Ink problem - Canon IP 4000

[MaryT]

What has worked for me on BJC 6000 and pixma 4200. Small bowel that
printhead can balance on its face in. Add about 2 inches of near boiling
water and ammonia (3-4:1). after rinsing printhead nozzles through the
inside sponge under briskly flowing hot water from faucet until existing
ink is rinsed out (maybe 5-10 minutes), set nozzle part of printhead into
ammonia solution (it will well up to where sponges are on the inside of the
head. Let sit overnight. Rinse well with fresh water. Pat dry with paper
towel, insert promptly into printer with ink cartridges and "deep clean" a
couple of cycles. Check nozzle pattern.

I will keep your suggestions in mind if my present problem doesn't get
solved. I'm working on it today and the print head is soaking in about 1/2
inch hot water.

This worked for me. I did not let electrical contacts sit overnight in the
ammonia but did not work about getting them wet when rinsing the printhead.
They dry off easily.

I think you meant to say above "did not worry about getting them wet"?
instead of "did not work".

Mary

 

[MaryT]

Mary - I responded to several of your posts before you bought the ip4000.
The dry outlet sponge is a clue! Have you left the printer idle for a
while? Take that cart out and gently blow into the air vent while holding
the cart over a sink or wastebasket with old papers in it. You should only
have to blow gently to get it to drip from the outlet. If you have to blow
on it very hard to make it drip the cart is not feeding properly. As I
recall, you were using aftermarket carts from Staples(?). I don't know the
quality of these carts, but you can get a bad one. I've even seen posts
about an occasional defective Canon OEM cart. If you have to blow more than
gently to get the cart to drip you need to replace the cart. You may have
clogged or damaged the printhead while trying to print with a poorly feeding
cart. As far as the cleaning is concerned, you can start with just sitting
your printhead in a small container of hot water from the tap with some
toweling paper at the bottom of the container. You don't want to drowned
the printhead - just a quarter inch of water over the paper will do.

<snipped)

Burt, but just to let you know, I took out all the carts and blew into each
one gently. (Now I know what the small hole is at the other side of the
cart. where the bigger ink hole is). The small hole is an air hole I found
out. I didn't know what it was for. When I blew into the magenta cart. I had
to blow a little bit harder to get ink to come out, but ink did come out. I
blew into the small black cart and the double size one (the IP 4000 has two
blacks), and had to blow into the small one a bit harder also like the
magenta one. I could blow more gently into the yellow and blue carts to get
the ink out. In all cases, ink did come out, but magenta and small black
were ones I had to blow slightly harder. Its hard to judge what is a gentle
blow and what is blowing a lot

I took the print head out and put it in a small plastic bowl I don't need
and put a part of a paper towel at the bottom and put hot water into the
bowl covering the paper towel about 1/2 inch which is well below the
contacts. I will keep changing the water a few times this afternoon and do
the rest of your suggestions. If that doesnt work when I put the print head
and carts back in, I could try the ammonia/windex you mentioned. How much
ammonia and windex? I asked you some other things in my last message, but
you can ignore most of them as I found out things myself once I took the
carts and print head out.

Mary

 

[MaryT]

You never know, it can sometimes be that simple. good luck anyway. BTW
I am assuming you're using Canon carts? After using some compatibles I
started getting that sort of problem and went back to the real thing,
it was just better than going through the hassle.

I've always used STaples compatibles for the IP4000 and also an IP 1500
Canon I had before this which I gave to my daughter, and this is the first
problem I've had so far. So unless I never saw a need to change when the
Staples brand carts worked OK. But if I continue to have problems, I may
need to think about using Canon brand.

Mary

 

[MaryT]

Bingo!! You need to toss them out and get some Canon tanks. The Staples
inks are serious crap. They may be clogged inside the tank itself, or have
clogged the head. I'm a user and believer in compatible inks, but not
Staples. You should start by replacing all these tanks, and hope the head is
salvageable.

I can only speak for myself but till now (if the ink carts are the problem
which I don't know yet) I've never had trouble with Staples cartridges. I
used them on my IP1500 for a few years and gave that printer to my daughter
who still uses it. I've been using Staples compatibles for two years on my
IP4000 and this is the first problem. Staples have been selling their
compatible cartridges for years, and if they got a lot of complaints, I
would think they would have stopped stocking them. I know people who use
them and they have never mentioned problems. But if I continue to have
problems, I may have to change to brand name if need be.

Mary

 

[Paul Heslop]

I've always used STaples compatibles for the IP4000 and also an IP 1500
Canon I had before this which I gave to my daughter, and this is the first
problem I've had so far. So unless I never saw a need to change when the
Staples brand carts worked OK. But if I continue to have problems, I may
need to think about using Canon brand.

Mary

I'd certainly try it before ditching the machine or changing the head.
It can make a difference.

 

[MaryT]

The IP1500 is a completely different print engine, and uses different ink.

I used Staples compatible inks with it and they still sell Staples
compatibles for the IP 1500.

Staples uses tanks from the lowest bidder, so the ink can, and often is,
different from one batch to the next. At best, it's the cheapest ink money
can buy. If you want decent compatible inks, go online. I use
www.alotofthings.com , and recommend the G&G tanks. I'm 75% sure that your
trouble is due to the inks you are using.

