Which bulk ink vendor should I use??

[speedracer]

Hello all.. I have a Canon MP530 which uses the CLI8 and PGI5 (black cartridge) cartridges. I bought the resetter from Germany and the small ink refill kit that came with it. So far it has worked flawlessly and the ink has worked just fine. However, given the 'currency conversion' and the shipping I would prefer to buy from a vendor on this side of the world. I have read about Inktec, Hobbicolors and Precisioncolors.com. I like many others, want ink that won't destroy my printhead. Therefore, I am NOT looking for the cheapest ink but ink that will be as good if not better than oem ink from a reliable mfgr and supplier that comes in manageable sizes. ANY and ALL help will certainly be most appreciated... THANKS..

 

[jflan]

I am beside myself, tickled happy with Hobbicolors inks.
The products and service are second to none.

There are many happy users of the other two lines you mention, also

 

[on30trainman]

I second the suggestion of Hobbicolor inks. Have been using them for over two years now and have been very pleased. But I do generate printer profiles for the ink/paper combinations I use - I would do this for any inks used.
Again, a happy Hobbicolors customer. His shipping service is excellent.

Steve W.

 

[Smile]

Use InkTec ink very good ink, I've been suing it for 8 years now and no problems. Buy in bulk bottles 1Litre that will save you money. You can't buy 1Liter bottles from Hobbicolor inks I wonder why? I would like to buy red and green myself to test them.

 

[stratman]

Speedracer:

Any of the 3 aftermarket inks will do an excellent job for you. There is not a bad one in the bunch.

You are correct about obtaining manageable amounts of bulk ink. There is nothing wrong with Hobbicolor's not choosing to sell 1 liter bottles of ink, if that's the case. Do you need 1000 ml's of ink over a two year period? Ask yourself, am I going to need 75+ complete refills (not just topping off) of a color every two years? If the answer is no, then you don't need that kind of bulk. The ink has a shelf life and is susceptible to effects of drying and fungal/bacterial (both?) overgrowth like most any liquid exposed to air and kept long enough.

Unless you live somewhere where obtaining inks is very dificult, or you actually need large amounts of ink due to high printing volumes, stick with 2-8 oz per color (1 oz = ~29 ml) as your first purchase to make sure you will like the color output of the ink and that you use the ink within an acceptable time frame. Figure out your usage pattern and this will tell you how much ink to purchase - 13 ml per CLI-8 cartridge and 26 ml per PGI-5 cartridge. Multiply the number of cartridges you use in a year period by the ml amount and purchase bulk ink in that total ml amount. Double the number if you want to stretch your refilling out to 2 years or so on a single purchase. One caveat is that you will invariably use one or more inks in greater amounts that other colors. I used yellow at twice the rate of some other colors so I purchased twice the amount compared to other colors. As my printing output has changed - the major colors required in my images - I now use more Magenta. The important point is that you may need more of one color, and, that the color you use most may change if your image composition changes much. For your first time, don't worry if you don't know your usage patterns. You will soon enough and will buy inks anounts to suit your needs, and this will save you money (ie shipping) in the future.

More facts:

1) No aftermarket ink will be superior to OEM ink. At the very least, OEM ink has better fade resistance. The low cost of aftermarket ink helps offset the additional times you may need to print that image over your lifetime.

2) Additionally, no aftermarket ink is going to match up perfectly the color of the OEM inks. Close, maybe unperceptable to a person's eye at times, but not exact. See Grandad35's excellent thread for more info at http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2681. Casual printers probably are pleased with the aftermarket inks you mentioned without further adjustment. If you want the best from your aftermarket inks, make or purchase an ICC printer profile such as from http://www.cathysprofiles.com/.

3) Any of the aftermarket inks you mentioned can be added to a cartridge still containing OEM ink. If the cartridge has been sitting around then you may want to consider flushing the cartridge before filling with your new ink. This could prevent flow issues if there is dried ink in the sponge, though some are of the mind that dried ink will dissolve in the solvent of the newly added aftermarket ink. I would flush, but some may not, preferring to a "try and see" approach. Flushing is also useful if you are going to make an ICC printer profile and there is residual OEM ink in the cartridge.

So buy any of the 3 aftermarket bulk inks you listed. There is no wrong choice. And if you are not satisfied, change to a different one. No biggie, though you may want to flush your cartridges before using and/or get a new ICC printer profile if you're a stickler for as perfect as one can get with that specific ink.

 

[pharmacist]

Use InkTec ink very good ink, I've been suing it for 8 years now and no problems. Buy in bulk bottles 1Litre that will save you money. You can't buy 1Liter bottles from Hobbicolor inks I wonder why? I would like to buy red and green myself to test them.

Smile,

I tested both inks and must conclude that the Hobbicolors ink has a much better fade resistance than the Inktec CLI-8 compatible series of ink. I can show you scans of both prints I attached to the window facing the sun and let mother nature does her work during two months. I made notes on it with a red marker and those lines faded horribly and so did the printout with Inktec ink as well. The Hobbycolors UW-8 printouts hardly faded and was equal to the original BCI-6 printout.

 

[anddam]

3) Any of the aftermarket inks you mentioned can be added to a cartridge still containing OEM ink. If the cartridge has been sitting around then you may want to consider flushing the cartridge before filling with your new ink. This could prevent flow issues if there is dried ink in the sponge, though some are of the mind that dried ink will dissolve in the solvent of the newly added aftermarket ink. I would flush

How do you flush the empty cartridge?

