Back in August I got a great deal on a Canon iX6520 and then asked for some aftermarket ink or CIS recommendations
in this thread so that I could try to avoid the fiasco that Bagpiper had to suffer. Other members made good points about the downside of a CIS system and I was directed towards
Inkproducts.com (NOT to be confused with InkReloaded.com/Ultragamut.com, the nightmare company)
Not too long thereafter I submitted an order for the "
Deluxe Refill Kit for the Canon...". Now that I have been using this kit for a little bit I feel like I can post a reasonable review.
-------------------BEGIN REVIEW-------------------------------
Ordering:
I'll admit that I was a bit put-off by the website, it's like an overly colorful pre-school advertisement or something from Sesame Street. However I was able to find the specific products I needed fairly quickly and had no trouble placing my order. Confirmation of my order was somewhat delayed and that also gave me a few nervous moments.
Receiving:
The order arrived very quickly and was extremely well packed. There were no leaks or damage and the all-important chip reset device was sub-packed in it's own padded box.
The kit included
- 5 bottles of ink
- 5 clear replacement ink tanks (one for each color in the printer)
- 5 "refilling caps" to keep the tanks from leaking while refilling
- 5 Re-Usable 12cc syringes
- 1 Chip Reset device
- Printed instructions
WARNING, the refill syringes have real needles, do not let kids get these and use caution with them!
Install:
Due to manuvers by Canon, one of the first things you have to do is perform the delicate operation of removing the chips from the Canon ink tanks and install them on the refill tanks. The web page did a good job of informing you about this BEFORE you ordered so I was not surprised at this step. The printed instructions are VERY clear about how to do this and paper modelers will have both the tools (X-acto knife) and the skill level to do this bit of surgery. The general public might have an issue but this is a challenge generated by Canon, not Inkproducts. The instructions about resetting the chips are a touch vague but it's such a simple operation it is easily figured out.
The next step is the actual filling of the replacement tanks.
AGAIN I WARN YOU, THE SYRINGES ARE REAL NEEDLES, KEEP AWAY FROM KIDS!
The instructions show someone filling barehanded on a table top. DON'T do this!
I do a LOT of delicate operations and have built fine scale models for years and I assert that there is NO WAY to avoid drips. I wore nytril gloves, worked over an old cookie sheet and had a bunch of paper towels handy. I also worked slowly and carefully. As a result the few drips I did have caused zero problems. Again the text of the instructions is very clear about how to avoid drips on your floor/carpet/counter.
Use:
Once everything was installed I closed the printer and....had an unrecognizable cartridge.
It happened to be the first one I put together so I suspect I didn't run the first "chip reset" correctly. I pulled the cartridge and ran it through the chip reset device and re-installed. Now all was good and as far as the printer was concerned I had installed new factory carts.
I then ran a few large prints to make sure I was using the new ink, and then printed 4 8.5x11" glossy paper photo prints and was VERY impressed by the quality of the output. I hung a couple of prints on a sunny spot nearby to test color-fastness and fading. I'll report back on them after a few months.
The kit is supposed to have enough replacement ink for 10-11 refills. I will track this and report back.
Conclusion:
I have been running this kit for just over 4 months now and have had ZERO issues with clogging or malfunctions. The colors seem to be very fade resistant and the overall quality of this kit seems very high. Since the kit gives me approximately 11 refills for the price of one set of OEM cartridges, and future refills will be even less expensive, I am very pleased at the savings.
If you have the manual dexterity to do the "chip surgery" and if you have the patience to follow the refill instructions I think you would be very happy to have this high quality ink refill kit.