I don't know if you are right or wrong, because I don't know what the
problem is yet, but why would Staples inks be OK in my IP 4000 for the past
2 years? Wouldn't this problem have come up before now? I've used plenty
ink carts by now.
www.alotofthings.com above does not ship outside of the US. I am in Canada.
Many US sales sites do not ship outside the US.

Even if the head is clogged, it
may be salvageable. If it's not salvageable, the IP4000 is worth getting a
new head for. In any case, you really should replace the Staples tanks
completely before proceeding.

I will have to see.

Mary

 

[measekite]

DanG wrote:

I use Staples compatible carts,


Staples calls them compatible but they really are not since the word compatible is meaningless.&nbsp; Staples non OEM carts have been known to cause problems.&nbsp; I have mentioned this before.&nbsp; People who do not listen have trouble.&nbsp; There is an old saying:


Fool me once
Shame on you
Fool me twice
Shame on me

I love saying I told you so.&nbsp; There are some in this ng who just do not believe me.

One person in this ng posts as TJ

His situation is difference.

He refills an HP cart with an integrated printhead.&nbsp; If it clogs there is no loss.&nbsp; He also prints mostly throwaway documents according to my understanding of what he does.&nbsp; So there it is no biggie if it fades.&nbsp; He claims he has not had leakage issues.&nbsp; Others have but not everybody.&nbsp; He claims he does not mind the nuisance of refilling and that is worth his time.&nbsp; So for him, as long as he does not need TOP HP quality it works.


so shouldn't matter if I was to buy a new printhead. But would have to be sure that would solve the problem. Thanks for your suggestions Lou. I think I will try Burt's suggestions for now. Yours sounds like a bit more things to do though seems to work for you. I don't know enough about the problem I have or what exactly the cause is. I have used Staples brand ink for last 1.5 -2 years I've had the printer. (I'll have to look at my receipt to see when I bought it) but its over a year anyway. Staples ink has worked fine before, so far at least and I used is also in my Canon IP1500. Mary



Bingo!! You need to toss them out and get some Canon tanks. The Staples inks are serious crap.


I have been saying that for a long time.&nbsp; You cannot even find out the name of the ink they sell.


They may be clogged inside the tank itself, or have clogged the head. I'm a user and believer in compatible inks


Since they do not exist I am not.&nbsp; Besides the ink vendors will not tell you what they are selling.&nbsp; Many are offering the same exact thing under different names and some are selling them under different websites.&nbsp; That is the same thing and the same organization all under different names.&nbsp; This makes it almost impossible to track quality and issues.


, but not Staples. You should start by replacing all these tanks, and hope the head is salvageable.

 

[MaryT]

I'm sorry because sometimes my mind and my fingers and mouth don't work in
perfect sync. I know what I mean but don't make it clear, so sorry for any
confusion. I also don't know the technical names for some of the things I
am trying to say.

I wasn't sure of the names of things either, so its probably not you.

I did mean that the printhead has little screen filtered holes in the top of
it where each of the ink cartridges set. There is one filtered hole that is
bigger than the rest and that is the one the pigment black cartridge sets
on. The smaller ones are where the colored cartridges set. I just use an
eyedropper and put hot water on top of these and let it drain down through
the printhead. You can tell when the ink is out because it doesn't leave a
stain on the paper towel anymore. It's really quite easy. Sorry if I made
it sound hard.

You didn't make it sound hard. It was me who hasn't done this before and not
sure what everbody meant. I put hot water in the printhiead today with a
paper towel at the bottom as Burt said, and after I took the printhead out,
things made more sense. I have two black cartridges. One slot is for a wide
black one and the other black is a narrow cart, the same width as the
colored carts. I used a dropper too, and soaked the printhead for several
hours, but I noticed the magenta colour nozzle seems to still have some very
pale pink on the hole. If I have time, I will put the printhead back in and
try it later.

I like the hot water because I'm kind of afraid of using chemicals that
would corrode something inside the printhead or harm the contact points. It
may be that there is nothing to be harmed inside the printhead but I've
never taken one apart to see how it's made. Caution is good. I've really
had minimal clogging issues anyway, so I've only removed the printhead a few
times over several years use.

I have never had clogged problems, but at least now that I got suggestions
and instructions here, I have learned something new and will know what to do
if it happens again, which I hope it doesn't.

I don't like using repeated cleaning cycles via the printer because from
what I've read it can burn the printhead up if some of the nozzles are
clogged. I had a piece of paper feed wrong this morning because I had too
much paper in the paper tray of the printer which is my fault. It crinkled
the edge of the paper and when I ran a nozzle check later a couple of my
pigment black nozzles appeared to be plugged, so I ran a cleaning cycle (via
the printer) on the black pigment alone and it fixed the problem. Sometimes
I don't think all clogged nozzles are due to dried ink. If you don't get a
cartridge seated right or something like that then the ink doesn't feed into
the printhead. There are other things besides generic ink that cause
problems. I love generic ink! I've had really good luck with it although I
generally refill my cartridges. I don't know anything about Staples ink.

Well, Staples ink has been ok. I've used this printer on a regular basis for
2 years and this is the first problem. .

Mary

 

[Burt]

(snip)

I took the print head out and put it in a small plastic bowl I don't need
and put a part of a paper towel at the bottom and put hot water into the
bowl covering the paper towel about 1/2 inch which is well below the
contacts. I will keep changing the water a few times this afternoon and do
the rest of your suggestions. If that doesnt work when I put the print
head
and carts back in, I could try the ammonia/windex you mentioned. How much
ammonia and windex? I asked you some other things in my last message, but
you can ignore most of them as I found out things myself once I took the
carts and print head out.

