I have seen enough of Measekite's posts not to trust him. I guess he
must get a commission for each post he writes ;-) I have checked out
stuff about refilling and it is still looks quite complicated. I use
the 4200 for CD printing and letter writing very few photos. So I will
go for compatible cartridges whereby I can check the ink level. The
non canon big black cartridge that I bought has does not have the ink
compartment whereby you can check the level of ink so I will buy ones
that do have this.
many thanks
Matthew
Matthew - refilling Canon carts looked complicated to me until I tried it.
I've now been refilling them for two printers for over two years. Once you
get the "workflow" and read up on some of the little tricks it is really
easy and involves so little mess that I often refill a few carts at a very
nice desk in a room with carpets. When refilling several carts at a time I
prefer the kitchen sink. There are many ways to make and seal a fill hole.
Look on the Nifty-Stuff Forum for the thread on sealing the fill hole. My
favorite way is to use a hot paper clip to melt a hole between the factory
fill hole (where the label says push) and the end of the cart closest to the
factory fill hole. I then use a self threading stainless steel phillips #6
pan head sheet metal screw with a tight fitting "o-ring" to size the hole
and seal it after filling. You can use a syringe, or you can look up Howard
Electronics and order their squeeze bottles with the luerlock fitting at the
top which will hold a hypodermic needle. This eliminates the need for
opening and closing bottles and cleaning syringes at the end of the refill
process. Just rubber band on the original orange cover for the outlet hole
to seal it, take out the screw, use the squeeze bottle to fill the reservoir
almost full, put the screw back, let the cart drip til it stops - usually a
few drops on a tissue or newspaper, blot the outlet against some paper on a
flat surface so you leave the filter in the outlet hole wet, and replace
into the printer. Better still, have a second set of carts that you have
already filled. When you see that one of the carts is about 80% empty (in
the reservoir area) replace all of them and then refill the set you removed
and store for backup.
It couldn't be any easier! I haven't seen any of the "compatable carts",
but OEM carts are clear and permit you to visually monitor the ink levels.
This takes less than a minute and should be done when you anticipate doing a
big print project. I have printers that use the bci-6 carts without the
chips. I still monitor visually as I don't want the carts to get more than
80% empty at the reservoir area as they will refill more times if they don't
get completely empty. With the chipped carts you should read the thread on
the nifty stuff forum about purging the carts. You can make a purge device
to fit your sink faucet for about $5 worth of hardware store parts and
restore the carts to like-new function for refilling when they stop feeding
properly. After several refills the sponge gets a bit clogged with dried
ink and has to be washed out. This is not to be confused with a clogged
printer which our troll claims happens with aftermarket inks. Two years of
refilling and I haven't had any more problems with MIS refill ink than you
would have with OEM carts.
