Using ChromaLife100 ink in regular Canon tank printers

[pablo_n]

Hi!
I'm doing some research before buying a new printer. I have almost pulled the trigger on a multifunction Canon G4511 tank printer. I like that it includes an ADF for scanning documents and allows borderless printing.
However, it uses a 4 ink system with regular Canon inks. Reading other forum threads and previous tests, it looks like this ink is not fade resistant.
I have had terrible experience in the past with photos printed with 3rd party inks fading too fast on the walls of family members.

Therefore, I'm considering buying that printer, but ordering also CMY ChromaLife 100 ink bottles (actually, GI-53 bottles for the G650 tank photo printer).
Then swapping the contents of the original GI-590 bottles of the G4511 with the ChromaLife ones and pouring the higher quality ink in the printer.

However, I have some doubts before tackling this process:
- Can a G4511 printer handle the ChromaLife 100 ink properly? or it would damage the printhead?
- Should I be aware of "anti-hacking" mechanisms in these inks? (I have read elsewhere in the forum of clogging issues when mixing other OEM bottled inks. However, I guess that if I use the ChromaLife ink right after buying the printer, as there is no ink mixing, that should not be a problem?)
- Can I just use the CMY inks from the 6-ink set of the G650 in this 4-ink printer and expect a good color gamut and reproduction? (I could adjust a little bit the colours using the printer settings, but I don't own an ICC color profiler and I don't know if the CMY inks, as being designed to be used with a 6 ink set, would provide a worse color gamut when used by themselves than the original inks).
- Can the top of the Canon bottles be easily unscrew? (I wonder if it is easy to swap the contents of the bottles or I will need to use syringes and drill the bottles).

Any comments before I try this experiment would be welcome!

 

[stratman]

Can a G4511 printer handle the ChromaLife 100 ink properly?

Yes, the G4511 can use the better GI-53 dye-based inks. It is ChromaLife 100 ink and has improved fade resistant qualities over the GI-590 non-Chromalife inks. It should not have increased risk of damage to the print head.

Should I be aware of "anti-hacking" mechanisms in these inks?

The forum is unaware of "anti-hacking" mechanisms for these Mega Tank printers. Can you link to posts discussing this particular issue?

Mixing of different inks can present issues for any printer. These may be, but are not limited to, altered color fidelity and reaction that may cause clogging. It is also possible that a Pigment ink using pigment particles larger than the nozzles expect, or cheap Pigment ink that settles out to the bottom of the cartridge, can cause clogging.

Pigment inks generally have good archival properties. ChromaLife inks are only found with certain Canon Dye-based inks, not their Pigment inks. It might be the GI-590 Black will function well, and might be less expensive that a different Pigment Black ink. The GI-53 Black is a Dye-based ink and not Pigment Black. I would not use it in your printer that is designed to use a Pigment Black. You can but text will not be as black, as sharp, and not water resistant.

Know that the Pigment Black ink is primarily used in printing text when Media type is set to Plain Paper. The Dye-based inks are mixed together to make a composite Black when Media type is set to a Photo Paper setting.

Overall, if you are going to use a different ink set with the printer - and money is not an issue - then use the GI-53 Dye-based inks from the start (+/- a different Pigment Black ink)

Can I just use the CMY inks from the 6-ink set of the G650 in this 4-ink printer and expect a good color gamut

Only you will know if it will be satisfactory for your eyes. If not then experiment with the color sliders in the driver to dial in a more pleasing appearance. The ultimate solution is a custom ICC printer profile. There are mail order services that can make you a profile for $.

Can the top of the Canon bottles be easily unscrew?

Don't know. The bottle top geometries may be different and you'll need to use a syringe to transfer ink. Let us know what happens.

Let us know what you chose to go with and how it turns out.

 

[Artur5]

After browsing Canon’s web and taking into account the current prices, I’d say that megatank models using six GI-53 inks are the best choice for multipurpose printers up to A4 size. They must be better for photos than the Maxifys (more inks and smaller dot size ) while keeping good fade resistance thanks to Chromalife 100+ OEM inks.
Maxifys are more office oriented with heavier duty capability, faster printing and they’re waterfast on ordinary paper, which the dye-based printers aren’t, but right now Maxify megatank models are awfully expensive.

