Why no Prism in the Cartridges

[The Hat]

The PGI-9 cartridge has being off the radar for a while now but considering how easy
these cartridges are to fill why didnt Canon put a prism into them.

All of the Canons cartridges have had one so was there a reason for the big change and then
revert back just as quick and put one back into the latest cartridges.
Is there a problem with these PGI-9 cartridges or chips that we dont know of?
I would advise anyone using them to change them early and not wait for the empty warning notice to pop up
just in case the cartridge had emptied earlier and burned out the print head.
This could very easily happen as the chips are not the best at monitoring inks..

 

[mikling]

Why no prism? Well, don't forget that the Pro95000 was delayed for quite a while before it was actually released for production ( over a year I believe). Why? I don't know but my suspicion centers around the cartridge. The PGI-9 is actually I think an expensive cartridge to manufacture. The internal spring diaphragm must be very very precise.

I have no facts to go on, but the delay I think is that the cartridge was redesigned many times before final release. Nothing else on the printer is really unique to the line at the time it was introduced considering the Pro9000 uses much of the same parts on the body and paper handling. I suspect that this spring diaphragm regulates the pressure so well that the ink draw is consistent across colors regardless of ink levels in the cartridge. This then allowed the engineers enough precision to be comfortable without the prism. A key reason why these OEM carts are the only safe option IMO. The same cannot be said for the "sponge based" printers where the prism is necessary.

From an engineering standpoint, with the direction of travel of the diaphragm, a prism would not be possible as well. Add it up and you can see what the issues they faced....and it all points to trying to share tooling with the 9000 to minimize costs and still offer a pigment option.

The other aspect to also clue into was that this was the first generation of chips and the CLI-8 codes also work for the PGI-9. They did not bother to engineer a whole new line. Why? was it because the development budget was already over the top? so they took codes and tooling off the shelf?

One day I will attempt to place a CLI-8 chip on a PGI-9 and see what happens. Maybe someone can beat me to it.

I also tried using some pigment ink for the PGI-9 on CLI-8s. Nothing but flow problems with the OEM carts.

All interesting speculation.

 

[The Hat]

mikling
The other aspect to also clue into was that this was the first generation of chips and the CLI-8 codes also work for the PGI-9.
They did not bother to engineer a whole new line. Why? was it because the development budget was already over the top?
so they took codes and tooling off the shelf?

I will have to agree with your theory on these chips I mean why put in 8 old chips and only two new ones it definitely looks like it was done for cost reasons.
The same chip resetter works on both the PGI-9s and the CLI-8s so I went and done the test.

One day I will attempt to place a CLI-8 chip on a PGI-9 and see what happens. Maybe someone can beat me to it.

I put an old grey PGI-9 cartridge fitted with the CLI-8 chip from a cyan cartridge into
the cyan position in the print head and you guess it correctly again it worked perfectly.

I also tried using some pigment ink for the PGI-9 on CLI-8s. Nothing but flow problems with the OEM carts.

I also tried the pigment inks in some of my CLI-8s and PGI-5 cartridges and they failed one my one too.
I have to say that the 9500 is the best printer Ive had yet its just a dream to work with and never gives any problems, filling the cartridge is just a breeze..

 

[WolfgangExler]

I put an old grey PGI-9 cartridge fitted with the CLI-8 chip from a cyan cartridge into
the cyan position in the print head and you guess it correctly again it worked perfectly.

From this experience one can assume that refillable CLI-8 cartridges can be used instead of PGI-9 carts.

Have you tried this?

Wolfgang

 

[The Hat]

WolfgangExlerFrom this experience one can assume that refillable CLI-8 cartridges can be used instead of PGI-9 carts.

Have you tried this?

Wolfgang

No CLI-8 cartridges will not work in the Pro 9500 at all.
My test was to see if a PGI-9 cartridge would still work while using a chip from the CLI-8 cartridge and not the cartridge itself.

I would also strongly recommend only using OEM cartridges with the Pro 9500.

 

[WolfgangExler]

Just for info:

I don't own a Pro 9500. And I would not use CLI-8 cartridges in this printer. What I had in mind was to use Refillable CLI-8 cartridges and use Lucia compatible third party inks from LFP ink suppliers.

But just an idea, nothing more

Wolfgang

 

[mikling]

outlets don't fit. Period.

 

[WolfgangExler]

outlets don't fit. Period.

Ah, this I did not know.

Thanks

Wolfgang

 

[The Hat]

Just for info:

I don't own a Pro 9500. And I would not use CLI-8 cartridges in this printer. What I had in mind was to use Refillable CLI-8 cartridges and use Lucia compatible third party inks from LFP ink suppliers.

But just an idea, nothing more

Wolfgang

There are no refillable cartridges that work properly on the 9500 at all so
the only safe and reliable way to print with this machine is with OEM cartridges.

The printer takes 10 different colours and apart from I.S. I dont know of any other ink supplier
that can supply all of these colours, I know that LFP ink suppliers cant..