generic inks

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bill

Hi All, I have a 9 mos. Canon IP 3000 and works like a charm. Great support
from company. Anyway, I use generic inks and haven't had many problems in
the past. My print head just clogged up and had to be replaced under
warranty. The repair tech said it was due to the generic inks. I mentioned
to him that Staples pushes the generic ink when I bought it and of course
the generic ink supplier says it is a bogus excuse.

My question is the obvious: are generic inks safe?

Also, I keep my printer and extra ink cartridges in a non-air conditioned
home and it gets hot upstairs. Does this affect the ink flow?

tks all


bw
 
bill said:
Hi All, I have a 9 mos. Canon IP 3000 and works like a charm. Great support
from company. Anyway, I use generic inks and haven't had many problems in
the past. My print head just clogged up and had to be replaced under
warranty. The repair tech said it was due to the generic inks. I mentioned
to him that Staples pushes the generic ink when I bought it and of course
the generic ink supplier says it is a bogus excuse.

My question is the obvious: are generic inks safe?

Also, I keep my printer and extra ink cartridges in a non-air conditioned
home and it gets hot upstairs. Does this affect the ink flow?

tks all

bw

What about humidity? Where do you live?
 
bill said:
Hi All, I have a 9 mos. Canon IP 3000 and works like a charm. Great support
from company. Anyway, I use generic inks and haven't had many problems in
the past. My print head just clogged up and had to be replaced under
warranty. The repair tech said it was due to the generic inks. I mentioned
to him that Staples pushes the generic ink when I bought it and of course
the generic ink supplier says it is a bogus excuse.

My question is the obvious: are generic inks safe?

This is at least an inteligent question.. questioning whether or not
the same issue would happen with other inks. It's hard to say. The
offical canon numbers sugest 10 cartridge changes before the head hits
end of life. But regardless it's wise to go with an ink that is used
by others. For example I can say for a fact I changed my color
cartridges 12 to 13 times on my ip3000 using bulk ink from
www.inksupply.com. I print on CDs mostly, 836 of them in fact, and cd
printing is rougher on heads. The head was replaced out of warranty
for free and the printer is currently in use by a friend. The gasket
between the nozzles seemed to fail after several deep cleans.

My MP760 worked for about the same period of time, though it's on it's
second head change. It used OEM ink all the time, as mostly used for
photos, and the black was rather clogged. I "suspect" because I was
printing in color that the big black didn't get cleaned as it should
and through the months it just clogged up. It's banding was much more
serious than the ip3000.

While I can believe that using 3rd party ink can affect the life of the
print head, there is really no accurate way an end user can measure it,
not without printing identical things on identical printers. I can't
say I didn't have issues with my printers, but the evidence would
sugest that the issues I experenced were though lack of use and not the
ink it self.

I have switched switched to hobbicolors due to it's low cost and the
fact they carry ink for my new printer.
 
bill said:
Hi All, I have a 9 mos. Canon IP 3000 and works like a charm. Great support
from company. Anyway, I use generic inks and haven't had many problems in
the past.
right on schedule :-D
My print head just clogged up and had to be replaced under
warranty. The repair tech said it was due to the generic inks. I mentioned
to him that Staples pushes the generic ink when I bought it and of course
the generic ink supplier says it is a bogus excuse.

My question is the obvious: are generic inks safe?
they are safe until your next clog and that will be very soon
Also, I keep my printer and extra ink cartridges in a non-air conditioned
home and it gets hot upstairs. Does this affect the ink flow?

it should not make any difference
 
zakezuke said:
This is at least an inteligent question.. questioning whether or not
the same issue would happen with other inks. It's hard to say. The
offical canon numbers sugest 10 cartridge changes before the head hits
end of life. But regardless it's wise to go with an ink that is used
by others. For example I can say for a fact I changed my color
cartridges 12 to 13 times on my ip3000 using bulk ink from
www.inksupply.com. I print on CDs mostly, 836 of them in fact, and cd
printing is rougher on heads. The head was replaced out of warranty
for free and the printer is currently in use by a friend. The gasket
between the nozzles seemed to fail after several deep cleans.

My MP760 worked for about the same period of time, though it's on it's
second head change. It used OEM ink all the time, as mostly used for
photos, and the black was rather clogged. I "suspect" because I was
printing in color that the big black didn't get cleaned as it should
and through the months it just clogged up. It's banding was much more
serious than the ip3000.

