)

Answer:

1. I got the newer compatible carts (storage clips) that came with the kit, so they must be the wrong ones. I will need to contact PC for the correct item then.
2. I'll know the next time and keep and eye out for the low ink warning, but they were pretty much to the top.
3. I will reset cartridges 1st in the future. I did notice that the ink dripped out a bit.
4. I had no issues resetting the chips; it went pretty easy. I just left them on until the solid light went out and was not sure if this was needed. The instructions did not mention that the light would go out or what to do if the light went out, so that's why I ask. Good no harm came about.

Thanks for the feedback...Al