Ok, so I just bought a pre-filled Rihac CIS and fitted it to my 4 year old Canon MP530. It works fine, but I've got a few noob questions:
1) My original cartridges are CLI-8C, CLI-8M, CLI-8Y, CLI-8Bk, and PGI-5Bk. I noticed on the CIS that the two black tanks are marked as BK, so there is no way to distinguish one from the other. So, when I top up the CIS I'm assuming that I use CLI-8Bk ink in both the BK tanks. Therefore I should never put any PGI-5Bk ink in the CIS. Is that correct? I have read that particles in pigment ink settles which can cause blockages in a CIS setup, but I just want to verify before I put CLI-8Bk refill in where the PGI-5Bk would normally go and kill the printer.
2) Sometimes my printer doesn't have much work to do for a few months so I'm a little concerned about the evaporation of the ink in the CIS. Also, the possibility that the ink is slowly leaking from the cartridge into my waste tank. I'm not seeing either of these problems yet, but I do believe that over time the evaporation thing at least is going to be noticeable. With this in mind, is it safe to engage the CIS tube clamp, remove the air filters, and re-insert the travel plugs? Would this minimize the loss of ink during these idle times? Is there anything else I can do to minimize ink loss? I am aware that I need to print a colour/black page or two every week to keep the ink flowing and have never had any head blockages or alignment problems before.
3) What kind of average lifetime should I expect from the ink in the CIS. How long should it be before I must definitely use it and replace with fresh, else cause clogging/damage to the printer?
4) Lastly, before purchasing the CIS, I bought some 125ml bottles of InkTec refill ink to suit the printer. Is it okay to put that in the CIS to top up? I have read that some cheap asian import inks contain high alcohol levels and can therefore damage the sponge in the CIS cartridge among other things. However, this ink wasn't cheap and was bought in Australia through a reputable company. I guess what I'm getting at is that if it's decent ink then it should be okay in the CIS, right? i.e. there's not a special type of ink required for the CIS. I know that most are saying not to mix inks, but isn't that what happens when a cartridge is refilled anyway? For example, say I fit some Canon OEM carts and print until they are 'empty'. But they're not really empty, are they? For a start, the sponge still has a few mills of ink in it and the print head is still wet with ink. Additionally, the Canon chip lies and says they're empty when they really aren't. So, I rip the carts out and refill them with Inktec ink. I've just mixed Canon ink and Inktec ink right there. So, I run them again until they're 1/3rd full and refill them with Calidad ink refill. So, now I have a concoction of Canon, Inktec, and Calidad inks in varying proportions all in the one cartridge. I've already done this example in the printer concerned with only slight colour variation noticed and nothing else. So here's the burning question: Has anyone really seen some kind of chemical reaction to mixing different brands of ink so long as they are both of high quality and the correct ink for the printer concerned, or is that just an assumption?
Oh well, thx in advance for any advice.
1) My original cartridges are CLI-8C, CLI-8M, CLI-8Y, CLI-8Bk, and PGI-5Bk. I noticed on the CIS that the two black tanks are marked as BK, so there is no way to distinguish one from the other. So, when I top up the CIS I'm assuming that I use CLI-8Bk ink in both the BK tanks. Therefore I should never put any PGI-5Bk ink in the CIS. Is that correct? I have read that particles in pigment ink settles which can cause blockages in a CIS setup, but I just want to verify before I put CLI-8Bk refill in where the PGI-5Bk would normally go and kill the printer.
2) Sometimes my printer doesn't have much work to do for a few months so I'm a little concerned about the evaporation of the ink in the CIS. Also, the possibility that the ink is slowly leaking from the cartridge into my waste tank. I'm not seeing either of these problems yet, but I do believe that over time the evaporation thing at least is going to be noticeable. With this in mind, is it safe to engage the CIS tube clamp, remove the air filters, and re-insert the travel plugs? Would this minimize the loss of ink during these idle times? Is there anything else I can do to minimize ink loss? I am aware that I need to print a colour/black page or two every week to keep the ink flowing and have never had any head blockages or alignment problems before.
3) What kind of average lifetime should I expect from the ink in the CIS. How long should it be before I must definitely use it and replace with fresh, else cause clogging/damage to the printer?
4) Lastly, before purchasing the CIS, I bought some 125ml bottles of InkTec refill ink to suit the printer. Is it okay to put that in the CIS to top up? I have read that some cheap asian import inks contain high alcohol levels and can therefore damage the sponge in the CIS cartridge among other things. However, this ink wasn't cheap and was bought in Australia through a reputable company. I guess what I'm getting at is that if it's decent ink then it should be okay in the CIS, right? i.e. there's not a special type of ink required for the CIS. I know that most are saying not to mix inks, but isn't that what happens when a cartridge is refilled anyway? For example, say I fit some Canon OEM carts and print until they are 'empty'. But they're not really empty, are they? For a start, the sponge still has a few mills of ink in it and the print head is still wet with ink. Additionally, the Canon chip lies and says they're empty when they really aren't. So, I rip the carts out and refill them with Inktec ink. I've just mixed Canon ink and Inktec ink right there. So, I run them again until they're 1/3rd full and refill them with Calidad ink refill. So, now I have a concoction of Canon, Inktec, and Calidad inks in varying proportions all in the one cartridge. I've already done this example in the printer concerned with only slight colour variation noticed and nothing else. So here's the burning question: Has anyone really seen some kind of chemical reaction to mixing different brands of ink so long as they are both of high quality and the correct ink for the printer concerned, or is that just an assumption?
Oh well, thx in advance for any advice.