 

[jflan]

3) Any of the aftermarket inks you mentioned can be added to a cartridge still containing OEM ink. If the cartridge has been sitting around then you may want to consider flushing the cartridge before filling with your new ink. This could prevent flow issues if there is dried ink in the sponge, though some are of the mind that dried ink will dissolve in the solvent of the newly added aftermarket ink. I would flush

How do you flush the empty cartridge?

Many carts by their design will never get flushed, the preferred Canons are very easy to flush.
I don't mix OEM and aftermarket inks, although my supplier (Hobbicolors) says it's OK.
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=311

 

[stratman]

How do you flush the empty cartridge?

The following is a reprint of a post I did sometime ago. The part about glue I copied from another poster, whom I don't remember, but they deserve the credit.



C) Cartridge Purging

Purging a cartridge entails running water through the cartridge to flush out old ink. It is useful if you change inks and do not want a mixture of previous brand ink with new brand ink, crud inside the cartridge, the cartridge is old and ink has dried up on the sponge which could impede ink flow, or there are streaks or missing ink when printing from poor ink flow out the cartridge for a yet unknown reason(though this could be a printhead issue).

A text version on purging cartridges using Grandad's Method is at http://www.nifty-stuff.com/canon-BCI-6-cartridges.php

Here is the equipment I put together for purging Canon CLI-8 and PGI-5 cartridges that evolved from that discussion:

Purging unit parts from Hope Depot.

1) 3/8" inner diameter clear vinyl tubing (outer diameter 1/2"), 3 feet ~$1.00 worth.

2) One Sweeper Nozzle, Model 56171 at Home Depot, $2.97 (similar to but with some plastic: http://lawn-garden.gillroys.com/Hoses_ &_Sprinklers/Hose_Nozzles/ BRASS_SWEEPER_ NOZZLE-s761223.html) . This screws onto my utility sink's threaded fawcet like a typical garden hose would.

3) One Hose Clamp 7/32" to 5/8" to secure #1 to #2.

4) 2mm hole drilled into the top of the spongeless area next to the edge of the decal (near where the ball is located) to let the purge water out.

The flexible tubing easily fit around the exit port of the cartridge. Warm water washed the sponge clean in well under one minute and I have no ink on my hands. I held onto the cartridge and directed the purge stream down the drain hole, but any ink in the sink washed completely out without staining.

D) Glue Gun Use For Sealing Purge Hole

1) Let the glue gun heat up to the proper temperature. This will cause a lot of waste glue to drip out on some guns, but the glue you do shoot will be hot enough to get he job done.

2) Don't use really old gluesticks that have "spoiled".

3) Use the right kind of gluestick, don't use wood glues for plastic cartridges for example.

4) Make sure the glued area is clean. Wipe off ink residue and peel away old glue if refilling a previously glued cartridge. It also helps to slice drill residue off the hole with a razor blade, as the plastic shreds can interfere with sealing.

5) Glues have different "open times" so allow the right amount of time for the glue to set.

6) For sealing holes on drilled cartridges, shoot a tiny glob to plug the hole, let sit for a few seconds, then shoot a secondary "sealing glob" over the plugged hole. Press the sealing glob flat with a flat heat resistant metal object. It helps to use a non-stick spray on your pressing object to prevent glue from sticking to it. I have found this method to be very effective in preventing leaks.

7) To remove the plug for later refilling, simply use a small needlenose pliers and peel off/pull out the glue.


There are other ways to seal the purge hole, such as using Stainless Steel Screws with O-Rings or Hobbicolors Silicon Seal Plugs (http://cgi.ebay.com/Plugs-for-refil...hZ003QQcategoryZ99319QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem).

A couple of threads to look at concerning closing fill/purge holes can be see at http://www.nifty-stuff.com/sealing_canon_bci6.php and http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=10216#p10216.

 

[Smile]

Any of the 3 aftermarket inks will do an excellent job for you. There is not a bad one in the bunch.

You are correct about obtaining manageable amounts of bulk ink. There is nothing wrong with Hobbicolor's not choosing to sell 1 liter bottles of ink, if that's the case. Do you need 1000 ml's of ink over a two year period? Ask yourself, am I going to need 75+ complete refills (not just topping off) of a color every two years? If the answer is no, then you don't need that kind of bulk. The ink has a shelf life and is susceptible to effects of drying and fungal/bacterial (both?) overgrowth like most any liquid exposed to air and kept long enough.

Well in my are a bottle with 500ml costs almost 2x than a 1L bottle. So even if I don't need the amount of ink. I still buy it as it's great value, I sell some to my friends who a happy to buy it as they refill too.

Unless you live somewhere where obtaining inks is very dificult, or you actually need large amounts of ink due to high printing volumes, stick with 2-8 oz per color (1 oz = ~29 ml) as your first purchase to make sure you will like the color output of the ink and that you use the ink within an acceptable time frame. Figure out your usage pattern and this will tell you how much ink to purchase - 13 ml per CLI-8 cartridge and 26 ml per PGI-5 cartridge. Multiply the number of cartridges you use in a year period by the ml amount and purchase bulk ink in that total ml amount. Double the number if you want to stretch your refilling out to 2 years or so on a single purchase. One caveat is that you will invariably use one or more inks in greater amounts that other colors. I used yellow at twice the rate of some other colors so I purchased twice the amount compared to other colors. As my printing output has changed - the major colors required in my images - I now use more Magenta. The important point is that you may need more of one color, and, that the color you use most may change if your image composition changes much. For your first time, don't worry if you don't know your usage patterns. You will soon enough and will buy inks anounts to suit your needs, and this will save you money (ie shipping) in the future.

Shelf life 2 years, don't be funny. Ice cream has shelf life of 2 years and is a dairy product. If you keep your inks in a dry place tight in bottle nothing to worry for 5 years minimum.