Everything considered, if somebody is searching for a single Canon printer to fulfill all the printing/scanning tasks and the budget is below 300 Euro/$, the G650 megatank ( Europe )/G6050 ( N.America) is currently the best option IMHO.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

- Can the top of the Canon bottles be easily unscrew?

I can't unscrew the top from the GI-53 bottles - I tried - it's different to the Epson 106/114 etc bottles; I'm using a syringe and a longer needle with a blunt tip to pull the ink out of the bottles - for test reasons in my case.
Blunt needles and other refill accessories in a wide variety are available at

https://www.octoink.co.uk/tags/blunt-needle

You should be able to get satisfactory results with the color balance of your prints if you test and use color adjustments via the driver, but please be aware that you might need different settings for different types of paper

the ultimate solution is a custom ICC printer profile. There are mail order services that can make you a profile for $.

That would be the next step, but you would need to print from a graphics editor which supports 3rd party icc's, Lightroom or Photoshop would offer these functions.

The GI-53 black is a photo black, not a pigment black, you may select matte/inkjet paper in the driver to get the driver using this black ink, even if you actually would print on glossy paper, mixing black from CMY for glossy paper typically causes a kind of blueish/violett tint in the blacks, but that's all something to test, it's your judgement which modes deliver the best looking prints.

 

[stratman]

GI-53 ... Chromalife 100+

ChromaLife 100 (no +)

I edited my earlier post -- I incorrectly wrote the GI-53 Black as Pigment. GI-53 inks are all Dye-based.

 

[stratman]

The GI-53 black is a photo black, not a pigment black

You are correct. I made the correction before seeing your post.

 

[Artur5]

ChromaLife 100 (no +)

....

OK. I stand corrected, hawkeye stratman.

 

[pablo_n]

Yes, the G4511 can use the better GI-53 dye-based inks. It should not have increased risk of damage to the print head.


The forum is unaware of "anti-hacking" mechanisms for these Mega Tank printers. Can you link to posts discussing this particular issue?

Thanks for all the info! Regarding the possible issues with the ink, I was referring to messages like these:
- https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...ixma-mx492-cartridges-pg-245.11720/post-99209
- https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...ixma-mx492-cartridges-pg-245.11720/post-99245
They first mention that the ink could have too high viscosity or surface tension and then it shows that the cartridge refilled with Canon OEM ink for G-series almost totally clogged and speculates that the ink could have some chemical tricks to prevent its use in other printers.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The information that the GI-53 inks are indeed Chromalife 100 inks is pretty elusive, it is not mentioned in the product descriptions and technical specs of the G550/G650 printer models, it was mentioned in the Canon press release with the announcement of these new printer models that they use Chromalife100 inks.
This triggered me and @maximilian59 to do some testing in this respect as reported here

https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...-fading-test-update-18-june-2021.14742/page-2

The Chromailfe 100+ inks are composed of different ink colors for the Pro-200, but the performance of the 100+ inks vs. the 100 inks is pretty much similar, these are the best dye inks Canon offers you at this time, and the GI-53/Chromalife 100 inks come in bottles at a much lower pricing level than the same ink in cartridges. Just forget the GI-590 inks, they may be slightly cheaper but cannot compare at all in longevity performance.

 

[pablo_n]

After browsing Canon’s web and taking into account the current prices, I’d say that megatank models using six GI-53 inks are the best choice for multipurpose printers up to A4 size. [...]
Everything considered, if somebody is searching for a single Canon printer to fulfill all the printing/scanning tasks and the budget is below 300 Euro/$, the G650 megatank ( Europe )/G6050 ( N.America) is currently the best option IMHO.

Yes, I'm seriously considering also buying that model directly as it would be cheaper than buying the G4511 + ink, less hassle and better photo quality.
The problem for me is that I need a multifunction printer for scanning and printing documents and eventual photo printing for home use and, compared to the G4511, the G650 lacks the ADF as well as black pigmented ink, and it is painfully slow for printing documents (3,9 ipm).
That's why i thought about just using the CMY better inks of the G650 in the other printer.