Mary

Mary - The original Windex has enough ammonia in it already. No need to add
any. You can add just a little denatured alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol at
the pharmacy) to the windex although one of the major components of Windex
(after water) is alcohol. How long to soak? You want to see the ink
percolate up into the ink intake where the carts sit when you pump the
printhead up and down in the liquid. Sounds like your Black and Magenta
carts are suspect. I'd forget about how much ink is still in them and put
new ones in after cleaning the printhead. A cart can feed well enough to
print a nozzle test pattern but not well enough to deal with the additional
demand while printing a picture.

 

[MaryT]

I agree with putting new cartridges in and trying them. I've had a couple
of new cartridges over the years that wouldn't feed ink through them right.
I threw them away and installed new ones and everything worked right. I buy
non OEM, use the ink in them and then refill the cartridge myself. If they
have been in the printer several months you could buy a complete new set of
cartridges for around $10.

Maybe $100.00 ? Where can you buy a complete set of cartridges for an IP
4000 for $10.00? You can't even buy one cartridge for that price in Staples
Canada or Staples U.S. I checked prices this afternoon at Staples Canada and
Staples US just to compare prices:

Staples Canada
Canon set - $81.00 Can. ) -+13% tax
Staples set -$68.50 Can. ) -+13%

Staples US site
Canon set - $61.95 US
Staples set - $57.15

I would pay almost $20.00 more for a Canon set at Staples Canada than you
would pay in the US for exact same thing. I would pay $11.00 more for a
Staples set here than in the US. Also, there is only $5.00 between Staples
brand and Canon brand at Staples US site, but $13.00 difference in Canada.
Also, the Canadian dollar is on par or close to it, with the US
dollar for over a year but our prices are still the same as when our dollar
was 70 cents to US dollar. You US guys are lucky to have such good prices
for most of your products and have a lot of variety we don't get. But you
have 10 times the population of Canada, which means more competition and
more variety=better prices.

If that didn't fix the problem, save the caps
from the new cartridges and put the caps back on the cartridges. Depending
on what kind of caps they are you might have to fasten them to the cartridge
with a rubberband. I would also put scotch tape over the top of the
cartridges to cover the vent hole and then store them in ziplock bags. You
wouldn't be out any money because you could always use those cartridges
later when you get your problem fixed.

I am not sure what you mean. I still would have to get the problem fixed and
in the meantime, have to pay $90.00 for a new set of Canaon cartridges?

Also, I've never had a cartridge that didn't have to have a small piece of
seal/tape (whatever you want to call it) removed at the top end of the
cartridge. The cartridge has instructions on it. Mine says, "Please remove
the packing tape." It has an arrow on the tape and says, "Pull." That
removes tape on the top end of the cartridge and uncovers a small vent hole.
It has to have the hole uncovered for the ink to flow through the cartridge
right.

Yes, All cartridges have yellow seal tape and say someething about please
remove tape. They are all individaully sealed in clear plastic packages.
They also have hardplastic orange covering over top of the cartridge. and
the bottom I think. I forget and don't have any new ones to check.

I haven't looked lately but I think you can buy a new Canon printhead for
around $40 off of EBAY. Just do a search for it if you can't get your
printhead to print right.

Mary

 

[Mary]

Mary - The original Windex has enough ammonia in it already. No need to add
any. You can add just a little denatured alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol at
the pharmacy) to the windex although one of the major components of Windex
(after water) is alcohol. How long to soak? You want to see the ink
percolate up into the ink intake where the carts sit when you pump the
printhead up and down in the liquid. Sounds like your Black and Magenta
carts are suspect. I'd forget about how much ink is still in them and put
new ones in after cleaning the printhead. A cart can feed well enough to
print a nozzle test pattern but not well enough to deal with the additional
demand while printing a picture.

Burt, the printhead cleaning I did this afternoon helped, but things are not
quite right yet. Looks like magenta cart was the main problem or the print
head is clogged with magenta. Not sure. When I put the printhead in the bowl
I pushed it up and down gently a lot of dark ink came out for a while, but
not much magenta, but after a few changes of hot water and pushing the
printhead up and down, magenta started to come out. Eventually, all holes in
printhead seemed to be clear of color, but
still traces of magenta in the magenta hole. I let the printhead sit for
several hours and changed the hot water several times. I put the printhead
back in printer tonight and did a couple of deep cleanings. I printed a
couple of color pictures from a site which I printed before which had some
red in the picture.The red in picture was much the same as the one from the
other day, but a bit lighter in color in the red area and had a small band
of orange in the middle of one red area. The black still looked a little
lighter than before.I printed a nozzle test and red looked a bit paler than
it should be.Then I printed another color picture and the dark background
showed about three vertical bands of green -one at top, middle and bottom.
That is new. I ran the status monitor and it showed low black ink
level.Maybe it was starting to get low when the magenta acted up. The status
monitor can show cart full one minute, and later the same day can be down to
less than a quarter even if you don't print much.There is not much warning.
The black one thats low is the wide black 3eBK, all other colors are BCI
6BK, 6M etc. Is the wide black cartridge for printing text or is it for
black color in photos?