While I can believe that using 3rd party ink can affect the life of the
print head, there is really no accurate way an end user can measure it,
not without printing identical things on identical printers. I can't
say I didn't have issues with my printers, but the evidence would
sugest that the issues I experenced were though lack of use and not the
ink it self.

I have switched switched to hobbicolors due to it's low cost and the
fact they carry ink for my new printer.

Tks so much everyone for input. I started deep cleaning regularly and right
after a deep clean, my head clogged up, strange phenomenon to say the least.
The humidity is high in upstate NY also. Will try Can and generic now I
guess, too bad for these problems.
\
tks again


bill
 
bill said:
Tks so much everyone for input. I started deep cleaning regularly and
right after a deep clean, my head clogged up,

Curious, why do you do the deep cleaning on a regular basis? I though that
was only if you had problems printing.
 
bill said:
Hi All, I have a 9 mos. Canon IP 3000 and works like a charm. Great support
from company. Anyway, I use generic inks and haven't had many problems in
the past. My print head just clogged up and had to be replaced under
warranty. The repair tech said it was due to the generic inks. I mentioned
to him that Staples pushes the generic ink when I bought it and of course
the generic ink supplier says it is a bogus excuse.

My question is the obvious: are generic inks safe?

Also, I keep my printer and extra ink cartridges in a non-air conditioned
home and it gets hot upstairs. Does this affect the ink flow?

tks all


bw
Staples ink for Canons is not considered "generic". The term "generic"
implies that the ink will work in any brand and any model printer, which
obviously, is not the case.
The correct term for the ink you're using is "non-oem branded ink".
Also there is absolutely no proof at all that "non-oem branded ink" will
damage or destroy any print head.
Frank
 
bill said:
Tks so much everyone for input. I started deep cleaning regularly and right
after a deep clean, my head clogged up, strange phenomenon to say the least.
The humidity is high in upstate NY also. Will try Can and generic now I
guess, too bad for these problems.

Well... deep cleaning is not something you should do often, only as
needed. But keep in mind that printheads are like light bulbs, like
1600 light bulbs. They will eventually burn out. And it's not like
you can actually tell when a clog is a clog and when the nozzle heater
is fried, well not without an ohm meter and even then I don't have a
diagram of the interface.

You "can" go OEM if you like. Replacement ink will run you about $52
or so. Or you can go aftermarket and spend much less. A head will run
you $60 to $80 for that printer. If buying bulk ink so long as you use
two full sets of cartridges or more and you have to replace the head,
the cost is cheaper than $52 a pop.

Regular use seems to be the key, at least from my limited Canon
experence. It's when I went for long periods of time without printing
text documents that my black nozzles started to clog. I *know* the
printer has auto cleaning cycles if you don't use the printer, but I
*suspect* that when doing lots of photos and no text documents the
printer's auto cleaning didn't kick in. I also *know* my mp760's clog
was much more serious, and my ip3000 got so much use it was officaly
"end of life".
 
Frank said:
Staples ink for Canons is not considered "generic". The term "generic"
implies that the ink will work in any brand and any model printer, which
obviously, is not the case.
The correct term for the ink you're using is "non-oem branded ink".
Also there is absolutely no proof at all that "non-oem branded ink" will
damage or destroy any print head.
Frank

It's hard to say. The
offical canon numbers sugest 10 cartridge changes before the head hits
end of life.

Am I misreading this and not understanding? Is Canon saying that one
would only get 10 cartridge changes before one needs a new printhead for
their printer? I read this a couple days ago and thought it was a misprint,
but now I'm reading it again and still am in disbelief.
 
Jan said:
Am I misreading this and not understanding? Is Canon saying that one
would only get 10 cartridge changes before one needs a new printhead for
their printer? I read this a couple days ago and thought it was a misprint,
but now I'm reading it again and still am in disbelief.

Canon does not say "10 cartridge changes". This is what Says

"1-3. Product Life <printhead and printer, identical numbers>
Specified print volume (I) or the years of use (II), whichever comes
first.
18,000 pages
Black 1,500 character pattern 7,200 pages
Color A4, 7.5% duty per color pattern 5,400 pages
A4, photo, borderless printing 300 pages
4 x 6, photo, borderless printing 3,600 pages
Postcard, photo, borderless printing 1,500 pages" -ip4000 service
manual page 1-2

"Ink tank (target value)
PIXMA iP4000:
BCI-3eBK: 740 pages (1,500 character pattern, plain paper / standard
mode)
1,500 pages (ISO JIS-SCID No. 5 / plain paper / standard mode)
BCI-6C: 550 pages (ISO JIS-SCID No. 5 / plain paper / standard mode)
BCI-6M: 430 pages (ISO JIS-SCID No. 5 / plain paper / standard mode)
BCI-6Y: 360 pages (ISO JIS-SCID No. 5 / plain paper / standard mode)
BCI-6BK: 2,000 pages (ISO JIS-SCID No. 5 / plain paper / standard
mode)" -ip4000 service manual page 1-3

I'm too lazy to do the number crunching again, but just looking at the
black, which is easy..... 7200 pages @ 740 pages per cartridge = 9.73
cartridges. Elementery.

