UK MP560 in the US- How do I get ink?

[Mike gallagher]

My 560 was purchased in the UK.
I moved back, replacing the cartridges is ruinously expensive to purchase and ship.
So in the US the MP 560 uses CLI221. The printer uses CLI521.
Can I refill? Do I need to rechip 221 cartridges from 521 cartridges?
What about the large PG520 cartridge.

Help, I like the printer, I don't want to have to buy a new one.
Mike G

 

[websnail]

Hi Mike,

The easiest thing to do would be to go with refilling. We get a lot of the same thing but in reverse happening here in the UK with US citizens or returning students, etc, who brought their printer with them and hit the exact same issue.

If you want to rechip then 520/521 empties are easy to come by either through stores like mine or through keeping an eye out for them on ebay.co.uk. Plenty come up on the latter and you might bag a bargain.

Does that help?

 

[Mike gallagher]

Thanks, some remaining question. I don't have to worry about different ink types PG vs. CLI? Or dye vs. pigment?
Also I have some 521s I brought with me. Hopefully they will work. Will I need to flush them?

 

[websnail]

If you mean are the PGI520 inks different from the PGI220 inks then the answer is a definite no. To give you an idea, the 5 in 520 denotes UK and Europe sales zone while the initial 2 in 220 is for North America. It's just designed to sell the ink to the markets at prices that suit each.

Same applues to the x21's, etc..

Flushing is only really necessary if they've dried out or have flow issues. Certainly not required unless your ink seller otherwise stipulates.

Turning in for bed now but trust that gets you started..

 

[Mike gallagher]

Excellent! Thanks and Good night!

 

[Mike gallagher]

So I had my Cannon 521 ink cartridges refilled at a CostCo- They use a machine so it flushes the old ink.
I switched out the Cyan cartridge. I got a message saying it did not recognize that cartridge. Is this expected? Is there a rest or work around?

 

[websnail]

So I had my Cannon 521 ink cartridges refilled at a CostCo- They use a machine so it flushes the old ink.
I switched out the Cyan cartridge. I got a message saying it did not recognize that cartridge. Is this expected? Is there a rest or work around?

Two possible reasons.

1. The cartridge chip was reset but I'm guessing you have very deliberately told them NOT to do that so unlikely.
2. The printer has recognised (via the prism) that the cartridge has now been refilled and is claiming a faulty cartridge.

If it's option 2 then it should be allowing you to continue to use the cartridge if you accept all manner of dire portents of doom. Anything like an option to continue appearing?

 

[Mike gallagher]

Well I did not talk about reseting at all. I did explain that the '5' referred to the region and that the cartridges are the same as 221s. It was refilled by a machine which flushed the old ink.
After I got the error message I did not see anything saying 'continue'. I was hoping there was a trick or work around that was known for Cannon.

 

[PeterBJ]

Changing the printer's region from service mode won't change the region of cartridges needed. PGI-520/CLI-521 will still be needed.

But I remember some old posts reporting that an original redsetter was able to change the cartridge region, so a region 2 cartridge was changed into a region 5 cartridge, or it might have been the other way around.

Edit: I found a thread reporting that the cartridge region conversion actually works. See this.

 

[Mike gallagher]

Thanks, I will check the link. but what confuses me is the only thing that changed is where I got the ink.

I am using a region 5 printer and region 5 cartridges! They were refilled in region 2.
Does refilling change the region setting? I hope not.

Not sure what Websnail is referring to about the printer using a a prism to detect a cartridge has been refilled and showing a fault. But, if there is a way to get the printer to accept it by acknowledging warnings or such THAT would be helpful. I see no choices, just a fault not recognizing the cartridge.

BTW the link is a good one but does not address my immediate problem. I may need to exchange or reset the chips BACK to region 5 or I may try it with some 221 cartridges I have.