What is best option for a Canon MP610

[NickC]

Have already had Canon Engineer in twice and they claim nothing wrong, however I did get a spare set of cartridges from them.

So it looks like the ink preference is:
Pigment-black - KMP or MIS(Image Specialists) or possibly Hobbiecolours
Dye-colours - Hobbiecolours or Inktec

Thanks for your suggestions.

Regarding the ball in the top, I wonder if compressed air into the outlet spong would be enough to pop it out.

Nick

 

[fish]

I have tried Inktec and Hobbicolors. I found Hobbicolors dye inks very good and without clog problems. My comments are that the pigment black seems to bleed more than Inktec (with the same paper) and the colors are quite off (Canon MP830). I manually change settings - boost the Cyan, reduce magenta and yellow, and change intensity to -2. These settings give decent results. Inktec gave colors close to OEM but faded quite rapidily. I will be trying Image Specialists Pigment and dye to see how it compares.

NickC - compressed air to pop out ball does not sound like a good idea. Something will probably fail before the ball pops (also, I don't know how you would seal the vent).

 

[nche11]

I manually change settings - boost the Cyan, reduce magenta and yellow, and change intensity to -2.

That's quite a bit of color adjustment. Boosting Cyan is equivalent to reducing both Yellow and Magenta. It is the same thing. You need to do one, not both. If you adjust the intensity by -2 you are reducing all CMY colors. It's unusual that you have to make such a drastic adjustment on a good set of ink.

Regarding the ball in the top, I wonder if compressed air into the outlet spong would be enough to pop it out.

Don't touch that ball. It is fitted in there quite tight. It is also larger than necessary. I drilled another hole next to it (about 5mm away from it) and used plugs from Hobbicolors to plug it up after refilling. It works extremely well and it is very easy to do. It is completely beyond me why people are still tampering the ball and making a mess out of it.

 

[pharmacist]

Don't touch that ball. It is fitted in there quite tight. It is also larger than necessary. I drilled another hole next to it (about 5mm away from it) and used plugs from Hobbicolors to plug it up after refilling. It works extremely well and it is very easy to do. It is completely beyond me why people are still tampering the ball and making a mess out of it.

How do you prevent ink leaking out of the exit hole when filling into the ink compartment from the top ? I allways suffer from leaking on my newspapers or on my fingers when using this method. I tried everything and the problem is that the sponge will be oversaturated with the top filling method and most people FORGET to squeeze out 5-10 drops out of the cartridge to obtain the necessary negative pressure inside the cartridge. This pressure balance is necessary to have your printer printing flawlessly without banding.

On the long term squeezing repeatedly will cause rapid material fatique with increased risk of cracking of the cartridge wall and leaking.
You know I favour the German durchstich method, because of all these problems and it autobalances the optimal pressure inside the cartridge.

 

[nche11]

How do you prevent ink leaking out of the exit hole when filling into the ink compartment from the top ?

I use the original orange cap to cover the large exit hole. Inside the cap there is a silicone seal. It is a very good seal. I simply use a rubber band to wrap around the cartridge to keep it in place. It never leaked for me. The rubber band does not need to be very tight at all. I can not imagine why you have a problem sealing the exit hole. This is a simple part of the refilling process.

I tried everything and the problem is that the sponge will be oversaturated with the top filling method and most people FORGET to squeeze out 5-10 drops out of the cartridge to obtain the necessary negative pressure inside the cartridge. This pressure balance is necessary to have your printer printing flawlessly without banding.

On the long term squeezing repeatedly will cause rapid material fatique with increased risk of cracking of the cartridge wall and leaking.

I never had problems in over-saturating the sponge. I always fill the reservoir tank about half first. Then I cover the vent on the top of the main chamber with my thumb then fill the other half of the reservoir tank. I hold the cartridge with my thumb and index finger of my left hand during refilling. So I only need to move my thumb a little to cover the vent. I never needed to milk the sponge afterwards. This process can be done in 2 minutes per cartridge. The plugs from Hobbicolors are a little small. But after a few rounds of refilling I can plug the ink fill hole in a few seconds.
I believe this is easier then the German method. But sealing the ink fill hole is extremely critical. You have to do it right or the ink will leak.