I don't see much point in cleaning with Windex for now. I didnt know that
Windex had ammonia in it. I use Windex for cleaning windows so always have
it. I have Isopropyl rubbing alcohol 70% USP if I need it later. I may as
well get a new magenta and black (the wide black one only comes 2 in a pak).
Then I will see if the printer is OK again (I hope) Thanks for your good
instructions Burt. I'll let you know.

Mary

 

[Lou]

Maybe $100.00 ? Where can you buy a complete set of cartridges for an IP
4000 for $10.00? You can't even buy one cartridge for that price in
Staples
Canada or Staples U.S. I checked prices this afternoon at Staples Canada
and
Staples US just to compare prices:

Staples Canada
Canon set - $81.00 Can. ) -+13% tax
Staples set -$68.50 Can. ) -+13%

Staples US site
Canon set - $61.95 US
Staples set - $57.15

I would pay almost $20.00 more for a Canon set at Staples Canada than you
would pay in the US for exact same thing. I would pay $11.00 more for a
Staples set here than in the US. Also, there is only $5.00 between Staples
brand and Canon brand at Staples US site, but $13.00 difference in Canada.
Also, the Canadian dollar is on par or close to it, with the US
dollar for over a year but our prices are still the same as when our
dollar
was 70 cents to US dollar. You US guys are lucky to have such good prices
for most of your products and have a lot of variety we don't get. But you
have 10 times the population of Canada, which means more competition and
more variety=better prices.

I live in the United States and I just looked at the Abacus Private Store
which I have bought from before. $1.55 for the 4 colors and $1.75 for the
black pigment ink. If you buy them in multiples the price is even less. I
know this company sells on EBAY too. I've bought directly from the company
and also off of EBAY. I just found their website on EBAY and they do ship
to Canada too. Here is what it says: Shipping and handling Canada $7.99 for
first item and $2.99 for each addt'l item. An item is defined as 1 bid.
Like this item I was looking at was 40 various color & black cartridges and
it counts as 1 item. It was designed for the IP4000 (16 black +24 color).
The price was $59.99. I would never buy that many cartridges because I
mainly refill. I have ordered from this company several times and I've also
ordered from another company but I can't remember the name. I get my refill
ink from A Lot of Things.com. Abacus's seller rating is 99.4%. I am in no
way affiliated with this company other than as a customer. I would post the
link but it's probably forbidden to do that. If it's OK to post a link,
someone let me know and I'll do it.

I am not sure what you mean. I still would have to get the problem fixed
and
in the meantime, have to pay $90.00 for a new set of Canaon cartridges?

I just meant that you could save the new cartridges if they didn't fix the
problem and use them later when you got your printhead fixed or if you had
to buy a new printhead. The ink cartridges wouldn't be wasted because you
could still use them. However if you bought a new printer that used chipped
cartridges, then you wouldn't be able to use them.

I looked for a new printhead for your printer on EBAY. They have it for
$40.70 plus shipping and ships to Canada too. The site says they are Canon
authorized and certified with a 99% rating. I know you can get the
printheads directly from Canon too. I bought mine from EBAY but I can't
remember the seller. I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that after
I read your most recent posts and the things you've tried it sounds like you
probably will have to buy a new printhead. They do sell cleaning cartridges
on Abacus but I've never used them and don't know how well they work. I've
saved so much on generic ink that I could afford to buy several printheads
from the savings.

I don't know if you have to pay any kind of import tax to order from the US
or what the exchange rate difference is. You would probably know. I hope
this clears up the confusion. Yes, you can buy the ink for $10, shipping
might make it a little more.

 

[MaryT]

I'll say it again, every batch of Staples inks are different, from different
suppliers. It's a crap shoot whether it will be good. Similarly, the tanks
themselves may be recycled and re-filled. Suit yourself, but I would never
dream of feeding that fine printer Staples inks.

Once again, I've bought many carts of all colors of Staples carts over the
last 2 years, and this is the first time I've had a problem. That is pretty
good odds. Anyway, I consider every and all suggestions..

Mary

 

[Burt]

(snip)
Burt, the printhead cleaning I did this afternoon helped, but things are
not
quite right yet. Looks like magenta cart was the main problem or the print
head is clogged with magenta. Not sure. When I put the printhead in the
bowl
I pushed it up and down gently a lot of dark ink came out for a while, but
not much magenta, but after a few changes of hot water and pushing the
printhead up and down, magenta started to come out. Eventually, all holes
in
printhead seemed to be clear of color, but
still traces of magenta in the magenta hole. I let the printhead sit for
several hours and changed the hot water several times. I put the printhead
back in printer tonight and did a couple of deep cleanings. I printed a
couple of color pictures from a site which I printed before which had some
red in the picture.The red in picture was much the same as the one from
the
other day, but a bit lighter in color in the red area and had a small band
of orange in the middle of one red area. The black still looked a little
lighter than before.I printed a nozzle test and red looked a bit paler
than
it should be.Then I printed another color picture and the dark background
showed about three vertical bands of green -one at top, middle and bottom.
That is new. I ran the status monitor and it showed low black ink
level.Maybe it was starting to get low when the magenta acted up. The
status
monitor can show cart full one minute, and later the same day can be down
to
less than a quarter even if you don't print much.There is not much
warning.
The black one thats low is the wide black 3eBK, all other colors are BCI
6BK, 6M etc. Is the wide black cartridge for printing text or is it for
black color in photos?

