update: printer refill numbers - was 983 refills, now 2,000 refills. much thanks to this site and its members

[jimbo123]

been a while, quick update. just cleared 2,000 refills, been refilling using the German method for 15 years now, much thanks to the members here.

a bit of a refilling dinosaur and printer hoarder here, currently refilling MX870s/MP980s that use the PGI220/CLI221 ink carts, with several stockpiled, that i picked up for $59 back in the day

i had been refilling a 16 year old MX700 for a friend, but when they upgraded to WIN10 it stopped working. it sat for 3 years in a closet, they were going to toss it out, so i said bring it back and let me take a shot. the ink carts where shot, so i put in a set of new PGI5/CLI8s, used old print head and it has been working for the past year or so. those ink carts are larger and clear on both side, easier to refill. i am using it now as my main printer, build quality is on the IP4500/MP830 level.

lot of fun and savings over the years, much thx to this forum and it's helpful/friendly members

J

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• Active Printers: MX700, MX870, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Past Printers: MP830
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: first Hobbicolors, then OCP, now ASPEN
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[pharmacist]

Did you need to flush the cartridges on a regular base to ensure good ink flow and if so: after how many refills do you need to flush the carts from your experience for both dye and pigment ink cartridges ?

 

[jimbo123]

pharmacist

first big thx for your post back in 2009, along with a German video below started me on this refilling journey, see

https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...thod-for-the-pgi-520-cli-521-cartridges.3806/

well, i have never flushed an ink cart over my 2,000 refills. i used to keep track of how many refills before an ink cart needed to be replaced. it was not uncommon to get 80-100 refills on a single ink cart. my record for a PGI5(pigmented ink) is 237 refills before it needed to be replaced.

might have been luck over the 16 years, but may have something to do with the fact that i only use one set of ink carts and the best quality ink i can find.

when one cart needed to be refilled, i remove all ink carts, reset them, refill/top them off and put back into use. my rationale is that the ink carts are always active with constant ink flow.

J

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• Active Printers: MX700, MX870, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Past Printers: MP830
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: first Hobbicolors, then OCP, now ASPEN
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[Smile]

Aspen inks are USA manufactured? All i see is dyesub inks.

 

[avolanche]

Did you need to flush the cartridges on a regular base to ensure good ink flow and if so: after how many refills do you need to flush the carts from your experience for both dye and pigment ink cartridges ?

I have been refilling a 2016 Pro 100 with precision Color's ink and using the same 2 sets of cartridges for the entire 7 years (same printer/printhead and only 2 sets) and have never needed to flush! I'm not an extremely high volume user, but I've gone through many 500 sheet reams of paper. I top refill, never let carts run dry, etc. Just normal care as most suggest. Just lucky? I don't know.

 

[wilko]

This is interesting. Would be useful if posters could state how many pages have been printed. Automatic duplex printing must pay a role in the the longevity of a printer just because of the extra strain placed on the rollers. In the early days the loss of a IP4000 printer seemed like a disaster but throughout the years we have become accustomed to printer failings, I've experienced fairly new printheads failing just by turning the printer on. Yet other printers seem to go on and on. My own personal experience of Canon printers has been largely positive. The exception being the IP7250. Not the usual printhead problems but auto duplex roller failings. I am left with 3 perfectly good printheads and 3 printers that have been junked due to feed problems. Same problem with the MG 52250. What a piece of junk that series was. never known such a noisy printer.
Love to see members like avolanche still refilling carts. That's what this forum was all about, Still doing my bit with my Ip4700, Ip4850, MG6250 TS705 and Ix6850 but have moved onto the G550 just for photo printing.
Please keep posting inkjet refilling experiences and keep this forum alive.
Oh the IP4000 printer. What a machine that was. No chip problems and you could refill the cartridges time after time,

 

[Stormlight]

I started refilling with my old Canon BJC-210 in 1995 or so? Can't remember but I was still in high school at the time. My Pro 100 that I got 3 years ago I've refilled 30 times or so and I just got a Pro 10 that I'm also going to refill. Thanks goodness for Precision Color because I wouldn't be able to afford to print otherwise!

What after market inkset are you using? I read again you are using PC inkset. I am having poor luck with cyan. I thought I had bad batch from PC so I bought another set. Same issue. I cannot get more than 3 refills before cyan goes partially clog but cannot be unclogged. Lost 3 printheads already. The issue happen after printing photos and sit idle for 1 day. I print nozzele check everytime after I print a photo to ensure no clog. Also, what is the firmware of your printer? All of Pro-100s I got were delivered with firmware 2.001.

Edit; Funny thing is a while back I got a Pro-100s from a guys on Craigslist with PC refill kit. He was getting partial clog with cyan too. He ended up giving up sold me his Pro-100s with the clog printhead, a brand new sealed printhead, and the refill kit for $80. I am glad you are having good luck with it! I ready to recycle all my Pro-100 and the spares in the storage unit. I will take my loss!

Btw, all my refilled are top filled and majority of reputable refill kit sellers are top filled. I wonder if that is more prone to inkflow issue? I see that you/pharmacist use this method. Jose Rodriguez uses top filled too but he is having a good run. Anyone maintaining a filling streak with top filled? Also for future, maybe it is worth it to not rinse the cartridge? Or maybe the damage in the sponge from German Durchstich method helps ink flow better?