Now... this is not to say one can't get more than 10, i've heard as
high as 20. I also got a i550 recently which reported about 9000
pages, which odds are that's closer to 18 cartridges than 12, and it's
an older printer.
 
is not oem and not factory recommended. next question

snip as recommended
snip for brevity
 
Edwin Pawlowski said:
Curious, why do you do the deep cleaning on a regular basis? I though
that was only if you had problems printing.
Cleaning is always better I thought when you deep cleaned anything. I run
the dishawasher at hi temps to super clean the glasses type of thing.

Too bad Canon can't come out in manuals with specifics on this.

bw
 
bill said:
Cleaning is always better I thought when you deep cleaned anything. I run
the dishawasher at hi temps to super clean the glasses type of thing.

Too bad Canon can't come out in manuals with specifics on this.

I also tend to use the deep clean cycle of the dishwasher, but there
are some things which I can't deep clean for fear of ripping the paint
right off it. But it's rather like using super clean to clean the
inside of the dishwasher, it's all well and good unless you have a
marginal dishwasher.

I'm the first to say I don't know much on this subject, i've only
actually "owned" a canon product for a year. I suspect that a marginal
head which has experenced end of life type use will start to suffer if
you deep clean it too many times. And the fact that a clog *I believe*
can result in a burn out of a nozzle as the ink is part of the system
of cooling. Usually the auto cleaning cycles are more than enough to
cover any clogging which will happen during normal lack of use, but you
still will eventually burn out the head, or the gaskets will eventually
fail.

But all of this is academic, the cost of printing is there and abouts
of $1.50 above and beyond a given cartridge assuming 10 cartridge
changes. You may get more, odds are you will. This is bad as you
gotta shell out $60 to $80 every so often, but good in the fact that
you "can" shell out $60 to $80 and everything is good as new.

Someone should publish a better cleaning guide... maintance the end
user can do to keep their heads in tip top condition, rather than
blindly hitting deep clean, which IIRC it's 3 times that canon makes
you hit it before they automaticly replace the head.
 
bill said:
Cleaning is always better I thought when you deep cleaned anything. I
run the dishawasher at hi temps to super clean the glasses type of
thing.

For inkjet printers cleaning is generally *not* better. Reasonable
printers automatically do the amount of servicing required to keep
nozzles healthy. Running extra cleaning cycles on a regular basis has
several downsides: it uses lots of ink and can clog the service station
or cause it to fill up.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Bob said:
For inkjet printers cleaning is generally *not* better. Reasonable
printers automatically do the amount of servicing required to keep
nozzles healthy. Running extra cleaning cycles on a regular basis has
several downsides: it uses lots of ink and can clog the service
station or cause it to fill up.


that is true but generic ink users do not have a choice. they will get
a clog anyway.
 
Frank said:
Staples ink for Canons is not considered "generic". The term "generic"
implies that the ink will work in any brand and any model printer, which
obviously, is not the case.
The correct term for the ink you're using is "non-oem branded ink".
Also there is absolutely no proof at all that "non-oem branded ink" will
damage or destroy any print head.
Frank

I think "universal" is the term for ink that's supposed to work in any
printer. "Generic" means there is no brand name on the package. A
"brand" doesn't have to be OEM, despite what our resident troll will
tell you. "LD Products" is a brand. "Hobbicolors" is a brand. "Staples"
is a brand. "4inkjets" is a brand. "Inktec" is a brand. I could go on
and on, but you'll be glad to hear that I won't.

As with any product, some aftermarket brands are better for specific
purposes than others. Use the recommendations of this ng as a starting
point, and experiment on your own to find what's best for you.

TJ
 
besides wasting tons of ink (of concern if you use OEM ink), you fill the
waste ink pad more quickly. You will then have to take the printer to a
service center, or disassemble the printer yourself to clean it and reset
the waste ink tank counter, or simply reset it and leave the pad in its
saturated condition.
 
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