I don't see much point in cleaning with Windex for now. I didnt know that
Windex had ammonia in it. I use Windex for cleaning windows so always have
it. I have Isopropyl rubbing alcohol 70% USP if I need it later. I may as
well get a new magenta and black (the wide black one only comes 2 in a
pak).
Then I will see if the printer is OK again (I hope) Thanks for your good
instructions Burt. I'll let you know.

Mary

If hot water has helped a lot but you still think there is some ink clogged
in the Magenta and black nozzles, do the windex soak with a bit of added
alcohol and drip the same solution into the intake screens in the printhead.
The MSDS (shows ingredients) for original windex didn't show the ammonia
percentage - it must be little more than a trace amount as you can smell it.
Ammonia can be fairly destructive in moderate to large concentrations, and
I've never used it except to add to a cleaning solution for some household
tasks. It really does work better than hot water if the clog is resistant
to clearing with hot water. The person responding to you about the Staples
carts is correct in that companies do change vendors or vendors change ink
suppliers without notifying the consumer. I don't know it Staples has done
this but it is not unheard of. For that reason I have refilled my original
OEM Canon carts with known manufacturer's ink obtained online for nearly
five years. The other issue is that the price differential between Canon
OEM carts and Staples carts is not as great as refilling. I think that my
cost per refill is somewhere around $1. There is a fellow in Canada that
sells bulk Image Specialist inks at a very modest price for these printers.
I know that he had a family member who was ill a few months ago, and I don't
know if he curtailed his business or is back in business again, but if you
want to go the refilling route he would be a good choice. Another vendor of
bulk inks for refill would be Hobbicolor. I'm quite sure they ship to
Canada. I do remember, in our posting "conversations" before you bought the
ip4000, that you were set against refilling. There are carts available
online for much less than Staples. I would be reluctant to buy by price
from ebay, but there are some vendors I would trust like Alotofthings and
MIS.

 

[Mary]

If hot water has helped a lot but you still think there is some ink clogged
in the Magenta and black nozzles, do the windex soak with a bit of added
alcohol and drip the same solution into the intake screens in the

printhead.

I am not sure if there is ink clogged or not or if the three green bands I
told you about last night which suddenly appeared after the cleaning when I
printed a color picture which was on a website and I had printed the same
picture from the same website before, so it was good for comparison. The
three green bands were not there before when I printed the same picture.
Anyway, maybe I will try windex with a bit of alcohol and see what happens.

The MSDS (shows ingredients) for original windex didn't show the ammonia
percentage - it must be little more than a trace amount as you can smell it.
Ammonia can be fairly destructive in moderate to large concentrations, and
I've never used it except to add to a cleaning solution for some household
tasks.

I know ammonia is very strong and I can't remember the last time I used it
or why I bought it.

It really does work better than hot water if the clog is resistant
to clearing with hot water. The person responding to you about the Staples
carts is correct in that companies do change vendors or vendors change ink
suppliers without notifying the consumer. I don't know it Staples has done
this but it is not unheard of.

Whatever the case with STaples, I can only go by my own experience or how
else can I judge? And I bought the IP4000 just over 2 years ago and in that
time I've bought nothing but STaples compatibles and there is 5 separate
carts I have to buy so say I bought 40 or more in 2 years, and never had a
problem, that doesn't seem a bad record to me. You can have that happen even
with Canon brand carts. I do consider what others say then try to decide.
Thats what we all do.

For that reason I have refilled my original
OEM Canon carts with known manufacturer's ink obtained online for nearly
five years. The other issue is that the price differential between Canon
OEM carts and Staples carts is not as great as refilling.

Canon carts are about $20.00 more than STaples cart for a complete set. I
consider that to be significant difference in price, thoughnaturally, not if
its not good the printer, but I am not convinced of that at the moment.

I think that my

cost per refill is somewhere around $1. There is a fellow in Canada that
sells bulk Image Specialist inks at a very modest price for these printers.
I know that he had a family member who was ill a few months ago, and I don't
know if he curtailed his business or is back in business again, but if you
want to go the refilling route he would be a good choice. Another vendor of
bulk inks for refill would be Hobbicolor. I'm quite sure they ship to
Canada.

I went to Hobbicolor website and couldn't see any information about
shipping. Maybe they are revising their site. It seems to me when I looked
at their website one time previously they did not ship outside the US.

I do remember, in our posting "conversations" before you bought
the ip4000, that you were set against refilling.

To tell you the truth, I just can't be bothered. Getting carts even though
you pay more is more convenient and not have to fiddle around with putting
inks in cartridges. Refilling ink is not for everybody.

There are carts available
online for much less than Staples. I would be reluctant to buy by price
from ebay, but there are some vendors I would trust like Alotofthings and
MIS.

Alotofthings don't ship outside the US. I checked MIS but had to dig for a
while to get any shipping information and it just says depends on weight of
the package but seems to send by US Postal. UPS is out of the question. Its
very expensive to ship by UPS or any other counrier to Canada. US postal is
by far the cheapest and are efficient. I also have to watch total amounts to
be paid.We are only allowed $20.00 as exemption for products imported into
Canada. If over that amt. its 13% tax plus $5.00 to post office for
delivery. So there are are various things to consider. But the prices of the
carts seems reasonable, so something to think about.

I am trying the windex/alcohol now. I only put small amount of rubbing
alcohol in the bowl. I will leave it for quite a few hours.

