On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 04:31:52 GMT, "Ron Cohen"
wrote:

Those cartridges sound like a good alternative to using one of our do it
yourself methods. The price isn't bad either, but it really isn't much of a
problem using rubber bands or tape. They're definately an improvement on hot
glue or set screws. I'm not concerned about what the tanks look like. I
only care about the printed output. One thing to be aware of when refilling
is that your ink monitor will not show a full cartridge once you have done a
refill unless the low ink warning has come on. That's the only time the ink
monitor will be reset and then it's only for the one tank that generated the
low ink warning. If you refill before the tanks are empty which is what most
users do, especially if you keep two sets of tanks and swap all at the same
time, then the monitor won't reset to full. This isn't a problem as the only
real use for the monitor is to show when the ink is running low. As Taliesyn
noted there is a prism in the bottom of the tank which a light source shines
through. If there is enough ink in the tank to block the light then the
warning, and the resulting reset, will not appear. If having the ink monitor
reset to full is something you want to do, the process of resetting is
simple. Take one of the old cartridges you no longer use, remove as much of
the sponge material from around the outlet hole as possible. If desired, you
could cut the top off enough to get all the sponge out. Rinse the cartridge
to remove any ink that could cause cross contamination of colors. Prior to
installing the freshly refilled tank, put the empty tank in and close the
cover. At that point the sensor will detect an out of ink condition. Install
the refilled tank and the monitor will now show full.
--
Ron Cohen


The blanks do have the prism at the bottom. They are identical to
original canon cartridges except they have molded fill holes, not
drilled or removed ball plugs. The exit port has molded dimples to
allow the cap to latch which is very nice. I fooled with the rubber
band method and made a mess with one cap as it was not seated just
right . The cap was original to the cartridge as I mark each cap with
the proper color.

As far as the ink monitor, that is no concern and yes the blanks do
show low ink when I put one in to test it. I will be refilling well
before the low ink monitor comes on as well.

As far as quality of the output, I see no leaks and use formula labs
ink. I can easily read text in all colors down to 2 font. 1 font is
about 50 percent readable. (standard mode) That would be the output
of the heads and ink of course but the cartridge is very high quality
and easier to deal with.

Oh the plugs, the plugs are quite short and moulded to fit the fill
hole percisely. There is no danger of inserting it into the tank as
the end of the fill hole is rounded and slighly tapered as the plug.
It inserts easily with finger pressure and removed easily with a small
object such as a jewlers screwdriver.

I definately recommend this blank set just for ease of use and
guaranteed no mess.