Printer Canon i9900 ink tanks

[Charles C. Weston]

I have a Canon i9900 printer which is a superb performer. However, it refuses to print if it considers any one of the eight ink tanks to be out of ink. When I remove the indicated tank it seems to still have about a quarter of a tank of ink remaining. As these tanks are rather expensive I hate to throw away the tank if there is usable ink remaining. Can anyone advise me as to how to measure the remaining ink or should I just trust the printer?

[MissJezabelle]

not a pro here, but maybe it is just too low for it to read, or it has to had a certain level of ink to completely cover the nozzle/print head thing. God I hope I am making this sound right lol.

[Steve Cifra]

Try a smaller print. The printer won't print if it thinks it will run out during the print. HHmmm, make sense?

Steve

[Charles C. Weston]

Thank you MissJezabelle and Steve,

On further examination I think that the tanks were empty. The foam at the side was confusing me.

Can you tell me if refill inks are worth bothering with?

[George Riehm]

Thank you MissJezabelle and Steve,

On further examination I think that the tanks were empty. The foam at the side was confusing me.

Can you tell me if refill inks are worth bothering with?

If you mean after-market cheapo do-it-yourself refill kits...NO! After reading tests done, by the Wilhelm Institute, on cheap after-market refill kits your print life will go to a few months before substantial fading.

There are aftermarket ink tanks available, but most are for art prints and kind of expensive. Stick with the Canon replacement tanks.

[Charles C. Weston]

Thanks George,

I know you are right because after spending $1200 for the camera, another $2000 on lenses, $500 on a good printer and another $500 on Flash cards, tripod, bag etc., why spoil it by using cheap inks? I will stick with genuine Canon inks and paper.

[aparmley]

Charles - I use the i960 the little brother to your i9900; Read your manual as I am sure it informs you the same as mine did, ignoring the empty ink tank message and continuing with the print may ruin the printer. I read that in my printers manual. So use caution. And yes your are right, there is a resevoir for the ink which is then filtered into that sponge section...Shortly after the resevoir is empty you get the empty cartridge message, and with a visual inspection, you can still see what looks like ink, but only in the sponge section... so, while there may be a drop or two of ink left in there, I'm sure its not worth it as replacing that one tank is still superior to replacing a tri-color tank when only one color runs out!

[2150-bye]

I also have the i9900 and have found that sams club has the most used ink tanks for a good price and fry's electronics has all the others. savings I have seen about 20 to 30 % on buying the whole affair from canon . My brother also has an i990 and tried the cheap ink trick and ended up with cheap looking pictures ,that take forever to dry (he also tried the cheap paper and found lousy results).I might be a stickler but I only use canon paper .

Your mileage may vary

[polemistis]

As soon as you use after market tanks/refills the warrentee for the printer becomes invalid. At first thought so what. Most manufacturers warrentees only last a year anyway. This should tell you something though. If the company is not willing to support that then maybe theres some big problems with it.

Another thing: As discussed in the paper threads, printers are designed to work most effectively with their manufacturers products. The chemicals in Canon inks(for example) are designed to work in their printers and best with the chemicals on Canon's papers. (however this isn't always true) I certainly wouldn't trust an outside company with my prints.

[behr655]

I have a Canon i9900 printer which is a superb performer. However, it refuses to print if it considers any one of the eight ink tanks to be out of ink. When I remove the indicated tank it seems to still have about a quarter of a tank of ink remaining. As these tanks are rather expensive I hate to throw away the tank if there is usable ink remaining. Can anyone advise me as to how to measure the remaining ink or should I just trust the printer?


My i9100 will warn me about a low tank but will alow me to continue. When the tank is empty however it will not print.

I've read some of the responces and see that aftermarket inks are discussed. I re-fill my tanks using ink from Inksell. It is a messy pain in the butt, but save tons of money as large format printing sucks up the ink. I have been very happy with the ink and have been using it for several years now as I started using it with my old HP PhotoSmart. I have been contemplating going to a bulk ink system but need some first hand input as to how well they perform.

Bear