Mary

 

[Lou]

Single sets of carts is $8.00 plus $7.00 shipping =$15.00. But even if I
bought there, I would buy more than one set, but wouldn't try any more
than
the 10 pack to keep the price under $20.00 for Customs tax purposes. I
don't
know what to think of Abacus. Their prices are very cheap, but sounds
almost
too good to be true, but maybe they are good. I really don't know. only
way
to find out would be to try, and I'm not sure about that. I'd have to
think
about it.
Thank you for looking up the information about Abacus and checking Ebay.

Mary

I wouldn't have recommended Abacus if I didn't use them myself. I mostly
buy them, use the ink in them, then refill the cartridges. I don't refill
the cartridges for my son's computer, I just buy cartridges. I have used
Abacus and before that Rainbow brand, but I can't remember where I bought
the rainbow, but I liked Abacus better. I thought the Rainbow had sort of a
green cast, but not too bad. I think if you do a search that you will find
that Abacus is well thought of. Also they have a high user rating on EBAY.
I have ordered them from EBAY and from the Abacus Private Store. They are
what I use myself besides refilling.

I would never buy 40 cartridges because they might grow old before I used
them and because some cartridge colors empty faster than others. That just
happened to be the webpage I had up and that is why I told you the prices
from that page.

By generic ink I meant anything not OEM. I am picky about the ink I buy. I
buy it specifically made for my printer and from certain sellers. Refilling
is easy. I generally recap the empties and tape the top, put them in a bag
and wait until I need to do all colors, then I refill several at once. I
just use a hot glue gun to reseal the top. It's easy or I wouldn't be doing
it. I do believe that the color is a little better when I refill versus
buying generic cartridges. The main benefit is the pigment cartridge. A
lot, maybe even most, BCI 3e generic cartridges are not pigment black. You
have to read carefully. If I buy refill ink then I can make sure that I am
refilling them with pigment ink. It's something I watch carefully when I
order the ink because I have been sold photo black ink as pigment ink. I
guess pigment costs more to manufacture and some sellers interchange the two
for cost purposes. For refill ink I like MIS and A LOT OF THINGS. I have
bought some Hobbi Colors for my Pro 9000 but haven't tried it yet.
Hobbicolors is highly recommended by other users so I have high hopes for
it. It was the only place I could find that sold all 8 colors for my Pro
9000. I've read a lot of posts that recomment G&G cartridges for the Canon
but I haven't tried them myself. There is a forum called "Nifty Stuff" or
something like that and it has a lot of good refill and generic cartridge
advise.

I do believe there is a difference in the BCI 3e ink used in my two
different printers. I can even tell it on the test patterns. I use my
IP5000 printer mainly with refill ink, and like I said I buy generic
cartridges for my sons i860. I am sure the BCI 3e generic cartridges are
not pigment black and I know my refill ink for BCI 3e is. I can definitely
see the difference in the test patterns between the two printers. The black
on the i860 just isn't as dark. The i860 is predecessor to your IP4000 and
uses the same printhead. Maybe there are other reasons for the differences
between the printers, not just the pigment ink used for text. I like the
IP5000 so well that I paid an exorbitant price for a used one off of EBAY
for back up or parts if mine ever quits. It is my main printer. I've heard
the IP4000 is just as good.

 

[measekite]

Lou wrote:

Single sets of carts is $8.00 plus $7.00 shipping =$15.00. But even if I bought there, I would buy more than one set, but wouldn't try any more than the 10 pack to keep the price under $20.00 for Customs tax purposes. I don't know what to think of Abacus. Their prices are very cheap, but sounds almost too good to be true, but maybe they are good. I really don't know. only way to find out would be to try, and I'm not sure about that. I'd have to think about it. Thank you for looking up the information about Abacus and checking Ebay. Mary



I wouldn't have recommended Abacus if I didn't use them myself. I mostly buy them, use the ink in them, then refill the cartridges. I don't refill the cartridges for my son's computer, I just buy cartridges. I have used Abacus and before that Rainbow brand, but I can't remember where I bought the rainbow, but I liked Abacus better.




I thought the Rainbow had sort of a green cast, but not too bad.


You get much better quality with Canon.


I think if you do a search that you will find that Abacus is well thought of. Also they have a high user rating on EBAY. I have ordered them from EBAY and from the Abacus Private Store. They are what I use myself besides refilling. I would never buy 40 cartridges because they might grow old before I used them and because some cartridge colors empty faster than others. That just happened to be the webpage I had up and that is why I told you the prices from that page. By generic ink I meant anything not OEM.


That is correct.&nbsp; I have been saying that all along.


I am picky about the ink I buy. I buy it specifically made for my printer and from certain sellers.




Refilling is easy.


It is a mess and a nusiance.


I generally recap the empties and tape the top, put them in a bag and wait until I need to do all colors, then I refill several at once. I just use a hot glue gun to reseal the top. It's easy or I wouldn't be doing it. I do believe that the color is a little better when I refill versus buying generic cartridges. The main benefit is the pigment cartridge. A lot, maybe even most, BCI 3e generic cartridges are not pigment black. You have to read carefully. If I buy refill ink then I can make sure that I am refilling them with pigment ink. It's something I watch carefully when I order the ink because I have been sold photo black ink as pigment ink.




I guess pigment costs more to manufacture and some sellers interchange the two for cost purposes.


See you never know what you are getting.


For refill ink I like MIS and A LOT OF THINGS. I have bought some Hobbi Colors for my Pro 9000 but haven't tried it yet. Hobbicolors is highly recommended by other users so I have high hopes for it. It was the only place I could find that sold all 8 colors for my Pro 9000. I've read a lot of posts that recomment G&amp;G cartridges for the Canon but I haven't tried them myself. There is a forum called "Nifty Stuff" or something like that and it has a lot of good refill and generic cartridge advise.


The bottom line is that you never know what you are getting from the corner cutters.


I do believe there is a difference in the BCI 3e ink used in my two different printers. I can even tell it on the test patterns. I use my IP5000 printer mainly with refill ink, and like I said I buy generic cartridges for my sons i860. I am sure the BCI 3e generic cartridges are not pigment black and I know my refill ink for BCI 3e is. I can definitely see the difference in the test patterns between the two printers. The black on the i860 just isn't as dark. The i860 is predecessor to your IP4000 and uses the same printhead. Maybe there are other reasons for the differences between the printers, not just the pigment ink used for text.




I like the IP5000 so well that I paid an exorbitant price for a used one


Real good judgement.&nbsp; A fine example to follow.


off of EBAY for back up or parts if mine ever quits. It is my main printer. I've heard the IP4000 is just as good.

 

[MaryT]

I wouldn't have recommended Abacus if I didn't use them myself. I mostly
buy them, use the ink in them, then refill the cartridges. I don't refill
the cartridges for my son's computer, I just buy cartridges.

I have used
Abacus and before that Rainbow brand, but I can't remember where I bought
the rainbow, but I liked Abacus better. I thought the Rainbow had sort of a
green cast, but not too bad. I think if you do a search that you will find
that Abacus is well thought of. Also they have a high user rating on EBAY.
I have ordered them from EBAY and from the Abacus Private Store. They are
what I use myself besides refilling.

So you sometimes use Abacus compatible cartridges and sometimes refill them
with ink? Just curious, what make ink do you use?

I would never buy 40 cartridges because they might grow old before I used
them and because some cartridge colors empty faster than others. That just
happened to be the webpage I had up and that is why I told you the prices
from that page.

I guess I started at the other end - the single cartridges which were $1.55.

By generic ink I meant anything not OEM. I am picky about the ink I buy.

Is OEM the manufacturers cartridges? Is generic ink bulk ink for refilling
cartridges? Some of these terms confuse me a little. I know what compatible
cartridges are, or if I was to buy cartridges made by Canon, I would just
say Canon ink cartridges.

I
buy it specifically made for my printer and from certain sellers. Refilling
is easy. I generally recap the empties and tape the top, put them in a bag
and wait until I need to do all colors, then I refill several at once. I
just use a hot glue gun to reseal the top. It's easy or I wouldn't be doing
it.

I'm sure its ok but I wouldn't have the patience to put ink in different
carts and use a glue gun. Just doesn't appeal to me.
But each to his/her own. I'll stick with cartridges which are already
filled.

I do believe that the color is a little better when I refill versus
buying generic cartridges.

Is that cartridges you buy which are already filled with ink when you buy
them? how are they different from compatible cartridges that you can buy?

The main benefit is the pigment cartridge. A
lot, maybe even most, BCI 3e generic cartridges are not pigment black. You
have to read carefully.

On the subject of BCI 3eBK, thats one of the black cartridges I use. Its a
wide size black - 30 mls. The other black is 15 mls and is BCI 5BK. I was
wondering which one prints text and which one is used when priting photos? I
don't know which carts are pigment and which are not.

If I buy refill ink then I can make sure that I am

refilling them with pigment ink. It's something I watch carefully when I
order the ink because I have been sold photo black ink as pigment ink. I
guess pigment costs more to manufacture and some sellers interchange the two
for cost purposes. For refill ink I like MIS and A LOT OF THINGS. I have
bought some Hobbi Colors for my Pro 9000 but haven't tried it yet.

Alot of things only ships to the U.S. and I think Hobbicolors is the same,
at least it was a while back.
I don't know about MIS.

Hobbicolors is highly recommended by other users so I have high hopes for
it. It was the only place I could find that sold all 8 colors for my Pro
9000. I've read a lot of posts that recomment G&G cartridges for the Canon
but I haven't tried them myself. There is a forum called "Nifty Stuff" or
something like that and it has a lot of good refill and generic cartridge
advise.

I do believe there is a difference in the BCI 3e ink used in my two
different printers. I can even tell it on the test patterns. I use my
IP5000 printer mainly with refill ink, and like I said I buy generic
cartridges for my sons i860. I am sure the BCI 3e generic cartridges are
not pigment black and I know my refill ink for BCI 3e is. I can definitely
see the difference in the test patterns between the two printers. The black
on the i860 just isn't as dark. The i860 is predecessor to your IP4000 and
uses the same printhead. Maybe there are other reasons for the differences
between the printers, not just the pigment ink used for text. I like the
IP5000 so well that I paid an exorbitant price for a used one off of EBAY
for back up or parts if mine ever quits. It is my main printer. I've heard
the IP4000 is just as good.

There is certainly a lot of ins and outs about different inks, different
cartridges, generics, pigments, dyes, etc. Its like a whole other field that
comes up after you buy a printer. The IP4000 is a good printer. I bought it
not long before it was discontinued but paid more for it than I would have
done a few months earlier and by chance only found it at one store. I had
given up finding it by then. When I posted here 2 years ago, Burt and Zazuke
(sp).don't see him her now, and Tony and a couple of others here I can't
remember their names, all said the IP 4000 was a good printer and that was
much of the reason I looked for it..
Thanks for the information. I might think about Abacus. I wonder how they
can sell cartridges so cheap and get some profit.
Actually, I prefer buying cartridges at a store in my area as its a lot
easier than waiting for stuff in the mail, but if you save enough money and
the product is good, I guess thats what you have to do.

Mary

 

[Paul Heslop]

I am trying the windex/alcohol now. I only put small amount of rubbing
alcohol in the bowl. I will leave it for quite a few hours.

Mary

It's true that some 'compatible' carts are awful. Since Printrite, or
whatever they were called, bit the dust I haven't found any in the UK
I'm l00% happy with. My son has an Epson though and some of the cart
brands that are not good for me work fine for him. I suffered all
sorts of blockages and tried the real thing out of desperation, and it
was such a joy to just pop them in and they worked straight away and
keep working til they run out. Having said that I do use compatible
blacks, but only from one or two companies and i keep an eye on
quality etc in case they change suppliers.

 

[Lou]

So you sometimes use Abacus compatible cartridges and sometimes refill
them
with ink? Just curious, what make ink do you use?

Is OEM the manufacturers cartridges? Is generic ink bulk ink for refilling
cartridges? Some of these terms confuse me a little. I know what
compatible
cartridges are, or if I was to buy cartridges made by Canon, I would just
say Canon ink cartridges.


I'm sure its ok but I wouldn't have the patience to put ink in different
carts and use a glue gun. Just doesn't appeal to me.
But each to his/her own. I'll stick with cartridges which are already
filled.


Is that cartridges you buy which are already filled with ink when you buy
them? how are they different from compatible cartridges that you can buy?


On the subject of BCI 3eBK, thats one of the black cartridges I use. Its a
wide size black - 30 mls. The other black is 15 mls and is BCI 5BK. I was
wondering which one prints text and which one is used when priting photos?
I
don't know which carts are pigment and which are not.

If I buy refill ink then I can make sure that I am

Alot of things only ships to the U.S. and I think Hobbicolors is the same,
at least it was a while back.
I don't know about MIS.



There is certainly a lot of ins and outs about different inks, different
cartridges, generics, pigments, dyes, etc. Its like a whole other field
that
comes up after you buy a printer. The IP4000 is a good printer. I bought
it
not long before it was discontinued but paid more for it than I would have
done a few months earlier and by chance only found it at one store. I had
given up finding it by then. When I posted here 2 years ago, Burt and
Zazuke
(sp).don't see him her now, and Tony and a couple of others here I can't
remember their names, all said the IP 4000 was a good printer and that was
much of the reason I looked for it..
Thanks for the information. I might think about Abacus. I wonder how they
can sell cartridges so cheap and get some profit.
Actually, I prefer buying cartridges at a store in my area as its a lot
easier than waiting for stuff in the mail, but if you save enough money
and
the product is good, I guess thats what you have to do.

Mary

OK, I'll try to answer your questions. OEM is made by the manufacturer.
Everything else I consider to be generic. I should be calling them
compatible cartridges or ink, but generic is an accurate description too. I
just use the word generic because it's not name brand.

I buy Abacus cartridges. They're good enough for me. As I said I do
believe that the color is a bit better from using refill ink and I do refill
for that reason, not for the price difference between Abacus cartridges and
refilling. Blank cartridges made for refilling are more expensive than
buying a cartridge full of ink, so I buy Abacus cartridges, use the ink in
them and refill them with the refill ink I use. I refill them a few times,
then toss the cartridge and install another Abacus cartridge, then refill it
and the process starts again. I definitely like to refill the BCI 3e
cartridge with pigment ink. I have used MIS refill ink but the last couple
of years have used A LOT OF THINGS ink. Both worked equally well. I used
what I found other users recommending. I don't buy no-name ink at the Wal
Mart store that says it refills all brands of printers.

The BCI 3e is pigment ink for text printing and is the larger cartridge.
The BCI 6 black is photo ink. Sometimes the photo ink is used in text
printing, depending on print settings, etc. I'm not a techie so I'm not
going to attempt any kind of an explanation on that one. I'd probably get
it all wrong anyway.

You said you preferred buying ink cartridges at a store near you. I can
relate to that but where I live I can't even buy all the color ink
cartridges my new Pro9000 uses. I'm not even sure if the BCI series is
still available in the local Wal Mart store. I live in a small town and
buying locally is not an option. They carry ink for some of the chipped
cartridges and lots of HP products. Canon photo paper is not sold here
either, like I said they cater to HP users. So I have to order anyway. I
can't promise you that you'll never buy a bad cartridge. It could happen
with Canon brand or Abacus brand or even the Staples you use.

I wouldn't worry about ordering cartridges. I used to worry if they would
freeze in the mailing process when the weather is cold but I've honestly
never had any problems and it gets really cold here and the UPS or USPS
leaves packages sitting outside my door. I ordered a ink resetter from
Germany this summer and it came with some refill ink too. Everything was
packaged perfectly, no damage, and the ink bottles never leaked. I'm still
not sure I want to take a chance on using the ink that came with it because
I know nothing about who manufactured it. I was really apprehensive about
ordering a package containing ink from another country. I think you would
find that Abacus ships fast even to Canada. I am equally sure there are
other good companies out there besides Abacus but I have no first hand
knowledge of them and some of them may not ship to Canada.

I hope I answered all your questions, if not ask again.